Paleontology News

Life reconstruction of Dasyomyliobatis thomyorkei swimming in the marine tropical shallow waters of the western Tethys about 50 million years ago. Image credit: Fabrizio Lavezzi.

50-Million-Year-Old Fossil Helps Clarify Origin of Pelagic Lifestyle and Durophagy in Stingrays

Nov 13, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Dasyomyliobatis thomyorkei is intermediate between the ‘rajobenthic’ and more derived ‘aquilopelagic’ stingrays, supporting the hypothesis that...

Reconstruction of Qianlong shouhu’s eggs. Image credit: NICE Vistudio.

Eggs of Earliest Dinosaurs Were Leathery, Fossils Show

Nov 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in China have unearthed and examined three adult skeletons and five clutches of embryo-containing eggs of Qianlong shouhu, a previously...

Kotevski et al. report the first evidence of non-mandibular skull material of a non-avian theropod from Australia: a left frontal and fused parietal fragment from the Lower Cretaceous upper Strzelecki Group of Victoria. Image credit: Kotevski et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105769.

Paleontologists Find Fossil of Early Megaraptorid Dinosaur in Australia

Nov 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed a well-preserved, almost complete left frontal (part of the skull roof) of a previously unknown species of megaraptorid...

Life reconstruction of Gavialimimus almaghribensis hunting a school of teleosts. Image credit: Tatsuya Shinmura.

Mosasaurs Were Picky Eaters, New Research Suggests

Nov 9, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of paleontologists from the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom has examined the wear marks on the teeth of several species of mosasaurs,...

A family of Thescelosaurus neglectus emerges from safety to forage in the forests of the Hell Creek Formation, 66 million years ago. Image credit: Anthony Hutchings.

One of the Last Surviving Non-Avian Dinosaurs Lived in Burrows, Had Super Senses: Study

Nov 8, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

New research demonstrates that the brain of Thescelosaurus neglectus, a small plant-eating neornithischian dinosaur that lived just before the end-Cretaceous...

Illustration of Ekgmowechashala, the last primate to inhabit North America before humans. Image credit: Kristen Tietjen / Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, University of Kansas.

Paleontologists Find New Fossils of Enigmatic North American Primate

Nov 6, 2023 by News Staff

Ekgmowechashala is a poorly documented but very distinctive species of ancient primate that lived in western North America during the Early Oligocene epoch,...

Life reconstruction of the lamprey Yanliaomyzon from the Jurassic Yanliao Biota, China. Image credit: Nice Vistudio / Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Large Flesh-Eating Lampreys Lived in Jurassic Oceans

Nov 3, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in China have unearthed and examined the superbly preserved fossilized remains of two lamprey species from the Jurassic Yanliao Biota....

Krommaster spinosus. Image credit: C. Reddy.

410-Million-Year-Old Brittle Star Fossils Uncovered in South Africa

Nov 1, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have found the fossilized remains of Devonian brittle stars in the ‘upper unit’ of the Baviaanskloof Formation in South Africa. Their...

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: Asteroid Impact-Generated Dust Played Key Role in Dinosaur-Killing Mass Extinction

Oct 31, 2023 by News Staff

About 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into Earth near the site of the small town of Chicxulub in what is now Mexico. The impact eradicated...

Reconstruction of Jormungandr walhallaensis shown engaging in intraspecific combat. Image credit: Henry Sharpe.

New Mosasaur Species Unearthed in North Dakota

Oct 31, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of mosasaur being named Jormungandr walhallaensis has been discovered by American Museum of Natural History Ph.D. student Amelia...

Life reconstruction of Samsarasuchus pamelae. Image credit: Gabriel Lio.

New Species of Triassic Crocodile-Like Reptile Identified in India

Oct 30, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in India have identified a new genus and species of proterosuchid reptile from both new and historically collected specimens. Life reconstruction...

Coenobial microfossils from the Forteau Formation, including: (a, f) strut-form colonies, (b-e, h-k, m-o, s-u) plate-form colonies, and (g, l, p-r) ring-form colonies. Scale bar - 20 µm. Image credit: Thomas H.P. Harvey, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1882.

510-Million-Year-Old Microfossils Shed Light on Cambrian Plankton

Oct 30, 2023 by News Staff

The 510-million-year-old fossils from the Forteau Formation of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, are microscopic, look like spiny balls connected together,...

An artist’s impression of Liassophlebia sp., resting on a frond of the paleofern species Phlebopteris muensteri. Image credit: Jules Kiely, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery / Swaby et al., doi: 10.1080/08912963.2023.2261957.

202-Million-Year-Old Damsel-Dragonfly Fossil Unearthed in UK

Oct 27, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The new find suggests that Liassophlebiidae — a small extinct family of damsel-dragonflies known from the Early Mesozoic of Europe, Asia, and Antarctica...

The 125-million-year-old Mantellisaurus footprints found on the Isle of Wight. Image credit: JBA Consulting / Environment Agency.

125-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Footprints Discovered on Isle of Wight

Oct 26, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Scientists from the Environment Agency, JBA Consulting and the Dinosaur Isle Museum have found rare footprints of iguanodontian dinosaurs on Yaverland...

The crest-tailed mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda). Image credit: Bobby Tamayo / CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed.

Three New Species of Mulgaras May Already Be Extinct

Oct 25, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Scientists from Curtin University, the Western Australian Museum and Murdoch University have identified three new species of mulgaras — small carnivorous...

Minterichnus shieldi, a new 500-million-year-old fossil resting trace of a phyllocarid crustacean from Texas, 55 mm long.

They Came From The Sea: New 500-Million-Year-Old Crustacean Trace Fossil Records Ancient Behavior

Oct 24, 2023 by Simon Braddy

Minterichnus shieldi, a new type of trace fossil (resting trace) of a phyllocarid crustacean from Texas shows animals trapped in a tidal pool, just before...

Model of the ornithopod dinosaur Qantassaurus intrepidus, a distant relative of Ampelognathus coheni. Image credit: Paleocolour.

New Species of Ornithopod Dinosaur Identified in Texas

Oct 23, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of small-bodied ornithopod dinosaur has been described from a partial jawbone unearthed in Texas, the United States. Model of the...

An artist’s impression of Lorrainosaurus keileni. Image credit: Joschua Knüppe.

Paleontologists Identify Oldest-Known Mega-Predatory Pliosaur

Oct 23, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Lorrainosaurus keileni lived in the Middle Jurassic seas, approximately 170 million years ago. An artist’s impression of Lorrainosaurus keileni. Image...

Vielasia sigei helps bridge the gap between archaic bats and the hyperdiverse modern bat radiation of more than 1,460 living species. Image credit: Hand et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.043.

50-Million-Year-Old Bat Skull Supports Early Origin of Echolocation

Oct 19, 2023 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has described a new Early Eocene bat species from the well-preserved fossils — which include the oldest...