Paleontology News

98-Million-Year-Old Burmese Amber Preserves Hell Ants

Photomicrograph of Linguamyrmex vladi. Image credit: Barden et al, doi: 10.1111/syen.12253.
Sep 13, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a paper published in the journal Systematic Entomology, researchers described an unusual species of prehistoric trap-jaw ant found in several pieces of Burmese amber (known as burmite). Photomicrographs of Linguamyrmex vladi. Scale bars – 0.5 mm. Image credit: Barden et al, doi: 10.1111/syen.12253. The new species is named Linguamyrmex vladi and belongs to the tribe Haidomyrmecini (unicorn or hell ants). It lived about 98 million years ago...

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Limusaurus inextricabilis is the only known reptile to lose its teeth and form a beak after birth. Image credit: Yu Chen.

Oviraptors Roosted Together Like Modern Birds, Paleontologists Say

Sep 6, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 70-million-year-old fossilized remains of three juvenile oviraptorids from the Nemegt Formation of Southern Mongolia are the first evidence of ‘communal...

Reconstruction of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus). Image credit: Sergio de la Larosa / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Research Sheds New Light on Biology of Extinct Cave Bear

Sep 5, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to new research from the University of Zürich, the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) — one of the biggest bear species in history — had...

Life restoration of the Upper Cretaceous plesiosaur Morturneria seymourensis. Image credit: Texas Tech University.

Antarctic Plesiosaur Filtered Food Like Modern Baleen Whales

Sep 4, 2017 by News Staff

In 1984, Texas Tech University paleontologists Sankar Chatterjee and Bryan Small unearthed the fossilized skull of a previously unknown marine reptile...

Aepyornithomimus tugrikinensis. Image credit: Masato Hattori.

New Ostrich-Like Dinosaur Discovered in Mongolia: Aepyornithomimus tugrikinensis

Sep 4, 2017 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have found fossil fragments from a new species of ornithomimosaur (ostrich-mimic dinosaur) that walked the Earth between 84 and 72 million...

Reconstruction of the ancient toothed whale Janjucetus. Image credit: Carl Buell.

Archaic Whales were Ferocious Predators, New Research Shows

Aug 31, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

The teeth of archaic whales were as sharp as those of terrestrial predators, and thus were capable of capturing and processing prey, according to new research...

Life reconstruction of Lagenanectes richterae. Image credit: Frederik Spindler.

Meet Lagenanectes richterae, One of Oldest Known Elasmosaurs

Aug 29, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a study published Friday in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, paleontologists report the discovery of a partially-preserved skeleton of one of...

A rendering of Inermorostrum xenops. Image credit: Robert Boessenecker.

Toothless Dwarf Dolphin Provides Insights into Cetacean Evolution

Aug 24, 2017 by News Staff

A new species of extinct dwarf dolphin that lived about 30 million years ago (Oligocene epoch) and possessed adaptations for suction feeding has been identified...

Life reconstruction of Shingopana songwensis. Image credit: Mark Witton, www.markwitton.com.

Shingopana songwensis: New Titanosaur Species Discovered in Tanzania

Aug 24, 2017 by News Staff

A new species of long-necked titanosaurian dinosaur has been unearthed in southwestern Tanzania. Life reconstruction of Shingopana songwensis. Image credit:...

This painting depicts an asteroid slamming into tropical, shallow seas of the sulfur-rich Yucatan Peninsula in what is today southeast Mexico. The aftermath of this immense asteroid collision, which occurred approximately 65 million years ago, is believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species on Earth. Shown in this painting are pterodactyls, flying reptiles with wingspans of up to 50 feet, gliding above low tropical clouds. Image credit: Donald E. Davis / NASA.

Dino-Killing Chicxulub Asteroid Inhibited Photosynthesis, Cooled Earth for Up To Four Years

Aug 23, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of Colorado Boulder and NASA has used a world-class computer model...

An artist’s reconstruction of Anatoliadelphys maasae. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Cat-Sized Marsupial Relative Lived in Turkey 43 Million Years Ago

Aug 18, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Fossils discovered in Turkey represent a new species that is a previously unknown relative of modern-day marsupials, according to a new paper published...

Cryogenian Earth. Image credit: NASA.

‘Rise of Algae’ in Cryogenian Oceans Led to Appearance of First Complex Organisms, Study Says

Aug 17, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

The rapid rise of marine planktonic algae 659-645 million years ago (Cryogenian period), between the Sturtian and Marinoan ‘snowball Earth’ glaciations,...

Tropidogyne pentaptera, holotype. Scale bars -1 mm. Image credit: George O. Poinar, Jr. / Kenton L. Chambers.

Cretaceous Flowers Found Preserved in Burmese Amber

Aug 17, 2017 by News Staff

In a paper published recently in the journal Palaeodiversity, U.S. paleontologists described a new species of angiosperm flower, Tropidogyne pentaptera,...

Chilesaurus diegosuarezi was up to 3 meters long; the different parts of its body were adapted to a particular diet and way of life, which was similar to other groups of dinosaurs. Image credit: Gabriel Lio.

‘Missing Link’ in Dinosaur Family Tree Discovered: Chilesaurus diegosuarezi

Aug 15, 2017 by News Staff

Chilesaurus diegosuarezi, a peculiar dinosaur that roamed the Earth some 145 million years ago and looked like a raptor but was in fact a plant-eater,...

A paleoartist’s reconstruction of Lemmysuchus obtusidens. The reconstruction contains details relating to Motörhead, with the pattern on the head based on the band’s Snaggletooth logo. Image credit: Mark Witton, Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London.

New Prehistoric Crocodile Identified: Lemmysuchus obtusidens

Aug 12, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has identified a new teleosaur and named it after Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, frontman of the band Motörhead. A...

Life reconstruction of Patagotitan mayorum. Image credit: Jorge Gonzalez.

Meet Patagotitan mayorum, Biggest Animal Ever to Walk Earth

Aug 11, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the Museo Egidio Feruglio in Argentina have discovered and described a new supermassive titanosaur species. At about 122 feet (37...

Maiopatagium furculiferum in Jurassic forest in crepuscular (dawn and dusk) light: a mother with a baby in suspending roosting posture, climbing on tree trunk, and in gliding. Image credit: April I. Neander, University of Chicago.

Gliding Proto-Mammals Lived among Jurassic Dinosaurs

Aug 11, 2017 by News Staff

Dinosaurs that roamed what is now China some 160 million years ago had two ‘flying’ neighbors — strange creatures with long limbs, long hand,...

Life reconstruction of Latenivenatrix mcmasterae. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi.

Two New Cretaceous Dinosaur Species Discovered in Canada

Aug 9, 2017 by News Staff

Paleontologists have announced the discovery of two new troodontid dinosaur species, Latenivenatrix mcmasterae and Stenonychosaurus inequalis, based on...

The living scene of Corythoraptor jacobsi. Image credit: Zhao Chuang.

Corythoraptor jacobsi: New Species of Bird-Like Dinosaur Discovered in China

Aug 8, 2017 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of paleontologists has identified from an almost complete skeleton found in China a massive oviraptorid dinosaur with a toothless...

A reconstruction of Borealopelta markmitchelli indicating the stressful life it must have lived with the constant chance of being eaten. Image credit: Robert Nicholls.

Meet Borealopelta markmitchelli, ‘Best-Preserved Armored Dinosaur’

Aug 3, 2017 by News Staff

An analysis of the fossilized skin of Borealopelta markmitchelli, the most well-preserved of the armored dinosaurs ever unearthed, has revealed that the...

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