Paleontology News

Triassic Crocodile Relative May Have Learned to Walk on Two Legs

An artist’s reconstruction of Sonselasuchus cedrus in its environment in what is now Petrified Forest National Park, 215 million years ago. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.
Mar 9, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Fossils from the Chinle Formation of Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, the United States, reveal that Sonselasuchus cedrus, a species of shuvosaurid that lived about 215 million years ago (Triassic period), likely began life walking on four legs before shifting to a bipedal stance as it matured. An artist’s reconstruction of Sonselasuchus cedrus in its environment in what is now Petrified Forest National Park, 215 million years ago. Image...

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Pluridens imelaki, holotype, close-up of the dentaries. Scale bar - 10 cm. Image credit: Nicholas R. Longrich & Nour-Eddine Jalil, doi: 10.3390/d18030159.

New Giant Mosasaur Species Discovered in Morocco

Mar 6, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new, giant species of the mosasaur genus Pluridens from the Late Cretaceous phosphate deposits of Morocco. Named Pluridens...

Shortly after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, the earliest known primates, such as Purgatorius mckeeveri shown in the foreground, quickly set themselves apart from their competition -- like the archaic ungulate mammal on the forest floor -- by specializing in an omnivorous diet including fruit found up in the trees. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Southernmost Fossils of Earliest Primate Relative Unearthed in Colorado

Mar 3, 2026 by News Staff

The newly-discovered minuscule fossils of Purgatorius — a shrew-sized mammal considered the earliest known relative of all primates, including humans,...

Skeletal reconstruction of Diadectes sideropelicus with overlaid left and right tooth and bore marks in right lateral view. Image credit: Young et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-38183-6.

280-Million-Year-Old Fossil Provides Earliest Direct Evidence of Land Predators Attacking Herbivores

Mar 3, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists at the University of Toronto Mississauga have found dozens of tooth marks on the fossilized bones of three juveniles of Diadectes, one...

Life reconstruction of the pachycephalosaur individual CMNFV 22039 in an environment typical of the Upper Maastrichtian Frenchman Formation. Image credit: Kaitlin Lindblad.

Rare Fossil of Baby Dome-Headed Dinosaur Unearthed in Canada

Mar 2, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

For many years, the fossil record of pachycephalosaurs (dome-headed dinosaurs) has been dominated by fossilized skulls. The postcranial material of young...

Fossil ant colony preserved in a piece of Baltic amber from Lithuania. Image credit: José de la Fuente & Agustín Estrada-Peña, doi: 10.3389/fevo.2026.1724595.

Fossil Amber Preserves Ecological Interactions between Ancient Ants and Other Organisms

Feb 27, 2026 by News Staff

Fossils trapped in amber aren’t just beautiful, they may preserve real ecological interactions, including possible parasitism or commensal relationships...

Alnashetri cerropoliciensis. Image credit: Gabriel Díaz Yantén, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro.

90-Million-Year-Old Patagonian Fossil Reveals Missing Chapter in Evolution of Alvarezsauroid Dinosaurs

Feb 25, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A remarkably complete skeleton of the alvarezsauroid dinosaur species Alnashetri cerropoliciensis from Patagonia, Argentina, as well as two alvarezsauroid...

The ancient marine amphibians Erythrobatrachus (foreground) and Aphaneramma (background) swimming along the coast of what is now far norther Western Australia 250 million years ago. Image credit: Pollyanna von Knorring, Swedish Museum of Natural History.

Early Triassic Fossils from Australia Uncover Diverse Marine Amphibian Community

Feb 24, 2026 by News Staff

Several 250-million-year-old specimens from museum collections in Australia and the United States have revealed a surprising diversity of trematosaurid...

An artist’s impression of Dasosaurus tocantinensis. Image credit: TotalDino / CC BY 4.0.

New Sauropod Dinosaur Species Identified in Brazil

Feb 23, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Brazil have identified a previously unknown species of somphospondylan sauropod dinosaur with European affinities, hinting at ancient...

An artist’s reconstruction of a myllokunmingiid with four eyes that helped it see and navigate its ancient world. Image credit: Xiangtong Lei & Sihang Zhang.

Earliest Known Vertebrates Had Four Camera-Type Eyes

Feb 23, 2026 by News Staff

Two species of myllokunmingiid fishes that lived in what is now China around 518 million years ago (Cambrian period) possessed two large lateral eyes...

Spinosaurus mirabilis is one of the last-surviving spinosaurid species. Image credit: Dani Navarro.

New Spinosaurus Species Discovered in Niger

Feb 19, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified the first unequivocal new species of the fish-eating dinosaur Spinosaurus in more than a century. Spinosaurus mirabilis...

Triceratops’ nasal cavity. Image credit: K. Sakane.

Triceratops’ Oversized Nasal Cavities Played Roles Far Beyond Smell, Paleontologists Find

Feb 17, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

For decades, depictions of Triceratops and its kin have been driven by bone alone. Now, paleontologists in Japan have mapped the soft-tissue anatomy of...

Massospondylus carinatus. Image credit: Nobu Tamura, http://spinops.blogspot.com / Patty Jansen / Sci.News.

Small Triassic Dinosaur from Brazil Sheds New Light on Sauropodomorph Growth Strategies

Feb 16, 2026 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists have unearthed fossilized bones of one of the smallest sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the Late Triassic of southern Brazil, offering fresh...

Cave lions painted in the Chauvet Cave, France.

Japanese Archipelago Was Once a Refuge for Cave Lions

Feb 13, 2026 by Sergio Prostak

Between 73,000 and 20,000 years ago (Late Pleistocene), the Japanese Archipelago was inhabited by cave lions (Panthera spelaea), according to a new genetic...

Apteribis. Image credit: Sarah Citron, University of Lethbridge.

Extinct Hawaiian Ibis Had Unusually Small Eyes and Limited Visual Capacity, Study Says

Feb 11, 2026 by News Staff

Apteribis, an extinct species of ibis that once inhabited the Hawaiian Islands, occupied a niche similar to that of the New Zealand kiwi: a nocturnal,...

Life reconstruction of Tyrannoroter heberti. Image credit: Hannah Fredd.

307-Million-Year-Old Fossil of Plant-Eating Land Vertebrate Found in Canada

Feb 10, 2026 by News Staff

Tyrannoroter heberti, a new species of pantylid ‘microsaur’ from the Carboniferous period, shows that some of Earth’s earliest land vertebrates had...

Life reconstruction of a juvenile Haolong dongi. Image credit: Fabio Manucci.

Paleontologists Unearth New Dinosaur Species with Never-Before-Seen Skin Structures

Feb 9, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in China have discovered a nearly complete skeleton of a previously unknown species of iguanodontian dinosaur that preserves exceptionally...

A trilobite fossil. Image credit: Elizabeth Bailey / University of Texas at San Antonio.

Paleontologists Find Traces of Chitin in Cambrian Trilobite Fossil

Feb 9, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

The detection of chitin in an Olenellus trilobite from the Carrara Formation (514.5 to 506.5 million years ago) of California, the United States, not only...

A life reconstruction of Archaeopteryx, including the oral papillae on the roof of its mouth, a bill-tip organ at the end of its beak, and a flexible-yet-sturdy tongue made possible by an extra tongue bone. Image credit: Ville Sinkkonen.

Archaeopteryx’s Feeding-Related Structures Reflect Elevated Demands of Flight, Scientists Say

Feb 5, 2026 by News Staff

New research led by Field Museum of Natural History paleontologists suggests that Archaeopteryx, the oldest known bird, had a feeding apparatus shaped...

An artistic reconstruction of the possible ecological interaction between Python and Toyotamaphimeia in the Middle Pleistocene of Taiwan. Image credit: Lab of Evolution and Diversity of Fossil Vertebrates, National Taiwan University / Cheng-Han Sun.

Giant Pythons Once Lived in Taiwan

Feb 3, 2026 by Sergio Prostak

A fossil trunk vertebra from the Chiting Formation of Taiwan reveals that nearly 4-m-long pythons roamed the island during the Middle Pleistocene. An artistic...

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