Paleontology News

Large Dolphin from Oligocene Epoch was Fast-Swimming Apex Predator

Jul 10, 2020 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found and described the first nearly complete skeleton of Ankylorhiza tiedemani, an extinct large dolphin that lived about 24 million...

An artist’s impression of the giant dormouse Leithia melitensis (left) and its nearest living relative the garden dormouse (right). Image credit: James Sadler, University of York.

Enormous Dormice Once Roamed Mediterranean Islands

Jul 9, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists from the UK, Italy and Switzerland has created the first digital reconstruction of the skull of Leithia melitensis,...

An artist’s interpretation of Dilophosaurus wetherilli, a theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now North America during the Early Jurassic, about 193 million years ago. Image credit: Brian Engh / The Saint George Dinosaur Discovery Site.

Famous Jurassic Park Dinosaur Was More Powerful than Previously Thought

Jul 9, 2020 by News Staff

Dilophosaurus wetherilli was the largest animal known to have lived on land in North America during the Early Jurassic. Despite its charismatic presence...

Life reconstruction of the Alaskan saurornitholestine dinosaur in its environment. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Paleontologists Find Fossil of 70-Million-Year-Old Polar Raptor

Jul 8, 2020 by News Staff

Paleontologists have uncovered the fossilized jawbone of a juvenile dromaeosaurid (raptor) dinosaur that lived 70 million years ago in what is now northern...

Life restoration of Kongonaphon kely. Image credit: Alex Boersma.

Tiny Dinosaur Relative Roamed Triassic Madagascar

Jul 7, 2020 by News Staff

A new genus and species of ornithodiran — an early relative of dinosaurs and pterosaurs — that lived around 237 million years ago (Triassic...

Ankylosaurus magniventris, a large armored dinosaur species, witnesses the impact of an asteroid, falling on the Yucatan peninsula 66 million years ago. Image credit: Fabio Manucci.

Chicxulub Asteroid Caused End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction, New Study Confirms

Jul 1, 2020 by News Staff

The end-Cretaceous mass extinction 66 million years ago eradicated roughly 75% of the animal and plant species on Earth, including whole groups like non-avian...

A group of Copepteryx, plotopterid birds that lived in Japan between 28.4 and 23 million years ago. Image credit: Mark Witton.

Giant Penguin-Like Seabirds Lived in Northern Hemisphere About 30 Million Years Ago

Jul 1, 2020 by News Staff

Paleontologists have discovered striking similarities between the fossilized bones of giant penguins that lived 62 million years ago in what is now New...

Skulls and life reconstructions of Thylacosmilus atrox (left) and Smilodon fatalis (right). Image credit: Stephan Lautenschlager.

Thylacosmilus Was Not a Saber-Tooth Predator

Jun 29, 2020 by News Staff

Thylacosmilus atrox, an extinct marsupial that roamed South America between 9 and 3 million years ago (Neogene period), was not the ecological analogue...

An artist’s impression of Mukupirna nambensis living in central Australia that was much greener 25 million years ago. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Giant Wombat-Like Marsupials Roamed Australia 25 Million Years Ago

Jun 26, 2020 by News Staff

Paleontologists have identified a giant wombat-like marsupial that lived 25 million years ago (Oligocene epoch) in what is now Australia. Named Mukupirna...

Tanyrhinichthys mcallisteri was most likely a bottom-cruising predator similar in general ecomorphology to modern sturgeon. Image credit: Nobu Tamura.

Paleontologists Redescribe Enigmatic Carboniferous-Period Fish

Jun 23, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of U.S. paleontologists has redescribed the morphology of a long-snouted ray-finned fish called Tanyrhinichthys mcallisteri and created a more complete...

The discovery of a spike of mercury in 252-million-year-old rock at locations around the world gives evidence for the prevailing theory that volcanic eruptions caused the end-Permian extinction. Image credit: Margaret Weiner / University of Cincinnati Creative Services.

Coal-Burning Contributed to End-Permian Mass Extinction

Jun 23, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of geologists has found the first direct evidence that volcanic eruptions in the southern part of the Siberian Traps region 252 million...

A reconstruction of a Jurassic dinosaur track-maker from southern Queensland in front of a silhouette of the largest known Tyrannosaurus rex. Image credit: Anthony Romilio.

Carnivorous Dinosaurs as Big as T. rex Lived in Jurassic Australia

Jun 22, 2020 by News Staff

Paleontologists have analyzed 151- to 165-million-year-old dinosaur footprints from 11 sites in southern Queensland, most of which produced large (length...

Paleontologists Find Giant Soft-Shelled Egg of Cretaceous-Period Marine Reptile in Antarctica

Jun 19, 2020 by News Staff

A giant fossilized egg of an extinct marine reptile has been found in the 68-million-year-old nearshore marine deposits in Antarctica. An artist’s rendering...

The exceptionally preserved Protoceratops specimen includes six embryos that preserve nearly complete skeletons. Image credit: M. Ellison / American Museum of Natural History.

Eggs of Earliest Dinosaurs Had Soft, Leathery Shells

Jun 18, 2020 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from the United States, Canada and Argentina has analyzed the fossilized eggs of two different non-avian dinosaurs, Protoceratops...

Keraphyton mawsoniae: (A) specimen before preparation; (B) general view of stem showing the 4 rib systems (Ia, Ib, IIa and IIb); (C) central segment and four fundamental ribs; (D) rib system Ib showing a short branch dividing into two equal ultimate ribs at right and a long branch producing at least three long ultimate ribs at left; (E) long branch of rib system IIa producing short ultimate ribs; (F) short branch of rib system IIa dividing into two ultimate ribs; (G) long branch of rib system IIb producing short ultimate ribs; (H) long branch of rib system Ia producing long, but broken, ultimate ribs. Abbreviations: cs - central segment, fr - fundamental rib, ic - inner cortex, oc - outer cortex, Lb - long branch, sb - short branch. Yellow arrowheads indicate ultimate ribs. (DH) are all oriented with the cortex of the axis towards the top of the photo. Scale bars - 500 μm, (B) - 2 mm. Image credit: Champreux et al, doi: 10.7717/peerj.9321.

360-Million-Year-Old Fossil Reveals Extinct Species of Fern-Like Plant

Jun 17, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of fern-like plant from a single fossilized specimen collected in the New England region of New...

Bipedal crocodylomorph trackmakers. Image credit: Anthony Romilio.

Cretaceous-Period Crocodiles from Korea Walked on Two Legs

Jun 12, 2020 by News Staff

Multiple, well-preserved trackways made by large crocodylomorphs, extinct ancestors of modern-day crocodiles, between 110 and 120 million years ago (Cretaceous...

Life reconstruction of an adult and a juvenile Overoraptor chimentoi. Image credit: Gabriel Lio.

New Bird-Like Dinosaur Discovered: Overoraptor chimentoi

Jun 10, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of paravian theropod dinosaur has been identified from fossils found in Patagonia, Argentina. Life reconstruction of an adult and...

Navajoceratops sullivani and Terminocavus sealeyi. Image credit: Ville Sinkkonen & Denver Fowler.

Two New Species from New Mexico Help Fill Gap in Evolution of Horned Dinosaurs

Jun 5, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Two new transitional species of plant-eating horned dinosaurs have been unearthed in New Mexico, the United States. Navajoceratops sullivani and Terminocavus...

Life reconstruction of the armored dinosaur Borealopelta markmitchelli, which lived in what is now Alberta, Canada, some 110 million years ago, eating ferns. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi / Royal Tyrrell Museum.

Armored Herbivorous Dinosaur Preferred Fern Leaves

Jun 4, 2020 by News Staff

Paleontologists in Canada have analyzed the fossilized stomach contents from the exceptionally preserved specimen of Borealopelta markmitchelli, a species...