Paleontology News

Complex Skeletons Evolved Earlier Than Thought, Scientists Say

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.
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 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;...

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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...

Tyrannosaurus rex and other tyrannosaurid dinosaurs were cannibals, scientists say. Image credit: Luis Rey.

Paleontologists Say Tyrannosaurs Were Cannibals

Oct 29, 2015 by News Staff

A distinctive pattern of tooth marks on a 66-million-year-old tyrannosaur bone found in eastern Wyoming offers one of the best evidences yet that tyrannosaurid...

Reconstruction of Ornithomimus showing a plumage pattern that is consistent with previously described feathered specimens from Alberta, as well as with modern ratite birds, collectively suggesting a thermoregulatory role in all cases. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi.

Ornithomimus: Ostrich-Like Plumage Pattern Revealed in 75 Million-Year-Old Dinosaur

Oct 28, 2015 by News Staff

Paleontologists from the University of Alberta have unearthed an amazing ~ 75 million-year-old fossil of an ostrich-like dinosaur known as Ornithomimus. Reconstruction...

A British Pleistocene landscape during an interglacial with cave lion (Panthera spelaea), straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus), narrow-nosed rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus hemitoechus), steppe bison (Bison priscus), aurochs (Bison primigenius) and hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius). Image credit: Roman Uchytel, via the Netherlands Institute of Ecology.

Paleontologists: Pleistocene Hyper-Carnivores Kept Giant Plant-Eaters in Check

Oct 27, 2015 by News Staff

For several decades, scientists have wondered how Pleistocene ecosystems (2.5 million to 11,700 years ago) survived despite the presence of huge herbivores,...

Arvinachelys goldeni had a weird pig-like snout and lived in the shadows of Cretaceous dinosaurs. Image credit: Victor Leshyk.

Arvinachelys goldeni: Fossil Shows Pig-Snouted Turtles Lived among Dinosaurs

Oct 21, 2015 by News Staff

A discovery of ancient turtle bones in southern Utah has led a University of Texas paleontologist to identify a new species of long-extinct, pig-snouted...

Artist’s concept of Hakawai melvillei. Image credit: Vanesa L. De Pietri et al.

New Species of Ancient Shorebird Identified from New Zealand Fossils

Oct 19, 2015 by News Staff

An endemic and previously unknown species of shorebird has been identified from fossils found in Central Otago, New Zealand. Artist’s concept of Hakawai...

Paleontologists used a novel technique to find out dinosaurs’ body temperatures based on their eggshells. Image credit: Gerald Grenet-Tinnes.

Some Dinosaurs May Have Liked to Sunbathe, Paleontologists Say

Oct 17, 2015 by News Staff

Some species of dinosaurs had the ability to warm themselves by drawing heat from the Sun, according to an international team of paleontologists from the...

Perinatal specimens of Saurolophus angustirostris: bones on the right side of the block show a certain degree of articulation, whereas bones on the left are disarticulated. Image credit: Dewaele L et al.

Paleontologists Find Fossilized Hadrosaur Nest in Mongolia

Oct 15, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists from Belgium, France and Mongolia, has unearthed an exceptional block of perinatal specimens (babies) of the giant...

Life reconstruction of Spinolestes xenarthrosus. Image credit: Oscar Sanisidro.

Spinolestes xenarthrosus: Cretaceous Fossil Reveals Early Evolution of Hair

Oct 14, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has discovered a 125-million-year-old ancient mammal fossil, which has been named a new species, in Spain. According...

Shanweiniao cooperorum, a long-snouted enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous of China. Image credit: Nobu Tamura / CC BY 3.0.

Paleontologists: Primitive Birds Flew over Heads of Dinosaurs

Oct 8, 2015 by News Staff

Early birds were capable of performing aerodynamic feats in a manner similar to their modern-day counterparts, according to a team of paleontologists from...

The reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata), also known as the Somali giraffe. Image credit: Quartl / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Fossils Shed New Light on Evolution of Elongated Giraffe Neck

Oct 8, 2015 by News Staff

The evolution likely occurred in two stages as one of the animal’s neck vertebrae stretched first toward the head and then toward the tail a few million...

An artist’s rendering of a group of Ounalashkastylus tomidai. Image credit: © Ray Troll.

New Genus, Species of Extinct Hippo-Like Mammal Identified from Unalaska Fossils

Oct 8, 2015 by News Staff

A new genus and species of desmostylian mammal that lived about 23 million years ago (early Miocene) has been identified from fossils found on Unalaska,...

An artistic life reconstruction of Kimbetopsalis simmonsae. Image credit: Thomas E. Williamson et al / Unsplash / Sci-News.com.

Paleontologists Discover Ancient Mammal that Survived Dinosaur Extinction

Oct 5, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has found a specimen of a previously unknown species of mammal from the early Paleocene, about 65 million years...

An artist’s reconstruction of the 410-million-year-old armoured jawless fish Rhegmaspis xiphoidea. Image credit: Zhi-Kun Gai et al. / Dimitris Siskopoulos / Sci-News.com.

Rhegmaspis xiphoidea: New Species of Jawless Fish Unearthed in China

Oct 2, 2015 by News Staff

A new species – and genus – of armored jawless fish has come to light in the Chinese rocks dating to the Pragian stage of Devonian. An artist’s...

Double Catastrophe Wiped Out Dinosaurs: Deccan Traps Volcanism and Chicxulub Impact

Oct 2, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from India and the United States has uncovered evidence that a massive comet or asteroid impact on Earth 66 million...

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