Paleontology News

Three-Eyed Cambrian Animal Sheds Light on Origin of Arthropod Head and Segmentation

Reconstruction of a pair of Stanleycaris hirpex. Image credit: Sabrina Cappelli, Royal Ontario Museum.
Jul 11, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the University of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum have examined 268 specimens of Stanleycaris hirpex — a radiodont that lived during the Cambrian period, some 506 million years ago — from the Burgess Shale in Canada, including many exceptionally preserved whole-body specimens. Their findings shed light on the evolution of the arthropod brain, vision, and head structure. Reconstruction of a pair of Stanleycaris...

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Life reconstruction of Balhuticaris voltae. Image credit: Hugo Salais.

Cambrian Bivalved Arthropod Had Extremely Multisegmented Body

Jul 8, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Balhuticaris voltae is the largest bivalved arthropod to date, at almost double the size of the previous record-holder, Nereocaris exilis. Life reconstruction...

New Giant Carnivorous Dinosaur Unearthed in Argentina

Jul 7, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Meraxes gigas, a huge meat-eating dinosaur that lived in Argentina some 94 million years ago, had short arms like Tyrannosaurus rex. Meraxes gigas. Image...

305-Million-Year-Old Fossil is Oldest Known Tree-Climbing Reptile

Jul 6, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of varanopid eupelycosaur that lived during the Carboniferous period — the oldest tree-climbing reptile on record —...

Miocene-Period Giant Panda Already Had Enigmatic Extra ‘Thumb’

Jun 30, 2022 by News Staff

Of the many peculiarities that enable the modern giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) to adapt to life as a bamboo eater, its extra ‘thumb’ is the...

An artist’s impression of Nombe nombe (right) and other prehistoric animals from Nombe Rockshelter, Papua New Guinea. Image credit: Peter Shouten.

Giant Kangaroos Lived in Papua New Guinea during Pleistocene

Jun 30, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have redescribed an extinct species of giant kangaroo that lived the mountains of Papua New Guinea about 50,000 to 20,000 years ago and...

Life reconstruction of the steppe mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii). Image credit: Beth Zaiken / Centre for Palaeogenetics.

Woolly Mammoth Calf Discovered in Yukon Permafrost

Jun 27, 2022 by News Staff

Nun cho ga is the most complete mummified mammoth found in North America. Steppe mammoths. Image credit: Beth Zaiken / Centre for Palaeogenetics. The near...

Life reconstruction of Vampyronassa rhodanica. Image credit: Rowe et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-12269-3.

Vampire Squid’s Ancestor was Active Hunter, New Study Suggests

Jun 23, 2022 by News Staff

Vampyronassa rhodanica is an ancient species of cephalopod that lived in the Jurassic oceans some 164 million years ago. Life reconstruction of Vampyronassa...

Field photograph of the pathologic ovum-in-ovo egg documented from the Lameta Formation of village Padlya, Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh, India. Two slightly partially broken circular eggshell outlines can be seen with broken eggshell fragments within. A crescent-shaped gap is characteristically present in the upper right part of the egg. Image credit: Dhiman et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-13257-3.

Unique Titanosaur Egg-Inside-Egg Found in India

Jun 22, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have found a fossilized egg within another egg — a condition known as ovum-in-ovo — of a titanosaurid dinosaur in central India....

An artist’s reconstruction of Gansuyaena megalotis. Image credit: Mick Ellison.

Fossils of Aardwolf-Like Hyena Unearthed in China

Jun 16, 2022 by News Staff

Gansuyaena megalotis, a small-bodied hyaenid that lived in what is now the Chinese province of Gansu between 15 and 12 million years ago (Miocene epoch),...

Tartarocyon cazanavei. Image credit: Denny Navarra.

Gigantic Bear-Dogs Lived in France 12 Million Years Ago

Jun 16, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new species of large-sized amphicyonid carnivore from a fossilized mandible found in France. Tartarocyon cazanavei. Image...

Kinyang mabokoensis and Kinyang tchernovi (gold) were up to four times the length of their modern relatives, dwarf crocodiles (green). Image credit: Christopher Brochu, University of Iowa.

Two Miocene-Period Crocodile Species Unearthed in Kenya

Jun 15, 2022 by News Staff

Two new species of giant dwarf crocodiles that lived during the Early and Middle Miocene have been identified from the fossilized skulls found in Kenya. Kinyang...

University of Michigan’s Professor Daniel Fisher and the 13,000-year-old Buesching mastodon. Image credit: Eric Bronson / Michigan Photography.

Research Reveals Annual Migration Patterns of American Mastodon

Jun 14, 2022 by News Staff

Around 13,200 years ago, an 8-ton adult American mastodon (Mammut americanum) — nicknamed the Buesching mastodon — was killed when a rival...

This artist’s impression shows a long umbilical scar on Psittacosaurus. Image credit: Jagged Fang Designs.

Some Non-Avian Dinosaurs Had ‘Belly Buttons,’ New Fossil Shows

Jun 13, 2022 by News Staff

In egg-laying amniotes (reptiles, birds and monotremes), the developing embryo is tethered to a number of the extraembryonic membranes that deliver oxygen...

New Spinosaurid Dinosaur Unearthed on Isle of Wight

Jun 9, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Dubbed the ‘White Rock spinosaurid,’ the new dinosaur is ‘one of Europe’s largest ever land-based hunters.’ Life reconstruction of the White...

Reconstruction of the paleoecosystem of the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of the Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt, showing diversity of large-bodied theropod dinosaurs. In the foreground, the unidentified abelisaurid described herein (right) confronts the spinosaurid Spinosaurus aegyptiacus (left center, with the lungfish Retodus tuberculatus in jaws) and the carcharodontosaurid Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (right center) while two individuals of the stomatosuchid crocodyliform Stomatosuchus inermis (left) look on. In the background, a herd of the titanosaurian sauropod Paralititan stromeri (left) warily regards these theropods and two individuals of the bahariasaurid Bahariasaurus ingens (far right) while a small flock of an undescribed pterosaur soars above. The vegetation is dominated by the mangrove-like tree fern Weichselia reticulata. Image credit: Andrew McAfee, Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Fossil of Previously Unknown Carnivorous Dinosaur Found in Egypt

Jun 8, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed a well-preserved cervical vertebra of a medium-sized abelisaurid ceratosaur in the Bahariya Oasis of the Western Desert...

Geiseleptes delfinoi hunting a termite. Image credit: Márton Szabó.

Geckos Lived in Europe as Early as 47 Million Years Ago

Jun 7, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of ancient gecko from an articulated near-complete skull found in Germany. Geiseleptes delfinoi...

Male combat in Discokeryx xiezhi. Image credit: Xiaocong Guo.

Miocene Giraffe Had Disk-Shaped Headgear and Head-Neck Joints Adapted for Head-Butting Combat

Jun 3, 2022 by News Staff

Paleontologists have identified a new species of giraffoid that lived in northern China during the Early Miocene epoch some 17 million years ago. Named...

Carcharocles megalodon pursuing two prehistoric whales. Image credit: Karen Carr / CC BY 3.0.

Great White Sharks May Have Played Role in Megalodon Extinction

Jun 1, 2022 by News Staff

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and elsewhere have looked at zinc isotopes found in the teeth of extanct wild and...

Life restoration of Palaeospondylus gunni. Scale bar - 1 mm. Image credit: Hirasawa et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04781-3.

Palaeospondylus Was Bizarre Lobe-Finned Fish, Paleontologists Say

May 26, 2022 by News Staff

Palaeospondylus gunni, a small creature with an eel-like body that lived 390 million years ago, is one of the most enigmatic fossil vertebrates, and its...

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