Paleontology News

Paleontologists Find Strange Microbes in Dinosaur Fossils

A fluorescence microscopy image showing lit-up modern microbes that took up residence in a Centrosaurus fossil. Image credit: Evan Saitta, Field Museum of Natural History.
Jun 20, 2019 by News Staff

In a new study published in the journal eLife, an international team of paleontologists looked for preserved collagen proteins and DNA in the fossilized bones of a horned dinosaur called Centrosaurus. They didn’t find the proteins or DNA, but they did find unusual communities of modern microbes living inside the dinosaur bones. A fluorescence microscopy image showing lit-up modern microbes that took up residence in a Centrosaurus fossil. Image credit:...

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An artist’s rendering of ancient Arctic hyenas belonging to the genus Chasmaporthetes. Image credit: Julius T. Csotonyi.

Hyenas Once Lived above Arctic Circle

Jun 19, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found two fossilized teeth of extinct cursorial hyenas (genus Chasmaporthetes) in the remote Old Crow River region in northern Yukon...

Choanocyte-derived archaeocytes are capable of generating new choanocyte chambers (dotted line). Scale bar - 10 μm. Image credit: Sogabe et al, doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1290-4.

First Multicellular Organisms Were Collections of Stem Cell-Like Cells, Research Suggests

Jun 19, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of Queensland and the University of Alabama has found that the first multicellular organisms probably weren’t...

A specimen of Redlichia rex from the Emu Bay Shale, Kangaroo Island, Australia. Scale bar - 10 mm. Image credit: Holmes et al, doi: 10.1080/14772019.2019.1605411.

Giant Cambrian Trilobite Species Unearthed in Australia

Jun 14, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed fossils of a giant trilobite species that inhabited Australian waters approximately 500 million years ago (Cambrian period). An...

The head of a Pleistocene wolf. Image credit: Albert Protopopov.

30,000-Year-Old Head of Pleistocene Wolf Found in Siberian Permafrost

Jun 13, 2019 by News Staff

A perfectly preserved head of a large wolf has been unearthed from the melting permafrost in eastern Siberia. The head of a Pleistocene wolf. Image credit:...

Study: Pterosaurs Had Remarkable Ability to Fly from Birth

Jun 12, 2019 by News Staff

Pterosaurs were winged flying reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs, between 210 million and 65 million years ago. Previously, they were thought...

An artist’s reconstruction of Fostoria dhimbangunmal. Image credit: James Kuether.

New Herbivorous Dinosaur Species Identified in Australia: Fostoria dhimbangunmal

Jun 7, 2019 by News Staff

A new species of two-legged iguanodontian dinosaur has been identified from fossils discovered three decades ago in an opal mine in Australia. A paper...

Giant beavers, about as large as a modern-day bear, ate aquatic plants before they went extinct after the last Ice Age. Image credit: Luke Dickey.

Why Giant Beavers Went Extinct 10,000 Years Ago

Jun 5, 2019 by News Staff

Giant beavers (members of the genus Castoroides) inhabited North America throughout the mid- to late Pleistocene. They went extinct along with dozens of...

Reconstruction of Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Feathers Arose 80 Million Years before Birds, Scientists Say

Jun 5, 2019 by News Staff

According to a new review paper published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, feathers arose 250-230 million years ago, during the Early...

Collective behavior in a school of Erismatopterus levatus. Image credit: Mizumoto et al, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0891.

Paleontologists Find Fossilized School of Eocene-Era Fish

Jun 4, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A slab of grayish limestone shale from the Eocene Green River Formation, the United States, caught a school of Erismatopterus levatus, an extinct species...

Phuwiangvenator yaemniyomi (left) and Vayuraptor nongbualamphuensis. Image credit: Adun Samathi / Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn.

Two T. rex Little Cousins Discovered

May 29, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Two new species of predatory megaraptoran dinosaurs have been identified from fossils found in Thailand. Phuwiangvenator yaemniyomi (left) and Vayuraptor...

Microphotograph of Ourasphaira giraldae. Image credit: Loron et al, doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1217-0.

Paleontologists Find One-Billion-Year-Old Fossil Fungi in Canada

May 23, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of paleontologists has discovered 1,000- to 900-million-year-old microfossils of a fungus in estuarine shale of the Grassy Bay Formation...

The ammonite Puzosia sp. Image credit: Yu et al, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1821292116.

99-Million-Year-Old Ammonite Found in Burmese Amber

May 14, 2019 by Natali Anderson

An international team of paleontologists has found a piece of amber containing the beautifully preserved ammonite, several marine and land organisms that...

Ambopteryx longibrachium. Image credit: Chung-Tat Cheung & Min Wang / Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Tiny Jurassic Dinosaur Had Membranous Wings

May 9, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A previously unknown species of bird-like dinosaur with pterosaur-like wings has been discovered by a team of paleontologists working with the Institute...

An artist’s rendering of how Suskityrannus hazelae may have looked. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Small T. rex Relative Found in New Mexico: Suskityrannus hazelae

May 7, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of predatory tyrannosauroid dinosaur that lived about 92 million years ago (Cretaceous period) has been identified from fossils found in...

Burmanopetalum inexpectatum. Image credit: Leif Moritz.

Tiny Millipede from Cretaceous Period Found in Burmese Amber

May 6, 2019 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from Bulgaria and Germany has found the surprisingly unusual and perfectly preserved millipede in 99-million-year-old amber from...

Callichimaera perplexa. Image credit: Elissa Martin, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Meet Callichimaera perplexa, Strangest Crab that Has Ever Lived

Apr 25, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has found the exceptionally preserved fossilized remains of an enigmatic new type of crab, Callichimaera perplexa,...

Simbakubwa kutokaafrika, a hyaenodont that was larger than a polar bear. Image credit: Mauricio Anton.

Carnivorous Mammal Larger than Polar Bear Once Roamed Kenya

Apr 19, 2019 by News Staff

A gigantic meat-eating mammal has been discovered — after its jaw, portions of its skull, and parts of its skeleton spent several decades sitting...

Skull and mandible of Gobihadros mongoliensis in left lateral (A), dorsal (B), ventral (C), and posterior (D) views. Abbreviations: an - angular, ar - articular, at - atlas, atr - atlantal rib, ax - axis, boc - basioccipital, bsp - basisphenoid, cop - coronoid process, c3 - 3rd cervical vertebra, d - dentary, exo - exoccipital, f - frontal, gl - glenoid for the lateral quadrate condyle, hy - hyoid, j - jugal, l - lacrimal, mx - maxilla, n - nasal, p - parietal, pa - palpebral, pat - proatlas, pd - predentary, pf - prefrontal, pl - palatine, pm - premaxilla, po - postorbital, poc - paroccipital process, pt - pterygoid, q - quadrate, qj - quadratojugal, rap - retroarticular process, s - surangular, scl - sclerotic ring, soc - supraoccipital, sq - squamosal, v - vomer. Image credit: Tsogtbaatar et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208480.

New Dinosaur Species Uncovered in Mongolia

Apr 18, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists in Mongolia have discovered a new species of hadrosauroid dinosaur that roamed what is now the Gobi Desert approximately 90 million years...

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.

Volcanic Eruptions Caused End-Permian Extinction, New Evidence Confirms

Apr 17, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists from China and the United States has found high levels of mercury in the end-Permian marine sediments at nearly...

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