Paleontology News

Elephant-Sized Dicynodont from Triassic Period Discovered: Lisowicia bojani

Lisowicia bojani. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov / CC BY 3.0.
Nov 27, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Poland have found fossil fragments from a giant new species of mammal-like reptile that walked the Earth approximately 237 million years ago (Late Triassic epoch). Lisowicia bojani. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov / CC BY 3.0. Named Lisowicia bojani, the ancient creature belongs to Dicynodontia (dicynodonts), a group of plant-eating, mammal-like reptiles. “Dicynodonts were among the most abundant and diverse synapids — early...

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Lavocatisaurus agrioensis. Image credit: Canudo et al, doi: 10.4202/app.00524.2018.

New Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Discovered

Nov 21, 2018 by News Staff

A new species of sauropod dinosaur that stretched 39 feet (12 m) from head to tail has been unearthed in Patagonia, Argentina. Lavocatisaurus agrioensis....

A reconstruction of Mirarce eatoni perched on the horns of the ceratopsian dinosaur Utahceratops gettyi. Image credit: Brian Engh, dontmesswithdinosaurs.com.

Mirarce eatoni: Newly-Discovered Cretaceous Bird Lived Among Dinosaurs, Was Strong Flier

Nov 13, 2018 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed the partial skeleton of an enantiornithine (opposite bird) that lived in what is now Utah approximately 75 million years...

Geologists Professor Stephen Rowland and Dr. Mario Caputo discovered that a set of 28 footprints left behind by a reptile 310 million years ago are the oldest ever to be found in Grand Canyon National Park. Image credit: Stephen Rowland.

Geologists Find 310-Million-Year-Old Reptile Footprints in Grand Canyon National Park

Nov 9, 2018 by News Staff

Geologists have discovered a set of 28 footprints left behind by an ancient reptile approximately 310 million years ago in what is now Grand Canyon National...

An artist impression of Huanansaurus ganzhouensis. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.

Modern Birds Inherited Colored Eggs from Their Dinosaur Ancestors, Study Says

Nov 2, 2018 by News Staff

Modern birds inherited their egg color from non-avian dinosaur ancestors that laid eggs in fully or partially open nests, according to new research led...

An artist’s interpretation of elephant birds foraging in the ancient forests of Madagascar at night. Image credit: John Maisano / University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences.

Study: Elephant Birds were Nocturnal, Possibly Blind

Nov 1, 2018 by News Staff

The recently extinct Malagasy elephant birds included the largest birds ever discovered. Seven species are recognized across two genera, including the...

Reconstruction of Archaeopteryx albersdoerferi. Image credit: Zhao Chuang / Martin Kundrát.

Paleontologists Discover New Species of Archaeopteryx

Oct 26, 2018 by News Staff

Archaeopteryx was first described as the ‘missing link’ between reptiles and birds in 1861 — and is now regarded as the link between dinosaurs...

The aridificaiton of Australia impacted the hunting effectiveness or preybase of the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) contributing to its extinction. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Climate Change Played Major Role in Demise of Marsupial Lion

Oct 25, 2018 by News Staff

New evidence indicates the primary cause of the extinction of one of Australia’s top predators, the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex), around 40,000...

Piranhamesodon pinnatomus, 2.8 inches (7.1 cm) long, from the Late Jurassic of Ettling, Solnhofen Archipelago, Germany. Image credit: M. Ebert.

Jurassic Flesh-Eating Fish Had Piranha-Like Teeth

Oct 19, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

A remarkable new species of predatory fish that lived about 152 million years ago (Jurassic period) has been identified from a fossil found in Germany. Piranhamesodon...

The yellow pot sponge (Rhabdastrella globostellata), a modern species of demosponge that makes the same 26-mes steroids that Zumberge et al found in ancient rocks. Image credit: Ria Tan, www.wildsingapore.com / CC BY 2.0.

Scientists Find New Biomarker Evidence for Neoproterozoic Animals

Oct 17, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by University of California, Riverside’s Professor Gordon Love has found the oldest evidence yet of animal life, dating back...

Life restoration of Sarahsaurus aurifontanalis. Image credit: Brian Engh, www.dontmesswithdinosaurs.com.

New Fossils of Ground Sloth-Like Dinosaur Could Help Reveal Why Sauropods Got So Big

Oct 16, 2018 by News Staff

Sauropods are a group of plant-eating dinosaurs which exceeded all other terrestrial vertebrates in body size. A new, in-depth anatomical description of...

Life appearance of the fossil flying squirrel Miopetaurista neogrivensis showing the animal ready to land on a tree branch. Image credit: Oscar Sanisidro / ICP.

World’s Oldest Flying Squirrel Fossil Discovered

Oct 10, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has found the world’s oldest flying squirrel fossil — an 11.63-million-year-old specimen of an extinct...

An illustration of the finds made by Jud et al. Image credit: Sae Bom Ra, Adelphi University.

Large Angiosperm Trees Grew in North America 15 Million Years Earlier than Thought

Oct 2, 2018 by News Staff

According to new research led by Dr. Nathan Jud of William Jewell College, angiosperm (also called broad-leaf, hardwood or deciduous) trees approaching...

An artist’s reconstruction of Ledumahadi mafube foraging in the Early Jurassic of South Africa; in the foreground, Heterodontosaurus. Image credit: Viktor Radermacher, University of the Witwatersrand.

New Jurassic Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Unveiled

Oct 1, 2018 by News Staff

Paleontologists have discovered what they say is a completely unexpected new sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived 200 million years ago (Jurassic period)...

An artist’s illustration of a giant elephant bird. Image credit: Jaime Chirinos.

Vorombe titan: Researchers Name World’s Largest Ever Bird

Sep 28, 2018 by News Staff

After decades of conflicting evidence and numerous publications, a team of researchers at the Zoological Society of London’s Institute of Zoology has...

Jinguofortis perplexus. Image credit: Chung-Tat Cheung.

New Species of Prehistoric Short-Tailed Bird Found in China

Sep 26, 2018 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found the remains — the well-preserved complete skeleton and feathers — of a short-tailed bird that lived 127 million...

Dickinsonia, which lived more than 550 million years ago, were flat, soft-bodied creatures that moved along the sea bed to eat microbes and algae. Image credit: University of California, Riverside.

Ancient Cholesterol Confirms Dickinsonia as One of Earth’s First Animals

Sep 21, 2018 by News Staff

The first complex organisms emerged during the Ediacaran period (635-541 million years ago). Ediacaran fossils are as ‘strange as life on another planet’...

Mesosaurus. Image credit: Roman Yevseyev / Graciela Piñeiro.

Mesosaurs: ‘Oldest-Known Aquatic Reptiles’ Were Semi-Aquatic, Paleontologists Say

Sep 20, 2018 by News Staff

According to new research published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, mesosaurs — the oldest known reptiles that developed aquatic...

An artist’s impression of Jurassic marine reptiles. Image credit: Nikolay Zverkov.

Fossil Teeth Study Sheds Light on How Jurassic Marine Reptiles Adapted to Environmental Changes

Sep 5, 2018 by News Staff

Jurassic deep-water reptiles thrived as sea levels rose, while species that dwelled in the shallows waters disappeared, according to new research from...

An artist’s impression of a cynodont. Image credit: Jorge Blanco / A.G. Martinelli / M.B. Soares / C. Schwanke / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Jurassic Mammal Precursor Had Tiny Brain

Sep 3, 2018 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from the University of Texas at Austin has uncovered fossils of an adult female Kayentatherium wellesi — an extinct tritylodontid...

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