Paleontology News

This is an artist’s rendition of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius). Image credit: Flying Puffin / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Wrangel Island Mammoths Experienced ‘Genomic Meltdown’ Just Prior to Extinction, Says New Study

Mar 3, 2017 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal PLoS Genetics, dwindling populations created a ‘mutational meltdown’ in the genomes of the last wooly...

Reconstruction of Darwinylus marcosi on a gymnosperm host. Based on the pollen grains found in the amber with the beetle, paleobiologists believe that the beetle was closely associated with cycads, an ancient gymnosperm group of plants that have living relatives today throughout the warmer parts of the world. Image credit: Enrique Peñalver / Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de Espana.

105-Million-Year-Old Amber Preserves Pollinating Beetle, Pollen

Mar 3, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of paleobiologists has uncovered the fossil of a 105-million-year-old gymnosperm pollinating beetle, named Darwinylus marcosi. The...

Hematite tubes from the NSB hydrothermal vent deposits that represent the oldest microfossils and evidence for life on Earth. Image credit: Matthew Dodd, University College London.

World’s Oldest Known Fossils Found in Canada Push Evidence for Life back by 70 Million Years

Mar 1, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has discovered in Quebec, Canada, the oldest physical evidence of life on Earth — fossils that date back...

Artist’s impression of a group of Waimanu penguins on a beach in Paleocene Canterbury. Image credit: Chris Gaskin, Geology Museum, University of Otago.

Ancient Giant Penguin Unearthed in New Zealand

Feb 24, 2017 by Natali Anderson

The fossilized leg bones of a giant penguin that lived 61 million years ago have been discovered in New Zealand. Artist’s impression of a group of Waimanu...

This is an artistic reconstruction showing Websteroprion armstrongi attacking a fish in the Devonian sea. Image credit: James Ormiston.

Meet Websteroprion armstrongi, Ancient Monster Worm with Terrifying Snapping Jaws

Feb 23, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

A prehistoric monster worm that terrorized the Devonian seas some 400 million years ago has been identified by an international team of paleontologists...

Isostylomys laurdillardi. Image credit: Andres Rinderknecht et al.

Fossil Study Rewrites Dinomyidae Family Tree

Feb 22, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Adult and juvenile fossil specimens of Isostylomys laurdillardi, a giant rodent that lived in South America between 9 and 6.8 million years ago (Miocene...

Hatzegopteryx, depicted here as a short-necked, powerful predator, consumes the dwarf dinosaur Zalmoxes in Late Cretaceous Romania. Image credit: Mark Witton, University of Portsmouth.

Giant Pterosaurs Ruled Late Cretaceous Romania, Says New Study

Feb 17, 2017 by News Staff

Hatzegopteryx, a flying reptile with a 10-m wingspan and a mass of 220 kg, was the dominant predator in what is now Romania between 72-66 million years...

Reconstruction of Euchambersia mirabilis; oblique ventro-lateral view showing the ridged dentition. Image credit: Alex Bernardini.

Proto-Mammals were First Terrestrial Vertebrates to Produce Venom, Paleontologists Say

Feb 16, 2017 by News Staff

When you’re a small pre-mammalian creature, sometimes the only way to protect yourself against fearsome predators like saber-toothed carnivores is to...

Artist’s reconstruction of Dinocephalosaurus. Image credit: Dinghua Yang.

Triassic Fossil Reveals First Evidence of Live Birth in Archosauromorphs

Feb 15, 2017 by News Staff

The first ever evidence of live birth in a group of animals previously thought only to lay eggs has been discovered by an international team of paleontologists...

Calvapilosa kroegeri from the Lower Ordovician epoch (Tremadocian age) Fezouata Formation, near Zagora, Morocco: part, imaged and illuminated from north west (left), interpretative drawing (right). Image credit: Jakob Vinther et al, doi: 10.1038/nature21055.

Ordovician Fossil Sheds New Light on Early Evolution of Mollusks

Feb 6, 2017 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed the remains of a previously unknown slug-like creature that lived during the Early Ordovician epoch, 478 million years ago....

Reconstruction of Saccorhytus coronaries. Image credit: Jian Han et al, doi: 10.1038/nature21072.

Meet Saccorhytus coronarius, Humans’ Earliest-Known Ancestor

Jan 31, 2017 by News Staff

A microscopic, bag-like marine creature that lived approximately 540 million years ago (Fortunian stage of the Cambrian period) has been identified from...

Eggs of the Ordovician trilobite Triarthrus eatoni. Image credit: Thomas A. Hegna et al, doi: 10.1130/G38773.1.

Paleontologists Find 450-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Trilobite Eggs

Jan 27, 2017 by Natali Anderson

A research team led by Western Illinois University scientist Thomas Hegna has announced the discovery of two pyritized, egg-bearing specimens of the Ordovician...

Head of Aethiocarenus burmanicus. Image credit: G. Poinar Jr. / A.E. Brown.

Mid-Cretaceous Burmese Amber Preserves Alien-Looking Insect

Jan 26, 2017 by News Staff

In a paper published in the journal Cretaceous Research, Oregon State University researchers described a never-before-seen insect species found in a piece...

This is a Brachylophosaur canadensis fossil femur in field jacket, showing area of sampling for molecular analyses. Image credit: Mary Schweitzer.

Paleontologists Find Collagen in 80-Million-Year-Old Brachylophosaurus Fossil

Jan 24, 2017 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists led by North Carolina State University researchers has isolated collagen peptides from the fossilized femur of Brachylophosaurus...

Two individuals of Siamogale melilutra. Image credit: Mauricio Anton.

Siamogale melilutra: Giant Otter Fossils Reveal New Species

Jan 23, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has identified a new species of giant otter that lived in what is now China during the latest Miocene, approximately...

A range of now extinct megafauna that was present when humans first arrived in Australia. Image credit: Peter Trusler, Monash University.

Humans Caused Extinction of Australia’s Prehistoric Giant Animals: New Evidence

Jan 23, 2017 by News Staff

New evidence indicates the primary cause of megafaunal extinction in Australia 45,000 years ago was likely a result of humans, not climate change. A paper...

Reconstruction of the hyolith Haplophrentis on the Cambrian sea floor. Image credit: D. Dufault / Royal Ontario Museum.

Hyoliths: Mysterious Cambrian Animals Classified as Lophophorates

Jan 12, 2017 by News Staff

Paleontologists have finally determined what hyoliths — a group of extinct marine creatures — actually are. Reconstruction of the hyolith Haplophrentis...

Reconstruction of the early chimaera Dwykaselachus oosthuizeni. Image credit: Kristen Tietjen.

Dwykaselachus oosthuizeni: Permian Fossil Reveals Origins of Chimaeras

Jan 4, 2017 by News Staff

CT scans of the fossilized skull of Dwykaselachus oosthuizeni — a shark-like fish that lived during the Permian period, around 280 million years...

Herds of female titanosaurs gathered at traditional nesting grounds 80 million years ago in what is now Patagonia, Argentina. Image credit: Luis Rey / Yale University.

Eggs of Non-Avian Dinosaurs Took 3-6 Months to Hatch

Jan 3, 2017 by News Staff

Non-avian dinosaur eggs took a long time to hatch — between 3 and 6 months, according to new research on the teeth of fossilized dinosaur embryos. Herds...