Paleontology News

Study: Several Groups of Pterosaurs Became More Terrestrial 160 Million Years Ago

Terrestrial locomotion and track morphology of pterodactyloid pterosaurs: (A) reconstruction of the ctenochasmatoid pterosaur Ctenochasma elegans walking using an ipsilateral gait in which fore and hind limbs on the same side of the body move together as pairs; (B) manual and pedal morphology of Ctenochasma elegans; the pes is plantigrade and pentadactyl, whereas the manus is digitigrade and functionally tridactyl, as the large fourth digit, which supports the outer wing, is folded away during terrestrial locomotion; (C) height map of pterosaur manus and pes footprints in the holotype of the ichnotaxon Pteraichnus stokesi, exhibiting a morphology consistent with that of Ctenochasma elegans; (D) height map of part of a pterosaur trackway, Pteraichnus isp., from the Upper Jurassic Cazals Formation of Crayssac, France; (E) interpretive outline drawing of Pteraichnus isp. Scale bars - 20 mm in (C) and 200 mm in (D) and (E). Image credit: Smyth et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.017.
May 1, 2025 by News Staff

Pterosaurs are often imagined soaring over the heads of dinosaurs, but a new analysis of their fossilized footprints shows that some of these flying reptiles were just as comfortable walking on the ground. Terrestrial locomotion and track morphology of pterodactyloid pterosaurs: (A) reconstruction of the ctenochasmatoid pterosaur Ctenochasma elegans walking using an ipsilateral gait in which fore and hind limbs on the same side of the body move together...

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Sebecid crocodyliforms dominated South American landscapes after the extinction of dinosaurs until about 11 million years ago. Image credit: Jorge Machuky.

6-Million-Year-Old Fossils of Terrestrial Apex Predator Discovered in Dominican Republic

Apr 30, 2025 by News Staff

This apex predator is a type of sebecid crocodyliform with South American origins, according to new research led by the Florida Museum of Natural History. Sebecid...

An artist’s impression of Kryoryctes cadburyi. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Early Monotremes were Semiaquatic Burrowers, Paleontologists Find

Apr 30, 2025 by News Staff

Up until now, the accepted understanding about these egg-laying was that they were both descended from a land-bound ancestor. And while the platypus ancestors...

Artist’s impression of two Diluvicursor pickeringi foraging on the bank of a high-energy river within the Australian-Antarctic rift valley. Image credit: Peter Trusler.

Small-Bodied Herbivorous Dinosaur Unearthed in Scotland

Apr 28, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

The specimen is the first and most complete partial dinosaur skeleton currently known from Scotland, according to a team of paleontologists led by National...

The pawprints of a nimravid from the John Day Formation of Oregon, the United States. Image credit: NPS.

29-Million-Year-Old Footprints of False Saber-Toothed Cat Discovered in Oregon

Apr 25, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists have discovered 50- to 25-million-year-old fossilized footprints of invertebrates and vertebrates, including a false saber-toothed cat...

Vulcanidris cratensis, holotype. Scale bar - 2 mm. Image credit: Lepeco et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.03.023.

113-Million-Year-Old Hell Ant Fossil Found in Brazil

Apr 24, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists have described the oldest known member of Haidomyrmecinae — an extinct subfamily of ants that only lived during the Cretaceous period...

Protemnodon. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin / Rochelle Lawrence / Scott Hocknull.

Small Home Ranges Made Ancient Giant Kangaroos Vulnerable to Local Extinctions, Study Says

Apr 23, 2025 by News Staff

Large-bodied extinct kangaroos of the genus Protemnodon were not intrepid travelers who bounded across the plains, but rather homebodies, who did not journey...

Paleoenvironmental habitat reconstruction for Dysopodus gezei (foreground): a Barremian freshwater lake in the region of present-day Bkassine, Lebanon. Image credit: Aldrich Hezekiah.

125-Million-Year-Old Fossil Shines Light on Origin of Subterranean Freshwater Isopods

Apr 21, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of cymothoidan isopod that lived during the Early Cretaceous epoch has been identified from two well-preserved specimens found...

The swamp yabby (Cherax latimanus). Image credit: McCormack & Raadik, doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5026.3.2.

Giant Freshwater Crayfish Lived in New Zealand 20 Million Years Ago

Apr 18, 2025 by News Staff

The fossil record of freshwater crayfish is surprisingly sparse, comprising mostly trace fossils, some body fossils and rarely gastroliths. Paleontologists...

Illustration of the process of volume rendering and measurement taken using volume renderings of Basiceros enana. Image credit: Fiorentino et al., doi: 10.1098/rspb.2024.2171.

New Species of Dirt Ant Found Preserved in Dominican Amber

Apr 16, 2025 by News Staff

Dirt ants (genus Basiceros) are widely distributed yet rarely encountered members of Neotropical ecosystems. Their rarity is attributed to a cryptobiotic...

Some 215 million years ago in what is now northwestern Argentina, the terrestrial crocodylomorph Hemiprotosuchus leali prepares to devour the early mammal relative Chaliminia musteloides. Image credit: Jorge Gonzalez.

How Crocodylian Ancestors Survived Two Mass Extinctions

Apr 16, 2025 by News Staff

Crocodylians are surviving members of a 230-million-year lineage called crocodylomorphs, a group that includes living crocodylians (i.e. crocodiles, alligators...

Life reconstruction of Cienciargentina sanchezi. Image credit: Connor Ashbridge / CC BY 4.0.

New Species of Sauropod Dinosaur Unearthed in Argentina

Apr 14, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur has been described from fossils discovered at a paleontological locality in the Argentine province...

Cast specimen of Ruopodosaurus clava from the Murray River, British Columbia, Canada. Image credit: Arbour et al., doi: 10.1080/02724634.2025.2451319.

100-Million-Year-Old Footprints of Tail-Clubbed Armored Dinosaurs Discovered in Canada

Apr 14, 2025 by News Staff

Assigned to the new ichnospecies Ruopodosaurus clava, these dinosaur footprints found in northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta confirm...

Life reconstruction of Duonychus tsogtbaatari. Image credit: Masato Hattori.

Bizarre New Species of Therizinosaur Had Two-Fingered Hands

Apr 11, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed the fossilized remains of a new and unusual therizinosaurid dinosaur with atypical hands in Mongolia. Life reconstruction...

Life reconstruction of the steppe mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii). Image credit: Beth Zaiken / Centre for Palaeogenetics.

New Genomic Research Sheds More Light on Evolutionary History of Mammoths

Apr 10, 2025 by News Staff

Scientists have extracted and analyzed 34 new mammoth (Mammuthus spp.) mitochondrial genomes, including two Early Pleistocene and nine Middle Pleistocene...

Life reconstruction of a large-sized ankylopollexian iguanodontian dinosaur interacting with a juvenile in the Late Jurassic of Europe. Image credit: Vitor Carvalho.

Fossils of Previously Unknown Iguanodontian Dinosaurs Found in Portugal

Apr 9, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Portugal have found several specimens from large-sized ankylopollexian iguanodontians that lived 150 million years ago (Late Jurassic...

Herd of Teleoceras rhinos. Image credit: Jay Matternes / Smithsonian Museum.

Extinct North American Rhinos Lived in Huge Herds, Paleontologists Say

Apr 9, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists have examined teeth of Teleoceras major — an extinct species of rhinocerotid that lived in North America from 17.5 to 5 million years...

Colossal Biosciences’ dire wolves, Romulus and Remus, at an age of three months (born on October 1, 2024). Image credit: Colossal Biosciences.

Colossal Biosciences Claims to Have ‘De-Extincted’ Dire Wolf

Apr 8, 2025 by News Staff

Colossal Biosciences, the world’s only de-extinction company, has announced the rebirth of the once extinct dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus). Colossal Biosciences’...

Cranium of Yuanmouraptor jinshajiangensis. Image credit: Zou et al., doi: 10.7717/peerj.19218.

New Carnivorous Dinosaur Unveiled: Yuanmouraptor jinshajiangensis

Apr 7, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in China have unearthed a relatively complete skull and vertebrae that belonged to a previously unknown metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur...

A 167-million-year-old dinosaur trackway at Prince Charles’s Point on the Isle of Skye. Image credit: Blakesley et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319862.

167-Million-Year-Old Footprints of Giant Dinosaurs Found on Isle of Skye

Apr 2, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists have discovered 131 tracks of large theropods and sauropods in the Middle Jurassic Kilmaluag Formation at Prince Charles’s Point, situated...

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