Paleontology News

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...

An artist’s interpretation of Rusingoryx atopocranion on the Late Pleistocene plains of what is now Rusinga Island, Lake Victoria. Image credit: Todd S. Marshall, www.marshalls-art.com.

Pleistocene Mammal Rusingoryx atopocranion Had Dinosaur-Like ‘Nose’

Feb 5, 2016 by News Staff

Rusingoryx atopocranion — a little-known wildebeest-like bovid that lived in equatorial East Africa 100,000 – 50,000 years ago (late Pleistocene)...

Eotrachodon orientalis: left lateral view of the assembled skull. Image credit: Albert Prieto-Marquez et al.

Eotrachodon orientalis: New Duck-Billed Dinosaur Species Discovered

Jan 26, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A team of paleontologists has discovered a new species of primitive duck-billed dinosaur, called Eotrachodon orientalis, in Alabama. Eotrachodon orientalis:...

Dracoraptor hanigani restored as a shoreline dwelling predator and scavenger. Image credit: Bob Nichols, paleocreations.com.

Dracoraptor hanigani: New Species of Dinosaur Discovered in Wales

Jan 21, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have discovered what they say is a new theropod dinosaur that lived 200 million years ago in Wales. Dracoraptor hanigani restored as a...

Excavations of the carcass of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) from channel deposits unit. Image credit: Vladimir V. Pitulko et al.

Woolly Mammoth Find Suggests Earlier Human Arrival in Eurasian Arctic

Jan 19, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A partial carcass of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) with signs of weapon-inflicted injuries suggests people lived in the Eurasian Arctic 10,000...

Morelladon beltrani: New Sail-Backed Dinosaur Species Discovered in Spain

Dec 17, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of ornithopod dinosaur has been discovered in Spain dating back 125 million years to the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch. Life...

SEM images of Eokinorhynchus rarus. Abbreviations: A1-A20 - 1st to 20th trunk annulus; an - anus; cs - caudal spine; hsc - head scalid; ls - large sclerite; 1ls-5ls - 1st to 5th pair of large sclerites; mg - midgut; nsc - neck scalid; spl - small plate; ss - small spine; vls - ventral large sclerite. Image credit: Huaqiao Zhang et al.

535-Million-Year-Old Fossils of Microscopic Worms Unearthed in China

Dec 14, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of paleontologists has discovered several early Cambrian (535 million years old) fossils of kinorhynch worms, including the new species Eokinorhynchus...

Kunbarrasaurus ieversi: New Armored Dinosaur Species Discovered

Dec 11, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A new species of armored dinosaur has been identified from bones discovered more than two decades ago in Australia. An artist impression of Kunbarrasaurus...

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...