Paleontology News

Pterosaurs Had Four Types of Feathers, New Study Shows

Reconstruction of one of the studied Yanliao Biota pterosaurs, with four different feather types over its head, neck, body, and wings, and a generally ginger-brown color. Image credit: Yuan Zhang.
Dec 18, 2018 by News Staff

Pterosaurs lived side by side with dinosaurs, some 230 to 66 million years ago. They were the first vertebrates to achieve true flapping flight, but in the absence of living species, many questions concerning their biology and lifestyle remain unresolved. It has long been known that they had some sort of furry covering called ‘pycnofibers,’ and it was presumed that it was fundamentally different to feathers of dinosaurs and birds. An analysis...

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Life reconstruction of Crittendenceratops krzyzanowskii. Image credit: Sergey Krasovskiy.

New Horned Dinosaur Discovered in Arizona

Dec 17, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of herbivorous ceratopsid (horned) dinosaur being named Crittendenceratops krzyzanowskii has been discovered by paleontologists...

An artist’s rendition of a supernova explosion. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / L. Calcada / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Nearby Supernova Explosions Triggered End-Pliocene Marine Mass Extinction, Researchers Say

Dec 13, 2018 by News Staff

Approximately 2.6 million years ago (Pliocene epoch), a tsunami of cosmic energy from a massive supernova or a series of them about 150 light-years away...

Schematic illustration of temperature-dependent hypoxia as a driver of the end-Permian marine mass extinction. Greenhouse gas forcing in a model of Earth’s climate at the end of the Permian drives ocean warming (contours) and oxygen loss that match geochemical proxy data. Ocean warming raises the organismal oxygen demand amid declining supply. The resulting loss of aerobic habitat for diverse physiologies induces a mass extinction in model animal types (line) whose geographic signature -- increased severity outside of the tropics -- is consistent with reconstructions from the marine fossil record (circles). Image credit: J. Penn / C. Deutsch / E. Haeckel / W. Kaveney / H. Fjeld / J. White.

End-Permian Marine Mass Extinction Caused by Increased Temperatures, Oxygen Loss: Study

Dec 12, 2018 by News Staff

Some 252 million years ago, intense volcanic activity belched massive volumes of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and triggered rapid changes to the...

Stenopterygius ichthyosaur’s fossilized skin forming the trailing edge of the right pelvic fin. Image credit: Johan Lindgren.

Early Jurassic Ichthyosaur Was Warm-Blooded, Had Blubber and Camouflage, Well-Preserved Soft Tissues Show

Dec 10, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has found the exceptionally preserved remains of a Stenopterygius ichthyosaur that lived 180 million years ago...

An artist’s impression of Weewarrasaurus pobeni. Image credit: James Kuether.

New Dinosaur Species Discovered in Australia: Weewarrasaurus pobeni

Dec 6, 2018 by News Staff

Paleontologists in Australia have found a fossil fragment from a new species of ornithopod dinosaur that walked the Earth approximately 100 million years...

An artistic reconstruction of a mother and calf of Maiabalaena nesbittae nursing offshore of Oregon during the Oligocene, about 33 million years ago. Image credit: Alex Boersma, www.alexboersma.com.

Oligocene-Epoch Whale Had Neither Teeth Nor Hair-Like Baleen

Dec 3, 2018 by News Staff

A team of U.S. paleontologists has described a remarkable new species of whale that lived about 33 million years ago (Oligocene epoch). The researchers...

An artist’s impression of Elasmotherium sp. Image credit: W. S. Van der Merwe, www.deviantart.com/willemsvdmerw.

Giant Siberian Rhinoceros Lived alongside Early Modern Humans

Nov 28, 2018 by News Staff

For a long time it was believed that a giant rhinoceros called Elasmotherium sibericum went extinct around 200,000 years ago — well before the...

Lisowicia bojani. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov / CC BY 3.0.

Elephant-Sized Dicynodont from Triassic Period Discovered: Lisowicia bojani

Nov 27, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Poland have found fossil fragments from a giant new species of mammal-like reptile that walked the Earth approximately 237 million years...

Lavocatisaurus agrioensis. Image credit: Canudo et al, doi: 10.4202/app.00524.2018.

New Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Discovered

Nov 21, 2018 by News Staff

A new species of sauropod dinosaur that stretched 39 feet (12 m) from head to tail has been unearthed in Patagonia, Argentina. Lavocatisaurus agrioensis....

A reconstruction of Mirarce eatoni perched on the horns of the ceratopsian dinosaur Utahceratops gettyi. Image credit: Brian Engh, dontmesswithdinosaurs.com.

Mirarce eatoni: Newly-Discovered Cretaceous Bird Lived Among Dinosaurs, Was Strong Flier

Nov 13, 2018 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed the partial skeleton of an enantiornithine (opposite bird) that lived in what is now Utah approximately 75 million years...

Geologists Professor Stephen Rowland and Dr. Mario Caputo discovered that a set of 28 footprints left behind by a reptile 310 million years ago are the oldest ever to be found in Grand Canyon National Park. Image credit: Stephen Rowland.

Geologists Find 310-Million-Year-Old Reptile Footprints in Grand Canyon National Park

Nov 9, 2018 by News Staff

Geologists have discovered a set of 28 footprints left behind by an ancient reptile approximately 310 million years ago in what is now Grand Canyon National...

An artist impression of Huanansaurus ganzhouensis. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.

Modern Birds Inherited Colored Eggs from Their Dinosaur Ancestors, Study Says

Nov 2, 2018 by News Staff

Modern birds inherited their egg color from non-avian dinosaur ancestors that laid eggs in fully or partially open nests, according to new research led...

An artist’s interpretation of elephant birds foraging in the ancient forests of Madagascar at night. Image credit: John Maisano / University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences.

Study: Elephant Birds were Nocturnal, Possibly Blind

Nov 1, 2018 by News Staff

The recently extinct Malagasy elephant birds included the largest birds ever discovered. Seven species are recognized across two genera, including the...

Reconstruction of Archaeopteryx albersdoerferi. Image credit: Zhao Chuang / Martin Kundrát.

Paleontologists Discover New Species of Archaeopteryx

Oct 26, 2018 by News Staff

Archaeopteryx was first described as the ‘missing link’ between reptiles and birds in 1861 — and is now regarded as the link between dinosaurs...

The aridificaiton of Australia impacted the hunting effectiveness or preybase of the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) contributing to its extinction. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Climate Change Played Major Role in Demise of Marsupial Lion

Oct 25, 2018 by News Staff

New evidence indicates the primary cause of the extinction of one of Australia’s top predators, the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex), around 40,000...

Piranhamesodon pinnatomus, 2.8 inches (7.1 cm) long, from the Late Jurassic of Ettling, Solnhofen Archipelago, Germany. Image credit: M. Ebert.

Jurassic Flesh-Eating Fish Had Piranha-Like Teeth

Oct 19, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

A remarkable new species of predatory fish that lived about 152 million years ago (Jurassic period) has been identified from a fossil found in Germany. Piranhamesodon...

The yellow pot sponge (Rhabdastrella globostellata), a modern species of demosponge that makes the same 26-mes steroids that Zumberge et al found in ancient rocks. Image credit: Ria Tan, www.wildsingapore.com / CC BY 2.0.

Scientists Find New Biomarker Evidence for Neoproterozoic Animals

Oct 17, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by University of California, Riverside’s Professor Gordon Love has found the oldest evidence yet of animal life, dating back...

Life restoration of Sarahsaurus aurifontanalis. Image credit: Brian Engh, www.dontmesswithdinosaurs.com.

New Fossils of Ground Sloth-Like Dinosaur Could Help Reveal Why Sauropods Got So Big

Oct 16, 2018 by News Staff

Sauropods are a group of plant-eating dinosaurs which exceeded all other terrestrial vertebrates in body size. A new, in-depth anatomical description of...

Life appearance of the fossil flying squirrel Miopetaurista neogrivensis showing the animal ready to land on a tree branch. Image credit: Oscar Sanisidro / ICP.

World’s Oldest Flying Squirrel Fossil Discovered

Oct 10, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has found the world’s oldest flying squirrel fossil — an 11.63-million-year-old specimen of an extinct...

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