Paleontology News

Paleontologists Find New Fossils of Gigantic Freshwater Turtle

Reconstruction of Stupendemys geographicus male (front) and female (middle-left), together with the giant caimanine Purussaurus mirandai and the large catfish Phractocephalus nassi. Image credit: Jaime Chirinos.
Feb 17, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of paleontologists has unearthed several well-preserved shells and the first known jaw specimen of Stupendemys geographicus, a species of freshwater side-necked turtle that lived 5-10 million years ago (Miocence period) in South America. Together, the fossils shed new light on the biology, past distribution, and phylogenetic position of the gigantic turtle. Reconstruction of Stupendemys geographicus male (front) and female (middle-left),...

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An artist’s impression of Tralkasaurus cuyi. Image credit: Sebastian Rozadilla.

New Carnivorous Dinosaur Unearthed in Argentina

Feb 17, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of medium-sized abelisaurid dinosaur being named Tralkasaurus cuyi has been discovered by Dr. Mauricio Cerroni from the Argentine...

Discoscapa apicula; the bee is carrying four beetle triungulins. Image credit: George Poinar Jr. / College of Science, Oregon State University.

99-Million-Year-Old Bee Found Encased in Burmese Amber

Feb 13, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a paper published online in the journal Palaeodiversity, Oregon State University’s Professor George Poinar Jr. described a new family, genus and species...

Thanatotheristes degrootorum. Image credit: Julius Scotonyi, Royal Tyrrell Museum.

Meet Thanatotheristes degrootorum, New Tyrannosaur from Canada

Feb 11, 2020 by News Staff

A new species of tyrannosaurine dinosaur that lived about 79.5 million years ago (Cretaceous period) has been identified from fossils found in Alberta,...

This is an artist’s rendition of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius). Image credit: Flying Puffin / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Scientists ‘Resurrect’ Mutated Genes of Wrangel Island Mammoths

Feb 7, 2020 by News Staff

Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) were among the most abundant cold adapted species during the Pleistocene. Their once large populations went extinct...

Jurassic Fossil Shows Pterosaurs Preyed on Soft-Bodied Cephalopods

Feb 6, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists in Germany have found the 150-million-year-old fossilized remains of the extremely rare squid Plesioteuthis subovata preserved with a tooth...

Paleontologists Identify New Species of Thalattosaur

Feb 5, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of marine reptile from the Triassic period has been identified from fossils found in southeastern Alaska, the United States. An artist’s...

A group of Allosaurus jimmadseni attacks a juvenile sauropod dinosaur. Image credit: Todd Marshall.

New Species of Carnivorous Dinosaur Unveiled: Allosaurus jimmadseni

Jan 27, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of carnivorous theropod dinosaur has been identified from the fossilized remains discovered in the 1990s in northeastern Utah and Wyoming, the...

High-resolution SEM micrograph of the mycelium-like structures from the Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup, Democratic Republic of Congo. Image credit: Bonneville et al, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aax7599.

715-Million-Year-Old Fungi Microfossils Found

Jan 24, 2020 by Natali Anderson

An international team of researchers has found the microscopic fungal filaments and mycelium-like structures in 715-million-year-old (Neoproterozoic Era)...

Reconstructed life appearance of the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus in (top) side and (bottom) frontal view, based on remains uncovered from the Neumark-Nord 1 site in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Image credit: Hsu Shu-yu.

New Research Tracks Evolution of Extinct Straight-Tusked Elephants

Jan 23, 2020 by News Staff

Palaeoloxodon is an extinct genus of straight-tusked elephants that lived throughout Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and Holocene. It migrated out...

Reconstruction of Parioscorpio venator. Structures outlined in gray are inferred based on Proscorpius osborni. Structures highlighted with gray infilling are the preserved elements of the pulmonary-cardiovascular system. Image credit: Wendruff et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-56010-z.

Fossils of Earliest Known Scorpion Discovered

Jan 20, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The exceptionally preserved fossils of the oldest species of scorpion ever found have been unearthed in Wisconsin, the United States. Reconstruction of...

An artist’s rendering of what Wulong bohaiensis might have looked like. Image credit: Erick Toussaint.

New Feathered Dinosaur Species Identified in China

Jan 17, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in China have identified a new species of microraptorine dromaeosaur closely related to the famous dinosaur Velociraptor. An artist’s...

The fossilized cloudinomorph Costatubus bibendi from the Wood Canyon Formation, Nye County, Nevada, the United States. Image credit: Scale bar - 1 mm. Image credit: Selly et al, doi: 10.1080/14772019.2019.1623333 / Schiffbauer et al, doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13882-z.

550-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Guts Found

Jan 14, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the University of Missouri have discovered the well-preserved digestive tracts in the fossils of microscopic animals called cloudinomorphs....

Fossil Stemonitis in Kachin amber. Image credit: Rikkinen et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-55622-9.

World’s Oldest Slime Mold Found in Amber

Jan 13, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The fossilized fruiting bodies of a myxomycete from the extant genus Stemonitis preserved in Kachin amber date back some 100 million years (mid-Cretaceous...

A juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex, based on the Jane specimen, walking through a lake. Image credit: PaleoEquii / CC BY-SA 4.0.

New Study Shows How Tyrannosaurus rex Grew Up

Jan 2, 2020 by News Staff

In the early 2000s, the fossilized skeletons of two small tyrannosaurs were collected from the famous Hell Creek Formation of Carter County, Montana. Nicknamed...

Dr. West hunts for fossils using a rock hammer to split apart shale on Ellesmere Island. Image credit: Markus Sudermann.

Canadian High Arctic Islands Were Once Home to Rich Forests

Dec 30, 2019 by News Staff

Lush green forests grew on Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg islands of the Canadian High Arctic 56 million years ago (Paleocene-Eocene boundary), according to...

Rocks containing microscopic pollen were collected to determine the age of fossil leaves from Castle Cove, Otway Ranges, Victoria, Australia. Image credit: Vera Korasidis.

Flowering Plants Reached Australia 126 Million Years Ago: Study

Dec 25, 2019 by News Staff

Australia’s oldest angiosperms (flowering plants) are approximately 126 million years old, and they resembled modern magnolias, buttercups and laurels,...

An artist’s impression of an adult and a juvenile Dendromaia unamakiensis. Image credit: Henry Sharpe.

305-Million-Year-Old Fossil Shows Parent Caring for Its Offspring

Dec 24, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A Carboniferous-period fossil found in Nova Scotia, Canada, shows an ancient creature called a varanopid synapsid (family Varanopidae) caring for its young. An...

An artist’s depiction of the ornithopod dinosaur Weewarrasaurus pobeni tending its nest. Image credit: University of New England.

Paleontologists Uncover Fossilized Remains of Baby Ornithopod Dinosaurs in Australia

Dec 23, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed the 100-million-year-old (Cretaceous period) fossilized bones of perinatal non-iguanodontian ornithopods in the Griman Creek...

Illustration of Isityumzi mlomomde (lower right) and other Late Devonian freshwater ecosystem creatures including the early tetrapod Unzantsia. Image credit: Maggie Newman.

365-Million-Year-Old Lungfish Unearthed in South Africa

Dec 23, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of lungfish that lived approximately 365 million years ago (Famennian stage of the Late Devonian period) has been identified from...

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