Paleontology News

Ancient Mitochondrial DNA Reveals Convergent Evolution of Giant Bears in the Americas

Reconstruction of the giant, short-faced North American bear Arctodus simus. Image credit: Daniel Reed / CC BY-SA 3.0.
Apr 20, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

A study led by Dr. Kieren Mitchell of the University of Adelaide sheds new light on the evolution of what are believed to be the largest bears that ever lived on Earth. Reconstruction of the giant, short-faced North American bear Arctodus simus. Image credit: Daniel Reed / CC BY-SA 3.0. Giant bears (greater than 800-1,000 kg) roamed both North and South America during the Pleistocene, 2.5 million to 11,000 years ago. These animals belonged to a now...

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Torvosaurus gurneyi. Image credit: © Sergey Krasovskiy.

Dinosaurs Were in Long-Term Evolutionary Decline before Chicxulub Impact

Apr 19, 2016 by News Staff

According to a new research published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and which has been led by University of Reading scientists...

Asilisaurus kongwe: in this artist’s rendering, the reptile is shown as it would walk and move about; the stripes are artistic license, although the animal’s proto-feathers are likely. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Triassic Fossils Indicate How Dinosaurs Grew from Hatchlings to Adults

Apr 6, 2016 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists has found that fossilized leg bones of Asilisaurus kongwe — a dinosaur cousin that lived during the Middle Triassic epoch...

Aquilonifer spinosus: Silurian Arthropod Kept Its Young on Tether

Apr 5, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has unearthed a fossilized arthropod that carried its young in pouches tethered to the parent’s body, like a...

An artistic representation of the Miocene snake as it would have appeared in life. Image credit: Jim Robbins.

True Colors of Ancient Snake Revealed

Apr 4, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A green and black colubrid snake lived about 10 million years ago in what is today Spain, according to a team of scientists led by University College Cork...

Scientist Links Earth’s Periodic Mass Extinctions to Planet Nine

Mar 31, 2016 by News Staff

According to Prof. Daniel P. Whitmire from the University of Arkansas, the suspected Planet Nine triggers comet showers linked to mass extinctions on Earth...

An artist’s recreation of Giraffatitan (foreground), a sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Jurassic period. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov / Gerhard Boeggemann / Sci-News.com.

Paleontologists Explain Evolution of Sauropod Dinosaurs

Mar 30, 2016 by News Staff

A large team of paleontologists led by University of Liverpool scientist Dr. Karl Bates has developed computer models of the bodies of sauropod dinosaurs...

A pair of Boreonykus certekorum. Image credit: University of New England.

Boreonykus certekorum: Paleontologists Discover New Dinosaur Species in Canada

Mar 19, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

A new species of dromaeosaurid (raptor) dinosaur — Boreonykus certekorum — that thrived in the cold has been discovered in a remote part of...

Paleontologists Solve Mystery of ‘Tully Monster’

Mar 17, 2016 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from the United States has determined that Tullimonstrum gregarium (popularly known as the Tully monster) — a large soft-bodied...

Reconstruction of Timurlengia euotica. Image credit: Todd Marshall.

Timurlengia euotica: New Species of Tyrannosaur Discovered in Uzbekistan

Mar 15, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new dinosaur cousin of T. rex – named Timurlengia euotica — has been found in the Kyzylkum Desert, northern Uzbekistan. A reconstruction of Timurlengia...

An artist’s rendition of Teyujagua paradoxa. Image credit: Voltaire Neto.

Ancient Crocodile-Like Reptile Unearthed in Brazil: Teyujagua paradoxa

Mar 11, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Fossil remains of a previously unknown species of reptile that lived about 250 million years ago (Triassic period) have been found in the Brazilian state...

Life restoration of Ichthyosaurus anningae. Image credit: James McKay.

New Research Sheds Light on Extinction of Ichthyosaurs

Mar 10, 2016 by News Staff

According to a new research published in the journal Nature Communications, ichthyosaurs were driven to extinction by climate change and their own failure...

Fossiliferous mudstone containing Tortotubus protuberans. Image credit: Martin R. Smith.

Scientist Finds Fossil of Oldest Known Fungus

Mar 2, 2016 by News Staff

According to Dr. Martin Smith, a paleontologist at Durham University, UK, a fossil dating from the Silurian period of the Palaeozoic era, about 440 million...

An artist’s drawing of the abelisaur. Image credit: Davide Bonadonna / Imperial College London.

Paleontologists Determine Size of Rare Cretaceous Dinosaur

Mar 1, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A partially preserved femur from the Kem Kem beds of Morocco has revealed the size of a large-bodied theropod dinosaur called abelisaur. An artist’s...

Complete specimen of Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis and morphological reconstruction. Image credit: Jie Yang, Yunnan University / Javier Ortega-Hernández, University of Cambridge.

Paleontologists Find 520 Million-Year-Old Fossilized Central Nervous System

Feb 29, 2016 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists led by Yunnan University scientist Xi-guang Zhang has unearthed one of the oldest fossils of the central nervous system yet found. Complete...

Tube sponges Callyspongia sp. attracting cardinal fishes, golden sweepers and wrasses. Image credit: Nick Hobgood / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Study: Simple Sea Sponges Were Earth’s First Animals

Feb 25, 2016 by News Staff

Sea sponges appeared on our planet about 640 million years ago, much earlier than any other animal, according to a study published this week in the Proceedings...

This is an illustrated rendition of two male glyptodonts (Doedicurus clavicaudatus); massive, club-shaped tails were probably used more for intraspecific combat than defense against predators. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Researchers Sequence Mitochondrial Genome of Glyptodont

Feb 23, 2016 by Natali Anderson

An international group of scientists has successfully sequenced the whole mitochondrial genome of the ancient glyptodont – a heavily armored herbivorous...

Gastornis lived on Ellesmere Island in the High Arctic about 53 million years ago. Image credit: Marlin Peterson.

Giant, Flightless Birds Lived in Arctic 53 Million Years Ago

Feb 17, 2016 by News Staff

A new paper published in the journal Scientific Reports describes the first and only fossil evidence from the High Arctic of the giant, flightless bird...

Strychnos electri, encased in amber, was found by Prof. George Poinar in a Dominican amber mine. Image credit: George Poinar / Oregon State University.

Prehistoric Asterid Flowers Found Perfectly Preserved in Dominican Amber

Feb 16, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of paleontologists has identified two ancient flowers trapped in the mid-Tertiary Dominican amber as belonging to a previously unknown species of...

Artist’s reconstruction of Rhinconichthys sp. Image credit: Robert Nicholls.

Fossils Reveal Two New Species of Cretaceous Big-Mouthed Fish

Feb 9, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A group of paleontologists from the United States, the UK and China has discovered two new suspension-feeding species of the bony fish genus Rhinconichthys. Artist’s...

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