Paleontology News

Tiger sharks are starting to gather to take an easy piece of the large prey, as a crocodylian attacks the ancient dugongid sirenian mammal Culebratherium. Image credit: Jaime Bran Sarmiento.

Miocene-Period Dugong Was Eaten by Crocodile and Tiger Sharks, Paleontologists Say

Aug 29, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed a 20-million-year-old fossilized skeleton of a species of the dugongid sirenian mammal Culebratherium with shark and crocodylian...

An abelisaurid tooth associated with the holotype specimen of Caletodraco cottardi. Image credit: Buffetaut et al., doi: 10.3390/fossils2030009.

New Abelisaurid Dinosaur Species Discovered in France

Aug 27, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have added another species to the Cretaceous-period dinosaur fauna of Europe, and this one was found in Normandy, France. An abelisaurid...

A long ornithopod trackway at Passagem das Pedra, Sousa Basin preserved in floodplain deposits of Lower Cretaceous. Image credit: Ismar de Souza Carvalho / SMU.

Paleontologists Discover Matching Sets of Dinosaur Footprints in Africa and South America

Aug 26, 2024 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists led by Southern Methodist University has discovered more than 260 footprints of Early Cretaceous dinosaurs in Brazil and in Cameroon,...

Artistic reconstruction of Beorn leggi (top) and Aerobius dactylus (bottom) in a hypothetical fossilization environment. Image credit: Franz Anthony.

Cretaceous Amber Fossils Shed New Light on Evolutionary Origin of Tardigrades

Aug 23, 2024 by News Staff

Tardigrades are a diverse group of microscopic invertebrates widely known for their extreme survival capabilities. Molecular clocks suggest that tardigrades...

Life reconstruction of Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus. Image credit: Joschua Knüppe.

New Carnivorous Dinosaur Species Unearthed in Kyrgyzstan

Aug 22, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of large theropod dinosaur being named Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus has been discovered in the Middle Jurassic Balabansai Formation in...

Hare Indian dog, lithograph by John Woodhouse Audubon.

Ancient mtDNA Reveals Presence of Indigenous Dogs at Jamestown Colony in Early 17th Century

Aug 20, 2024 by News Staff

Multiple studies have demonstrated that European colonization of the Americas led to the extinction of nearly all North American dog mitochondrial lineages...

Life reconstruction of a pair of Agapornis longipes feeding on the ground in the Early Pleistocene of the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa, during the dry season. Image credit: Martina Cadin.

Prehistoric Lovebirds Lived in Cradle of Humankind 2.5 Million Years Ago

Aug 19, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have found the fossilized bones from a new species of the parrot genus Agapornis at three localities of the UNESCO World Heritage site...

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

Triassic Lungfish Fossils Discovered in Zimbabwe

Aug 16, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of ancient lungfish from the Triassic period has been identified from fossilized tooth plate material found in the Mid-Zambezi Basin, Zimbabwe. Life...

Jantungspermum gunnellii. Image credit: Spagnuolo et al., doi: 10.1086/730538.

Giant Fossil Seeds of Extinct Legume Species Found in Indonesian Borneo

Aug 15, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed three large (up to 7.2 cm in length) seeds and 43 fossil leaves of an ancient legume species in the Wahana Baratama coal...

Ontocetus posti. Image credit: Jaime Bran.

Paleontologists Discover New Species of Extinct Walrus

Aug 14, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from Japan, Belgium and the United States have identified a new species of the extinct genus Ontocetus from a nearly complete pair of fossilized...

An artist’s impression of Enalioetes schroederi. Image credit: Joschua Knüppe.

New Species of Ancient Marine Crocodile Discovered in Germany

Aug 9, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of metriorhynchid crocodylomorph from the Stadthagen Formation of north-western Germany. An artist’s...

Mammals in a Jurassic forest: the three animals on the left side represent the three newly discovered species - Shenshou lui, Xianshou linglong, and Xianshou songae; the other two represent a gliding species and another euharamiyidan, respectively, which were described earlier. Image credit: © Zhao Chuang.

Paleontologists Reveal Big Differences in Growth Patterns between Jurassic and Modern Mammals

Aug 7, 2024 by News Staff

In new research, paleontologists used synchrotron X-ray tomography of annual growth increments in the dental cementum of fossil mammals from three faunas...

One second take-off sequences used in the study highlighting key phases: (A) bipedal burst style take-off with crouched, ankle lifted, and launch phase timings highlighted; (B) bipedal countermotion style take-off with countermotion and launch phase timings highlighted; (C) quadrupedal take-off style with crouch, vault, and launch phases highlighted. Image credit: Griffin et al., doi: 10.7717/peerj.17678.

Pterosaurs Used All Four Limbs to Propel Themselves in Air, New Study Suggests

Aug 7, 2024 by News Staff

Take-off is a vital part of powered flight which likely constrains the size of birds, yet extinct pterosaurs are known to have reached far larger sizes....

Life reconstruction of Hypnovenator matsubaraetoheorum. Image credit: Masato Hattori.

New Species of Troodontid Dinosaur Identified in Japan

Aug 5, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a new genus and species of troodontid theropod dinosaur, based on the fossilized remains found in Japan. Life...

An anatomical overview of Youti yuanshi. Image credit: Smith et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07756-8.

Well-Preserved Worm Larva Fossil from Cambrian Period Found in China

Aug 5, 2024 by News Staff

Named Youti yuanshi, the newly-identified euarthropod species fills an important gap in our understanding of how the arthropod body plan originated and...

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.

Study: Dinosaur-Killing Mass Extinction Triggered Rapid Evolution of Bird Genomes

Aug 2, 2024 by News Staff

About 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, a 10-km-wide asteroid crashed into Earth near the site of the town of Chicxulub in what...

Holotype of Propterodacylus frankerlae. Image credit: Frederik Spindler, doi: 10.26879/1366.

150-Million-Year-Old Fossil Fills Important Gap in Evolution of Pterosaurs

Aug 1, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of monofenestratan pterosaur being named Propterodacylus frankerlae documents the transition from the more ancient rhamphorhynchoid...

An artist’s impression of Pakudyptes hakataramea. Image credit: Tatsuya Shinmura / Ashoro Museum of Paleontology.

Ancient Tiny Penguin Unearthed in New Zealand: Pakudyptes hakataramea

Aug 1, 2024 by News Staff

Pakudyptes hakataramea would have been similar in body size to the living little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor), which is around 40-45 cm (15.7-17.7 inches)...

An artist’s impression of the lobate macrofossils living 2.1 billion years ago in a shallow marine inland sea created by the collision of two continents. Image credit: Abderrazzak El Albani, University of Poitiers.

Complex Organisms First Appeared 2.1 Billion Years Ago, Paleontologists Say

Jul 31, 2024 by News Staff

Until now, scientists broadly accepted complex life forms first emerged on Earth around 635 million years ago (Ediacaran period). But an international...