Paleontology News

Life restoration of Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis. Image credit: Portia Sloan Rollings.

Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis: New Species of Ceratopsian Dinosaur Discovered in China

Dec 10, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of paleontologists has discovered a new species of hornless ceratopsian dinosaur, called Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis, in China. Life...

Life restoration of Phosphorosaurus ponpetelegans, with a pair ambushing coleoid cephalopods at night. Image credit: Tatsuya Shinmura / Ashoro Museum of Paleontology / Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London.

Phosphorosaurus ponpetelegans: Fossil Find in Japan Uncovers New Mosasaur Species

Dec 9, 2015 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have discovered what they say is a completely unexpected new mosasaur that lived 72 million years ago in Japan. Life restoration of Phosphorosaurus...

Triassic creatures escaping from an erupting volcano 235 million years ago in northwestern Argentina. These species, found as fossils in the Chañares Formation, include early mammal relatives - (the dicynodont Dinodontosaurus in the left background, and the cynodont Massetognathus in the left foreground) and early dinosaur relatives (Lewisuchus in the right background, and Lagerpeton in the right foreground). Image credit: Victor Leshyk.

Paleontologists: Origin of Dinosaurs Was Relatively Rapid Evolutionary Event

Dec 8, 2015 by News Staff

A multinational group of paleontologists has determined that the time elapsed between the emergence of early dinosauromorphs (dinosaur relatives) and the...

Life reconstruction of the head of Xenokeryx amidalae; adult male based on the fossils from La Retama. Image credit: Israel Sánchez.

Xenokeryx amidalae: Ancient Three-Horned Mammal Unearthed in Spain

Dec 4, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

Fossil remains of a previously unknown species of palaeomerycid ruminant that lived about 16 million years ago have been found in Spain, paleontologists...

Reconstruction of Xiaochelys ningchengensis in its freshwater environment, preying on a small fish called Lycoptera. Image credit: W.S. Wang.

Xiaochelys ningchengensis: Fossil Discovery Reveals New Species of Jehol Turtle

Dec 3, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

A new species of extinct turtle has been named based on a fossil from the Yixian Formation, part of the famous ‘Jehol Biota.’ Reconstruction of Xiaochelys...

Homo erectus may have enjoyed Prunus kunmingensis peaches. Image credit: Rebecca Wilf.

2.5-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Peaches Found in China

Dec 2, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A team of paleontologists has found 8 fossil peach endocarps, or pits, in the late Pliocene Ciying Formation in Kunming, China, whose morphological characters...

An artist’s impression of giant sauropods on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Image credit: Jon Hoad.

Giant Dinosaur Footprints Found on Isle of Skye

Dec 2, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

Hundreds of footprints left behind by massive herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs have been discovered on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. An artist’s impression...

Blood vessels from the demineralized Brachylophosaurus canadensis bone. Image credit: M. Schweitzer, North Carolina State University.

Paleontologists Find Mineralized Blood Vessels in 80-Million-Year-Old Hadrosaur Fossil

Dec 1, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A large team of American scientists has found evidence of blood vessel-like structures in the fossil of Brachylophosaurus canadensis, a mid-sized duck-billed...

The Black Creek horned dinosaur was about the size of a large dog. Image credit: Nicholas Longrich / University of Bath.

British Paleontologist Identifies Fossil of Small Horned Dinosaur

Nov 30, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A 78-million-year-old herbivorous horned dinosaur has been identified from a fossil found in the Tar Heel Formation (Black Creek Group) in North Carolina. The...

Artist’s restoration of Dinilysia patagonica. Image credit: Nobu Tamura, spinops.blogspot.com / CC BY-SA 3.0.

90-Million-Year-Old Fossil Provides Clues about How Snakes Evolved

Nov 27, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new analysis of the Cretaceous fossil Dinilysia patagonica is helping paleontologists solve an old scientific puzzle – how ancient snakes lost...

Dimetrodon borealis is shown with an overlay of the ‘Bathygnathus’ fossil from Prince Edward Island, with a Walchia tree in the background - a common fossil found on the island. Dimetrodon borealis lived about 285 million years ago during the Artinskian stage of Permian. Image credit: Danielle Dufault.

Dimetrodon borealis: First Canadian Dino Actually Mammal-Like Reptile

Nov 27, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A ‘dinosaur’ fossil known as Bathygnathus borealis has been shown to have steak knife-like teeth, and a team of Canadian paleontologists has changed...

Ypresiosirex orthosemos, photographs and drawing; abbreviations: cr - cornus, an – anus. Scale bar - 1 cm. Image credit: S. Bruce Archibald / Alexandr P. Rasnitsyn.

Giant Horntail Wood-Wasps Lived 53 Million Years Ago: Paleontologists

Nov 24, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

Three inch (7 cm) long herbivorous wasps flew through the landscapes of what is now British Columbia some 53 million years ago, according to Dr Alexandr...

Paleontologists Unearth Tropical Fossil Forests in Norway

Nov 19, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A team of UK paleontologists has unearthed three 380-million-year-old fossil forests in Svalbard, an archipelago administered by Norway and located far...

Reconstruction of the living Namacalathus: 1 - stem; 2 - parental cup; 3 - daughter cups; 4 - hollow ciliated tentacles; 5 - spines; 6 - lateral lumen; 7 - central opening; 8 - inner skeletal layer, foliated with columnar microlamellar inflections; 9 - internal (middle) skeletal later, organic rich; 10 - external outer skeletal layer, foliated with columnar skeletal inflections. Image credit: J. Sibbick.

Complex Skeletons Evolved Earlier Than Thought, Scientists Say

Nov 9, 2015 by News Staff

According to a team of paleontologists at the University of Edinburgh, UK, the first complex animals lived millions of years earlier than previously thought. Reconstruction...

The extant black-footed tree-rat (Mesembriomys gouldii), one of the largest murids found in Australia; by John Gould; from ‘Mammals of Australia,’ vol. III, plate 4, part of the 3 volumes.

Paleontologists Unearth Giant Rat Fossils in East Timor

Nov 9, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of Australian paleontologists has unearthed a trove of fossils on the island of Timor, including the bones of eight giant rat species. The extant...

The small dvinosaur Timonya anneae is depicted in the foreground left, the trimerorhachid dvinosaur Procuhy nazariensis is on the right, and the rhinesuchid in the left background. Other species represented are: a dipnoan, primitive actinopterygians, Psaronius tree-ferns, Teresinoxylon trees and small columnar stromatolites. Image credit: Juan C. Cisneros et al.

Paleontologists Find 278-Million-Year-Old Amphibian, Reptile Fossils in Brazil

Nov 7, 2015 by Natali Anderson

With the help of ancient fossils unearthed in northeastern Brazil, an international team of paleontologists has identified several amphibian species and...

Life restoration of Dakotaraptor steini running with the sparrow-sized birds Cimolopteryx petra, while the mammal Purgatorius can be seen in the foreground. Image credit: Emily Willoughby.

Dakotaraptor steini: Giant, Feathered Dromaeosaurid Dinosaur Discovered in South Dakota

Nov 5, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists have discovered what they say is a new giant raptor that lived in what is now South Dakota during the Maastrichtian stage of the Upper...

Tyrannosaurus rex, a large theropod dinosaur; theropods were a diverse group of two-legged dinosaurs that included the largest carnivores ever to walk our planet. Image credit: Az Dude.

Theropod Dinosaurs Could Open Their Jaws Up To 90 Degrees, UK Paleontologist Says

Nov 4, 2015 by News Staff

Using digital models and computer analyses, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol, UK, has studied the muscle strain during jaw opening of three...

Newly-Discovered Miocene Ape Casts New Light on Hominoid Evolution

Oct 30, 2015 by News Staff

Paleontologists from Spain and the United States have discovered a new genus and species of small-bodied ape that lived about 11.6 million years ago, before...