Paleontology News

Earth’s Earliest Primates Lived in Treetops, Paleontologists Say

Skeleton composite of Torrejonia wilsoni: most elements of the composite skeleton are in ventral view, but some elements are oriented differently to better illustrate articular surfaces. Descriptions and orientations of skeletal elements organized from left to right and then from top to bottom: (a) cranial fragment of R frontal in dorsal, left lateral, right lateral views; cranial fragment of parietals in dorsal, ventral views; (b) R maxilla M1–M3 in occlusal view; L maxilla P4, M2-M3 in occlusal view; R dentary p2–m2 in buccal, lingual, occlusal views; (c) R distal humerus in ventral, dorsal, distal views; R distal radial epiphysis in distal view; R proximal radius in proximal, ventral, lateral, dorsal, medial views; R proximal ulna in ventral, lateral, dorsal, medial views; (d) R scapula fragment in ventral, lateral, dorsal views; L proximal humerus in proximal, ventral, lateral, dorsal, medial views; (e) R partial astragalus in dorsal, lateral, plantar, medial, proximal, distal views; R calcaneus in dorsal, lateral, plantar, medial, proximal, distal views; R cuboid in dorsal, lateral, plantar, medial, proximal, distal views; (f) R partial innominate in ventral, lateral, dorsal, medial views; concretion with proximal femora and L tibia with L proximal femur in ventral view, R proximal femur in ventral view; R tibia in ventral, lateral, dorsal, medial, distal views; L distal femur in ventral, lateral, dorsal, medial, distal views. Scale bars - 1 cm. Image credit: Chester et al, doi: 10.1098/rsos.170329.
May 31, 2017 by News Staff

Earth’s earliest primates were tree dwellers, according to a team of paleontologists led by Dr. Stephen Chester, an assistant professor at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Skeleton composite of Torrejonia wilsoni: most elements of the composite skeleton are in ventral view, but some elements are oriented differently to better illustrate articular surfaces. Descriptions and orientations of skeletal elements organized from left to right...

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Artist’s reconstruction of Luskhan itilensis. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Paleontologists Identify New Pliosaur Species: Luskhan itilensis

May 25, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of marine reptile from the Cretaceous period has been identified from fossils found on the eroded banks of the Volga River. Artist’s reconstruction...

Ordovician sea life. Image credit: Vince Smith / American Museum of Natural History / CC BY 2.0.

Ordovician Mass Extinction May Have Been Triggered by Volcanic Eruptions

May 18, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Geologists from Tohoku University, Japan, Amherst College and Washington University in Saint Louis, the United States, say they may have found the cause...

Megatherium sloths. Image credit: Robert Bruce Horsfall.

Extinct Giant Sloths Had Vegetarian Diet, Study Shows

May 15, 2017 by News Staff

Giant sloths, massive animals that lived in the Americas during the Ice Age, subsisted on an exclusively plant-based diet, according to an isotopic analysis...

A nesting cassowary-like dinosaur named Beibeilong sinensis in the act of incubating eggs. Image credit: Zhao Chuang.

Beibeilong sinensis: Paleontologists Identify New Species of Cassowary-Like Dinosaur

May 10, 2017 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from Canada, China, the United States and Slovak Republic has identified a partial clutch of large dinosaur eggs with a closely...

Spherical bubbles preserved in 3.48 billion-year-old hot spring deposits in the Dresser Formation provide evidence for early microbial life having lived on land. Image credit: University of New South Wales.

Earliest Signs of Microbial Life on Land Found in 3.48-Billion-Year-Old Hot Spring Deposits

May 10, 2017 by News Staff

Fossil evidence of early microbial life has been found in ancient hot spring deposits in the Dresser Formation in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia,...

A fungus gnat trapped in Baltic amber some 45-55 million years ago is carrying on the upper portion of its severed leg a pollen sac from an orchid. Image credit: George Poinar, Jr.

45-55 Million Year Old Orchid Pollinaria Attached to Pollinating Insect Found in Piece of Baltic Amber

May 8, 2017 by News Staff

A new study published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society documents evidence of an orchid fossil trapped in Baltic amber that dates back 45-55...

Galeamopus pabsti in its environment in the Late Jurassic of North America. An Allosaurus and two Ceratosaurus are feeding on a carcass of Galeamopus pabsti. Image credit: Davide Bonadonna.

Galeamopus pabsti: New Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Identified

May 5, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of sauropod dinosaur that lived about 152 million years ago (Jurassic period) has been identified from fossils found in Wyoming. Galeamopus...

Reconstruction of Tokummia katalepsis. Image credit: Lars Fields.

Tokummia katalepsis: Cambrian Marine Predator Had More Than 50 Legs, Can Opener-Like Pincers

Apr 28, 2017 by News Staff

Paleontologists have uncovered a fossil species — named Tokummia katalepsis — that sheds light on the origin of Mandibulata (mandibulates),...

This illustration shows a sea scorpion attacking an early vertebrate. Image credit: Nathan Rogers.

Sea Scorpions Used Striking ‘Weapon’ to Dispatch Prey, Paleontologists Say

Apr 20, 2017 by News Staff

Eurypterids, better known as sea scorpions, used their serrated-spine-tipped tails to dispatch their prey, according to new research by University of Alberta...

A reconstruction of Teleocrater rhadinus feasting on a relative of early mammals. Image credit: Mark Witton / Natural History Museum, London.

Teleocrater rhadinus: Early Dinosaur Relative Had Surprising Crocodile-Like Look

Apr 13, 2017 by News Staff

Paleontologists have long wondered what the earliest dinosaur relatives looked like. Most assumed that they would look like dwarf dinosaurs and walk on...

Blood-Engorged Tick Found in Dominican Amber

Apr 4, 2017 by News Staff

A blood-engorged nymphal tick of the genus Amblyomma surrounded by fossilized mammalian erythrocytes (red blood cells) has been discovered in a piece of...

Life reconstruction of the integument of Daspletosaurus horneri. Image credit: Dino Pulera / Finetooth / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Daspletosaurus horneri: New Tyrannosaur Species Discovered

Apr 2, 2017 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unveiled a remarkable new species of tyrannosaurine dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous epoch — a cousin of the fearsome predator...

Dinosaur tracks in the Walmadany area, Western Australia. Image credit: Steve Salisbury.

World’s Most Diverse Collection of Dinosaur Footprints Unveiled

Mar 29, 2017 by Natali Anderson

A group of paleontologists from the University of Queensland and James Cook University has documented the most diverse assemblage of dinosaur tracks in...

Reconstruction of Umaltolepis mongoliensis showing four seed-bearing structures and attached Pseudotorellia resinosa leaves. Note that three seed-bearing organs have split at the level of the flange into four lobes releasing the seeds. The seeds (right) were probably membranous and wind-dispersed. The cupule has been shed from one of the seed-bearing structures leaving the stalk, flange and column attached to the short shoot. Most, probably all, of the small dark spots on leaves are the remains of fungal stromata. Image credit: Fabiany Herrera et al, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1621409114.

Fossil from Mongolia is Ancient Relative of Today’s Ginkgo biloba

Mar 24, 2017 by News Staff

Exceptionally well-preserved specimens unearthed in Early Cretaceous sediments of Mongolia belong to an ancient, dinosaur-era relative of the living plant...

Cascolus ravitis. Image credit: David J. Siveter et al.

Cascolus ravitis: Fossil Crustacean Species Named in Honor of David Attenborough

Mar 23, 2017 by News Staff

A fossil crustacean, discovered by a University of Leicester-led team of paleontologists, has been named Cascolus ravitis in honor of the naturalist and...

Torvosaurus gurneyi. Image credit: © Sergey Krasovskiy.

Paleontologists Redraw Dinosaur Family Tree

Mar 22, 2017 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from the University of Cambridge and the Natural History Museum, London, UK, has proposed radical changes to the dinosaur family...

General view of the Doliodus problematicus specimen, showing the ventral part of the individual viewed in dorsal aspect, with major features identified. Abbreviations: br - branchial arches, hy - hyoid arch, lpf - left pectoral fin, lpfs - left pectoral fin spine, mc - meckelian cartilage of lower jaw, ppls - prepelvic spines, rpfs - right pectoral fin spine, rpf - right pectoral fin, t – teeth. Scale bar - 5 cm. Image credit: John G. Maisey et al.

New Study Confirms Sharks Arose from Acanthodian Fishes

Mar 16, 2017 by News Staff

A new study led by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) provides the strongest evidence to date that sharks arose from a group of bony fishes...

World’s Oldest Red Algae Fossils Found

Mar 15, 2017 by Natali Anderson

An international team of paleontologists from the Nordic Center for Earth Evolution and the Swedish Museum of Natural History has unearthed uniquely well-preserved...

Ancient crocodile-like animals first saw easy meals on land and then evolved limbs that enabled them to get there. Image credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation.

New Hypothesis for Origin of Terrestrial Vertebrates Proposed

Mar 10, 2017 by News Staff

It was the power of the eyes — not the limbs — that first led our ancient aquatic ancestors to make the leap from water to land, according...

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