Paleontology News

Diprotodon skeleton in WA Museum Boola Bardip. Image credit: WA Museum Boola Bardip.

Several Diprotodon Skeletons Discovered in Australia

Dec 5, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have discovered several rare and nearly complete skeletons of diprotodons — the largest-known marsupials to have ever lived —...

Life reconstruction of Poposaurus; this crocodilyan was around 4 m (13 feet) long and lived alongside dinosaurs from 237 to 201.3 million years ago. Image credit: Jagged Fang.

Scientists Map Family Tree of Pseudosuchia

Dec 5, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Pseudosuchia is a group of archosaurian reptiles, defined as all species more closely related to crocodylians than to birds. Living representatives of...

Libanoculex intermedius. Image credit: Azar et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.047.

Earliest-Known Fossil Mosquito Found in Lebanese Amber

Dec 4, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Female mosquitoes are among the most notorious hematophagous (blood-feeding) insects, sometimes causing severe allergic responses. Hematophagy in insects...

Trisauropodiscus. Image credit: M. Abrahams & E.M. Bordy, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293021.

210-Million-Year-Old Bird-Like Footprints Found in Lesotho

Nov 29, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The bird-like tridactyl (three-toed) footprints found at the site of Maphutseng in Lesotho predate the oldest known bird body fossils by approximately...

The end-Cretaceous mass extinction was marked by both the Chicxulub asteroid impact and the ongoing eruptions of the Deccan Traps volcanoes.

Deccan Traps Volcanism Alone Was Sufficient to Induce End-Cretaceous Extinction, AI Study Shows

Nov 28, 2023 by News Staff

The end-Cretaceous mass extinction, which included the elimination of all non-avian dinosaurs, occurred after the impact of the Chicxulub asteroid and...

The trackmaker of Farlowichnus rapidus lived in what is now Brazil during the Early Cretaceous epoch, around 135 million years ago. Image credit: Guilherme Gehr / Leonardi et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105720.

135-Million-Year-Old Footprints Reveal New Dinosaur Species

Nov 27, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A previously unknown species of small and rapid carnivorous dinosaur lived among the large and dry sand dunes of the Botucatu paleodesert, a vast desert...

Yaguarasaurus regiomontanus. Image credit: Luis Rey / Museo del Desierto.

New Species of Mosasaur Identified in Mexico

Nov 24, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new species of plioplatecarpine mosasaur from an almost complete skull found in the Agua Nueva Formation, Mexico. Yaguarasaurus...

Ecological restoration of singing katydids from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Konservat-Lagerstätte of China. Image credit: Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Mesozoic Katydids Evolved Unexpectedly High Acoustic Diversity, New Study Shows

Nov 24, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Acoustic communication has played a key role in the evolution of a wide variety of vertebrates and insects. However, the reconstruction of ancient acoustic...

Xenorophus hunting sea turtles. Image credit: Robert Boessenecker.

30-Million-Year-Old Fossils Shed Light on Origin of Echolocation in Whales and Dolphins

Nov 23, 2023 by News Staff

In a new paper published this month in the journal Diversity, paleontologists described the fossilized skeletons of the dolphin genus Xenorophus from the...

Hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius) at the Mpala Research Centre in Laikipia county, central Kenya, on August 26, 2016. Image credit: Sci-News.com / Mpala Research Centre.

Modern Hippo Species Lived in Europe as Early as 560,000 Years Ago

Nov 22, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists have redescribed a skull of the living species Hippopotamus amphibius recovered from a quarry called Cava Montanari at Tor di Quinto —...

Trilobites are extinct arthropods that dominated the faunas of the oceans of the Paleozoic era. During their time on Earth, which lasted much longer than the dinosaurs, between 521 and 252 million years ago, they survived two major episodes of mass extinctions and dominated ocean floor ecosystems. There are more than 20,000 known trilobite species.

Paleontologists Describe Ten New Species of Trilobites

Nov 22, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a 100-page monograph published in the journal Papers in Palaeontology, paleontologists have described ten new species of trilobites from the tuff-bearing...

Life reconstruction of Amanasaurus nesbitti. Image credit: Matheus Fernandes.

New Species of Triassic Dinosaur Relative Identified in Brazil

Nov 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of silesaur being named Amanasaurus nesbitti has been discovered by a duo of paleontologists at the Federal University of Santa...

A reconstruction of a flock of Cryptogyps lacertosus (left side) and several individuals of Dynatoaetus pachyosteus (right side) feeding on a carcass of Diprotodon optatum in the Late Pleistocene Naracoorte landscape. Image credit: John Barrie.

Fossil of New Eagle Species Found in Australia

Nov 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have uncovered the fossilized remains of a new species of the Pleistocene eagle genus Dynatoaetus in Victoria Fossil Cave at Naracoorte,...

Reconstruction of Eomortoniellus handlirschi. Image credit: Charlie Woodrow.

Extinct Insect from Baltic Amber Could Hear Ultrasounds, Bat Echolocation

Nov 17, 2023 by News Staff

Hearing has evolved independently many times in the animal kingdom and is prominent in various insects and vertebrates for communication and predator detection....

Life restoration of sleeping posture of Jaculinykus yaruui. Image credit: Seiji Yamamoto.

Bird-Like Dinosaurs Slept Like Modern Birds, New Fossil Reveals

Nov 16, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Mongolia have unearthed a nearly complete and articulated skeleton of a previously unknown genus and species of alvarezsaurid dinosaur...

The bird footprints found in the Wonthaggi Formation in Victoria, Australia. Image credit: Martin et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293308.

Paleontologists Discover Earliest Known Gondwanan Bird Footprints

Nov 15, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have discovered 27 bird footprints and other traces — dated to between 120 and 128 million years ago (Early Cretaceous epoch) —...

The footprints of the Emeidae moa found in the Kyeburn River, South Island, New Zealand; the associated Dinornithidae footprint can be seen between the first two footprints to the left. Image credit: Ian Griffin / Otago Museum.

3.6-Million-Year-Old Moa Footprints Found in New Zealand

Nov 15, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have discovered a trackway of seven moa footprints and an associated separate footprint at a riverbank outcrop of the Maniototo Conglomerate...

Theropod diversity and largest lateral crowns of theropods from the Morrison Formation of North America: (A) crown of Allosaurus; (B) crown of the megalosaurid Torvosaurus tanneri; (C) crown of the allosaurid Allosaurus sp.; (D) crown of the ceratosaurid Ceratosaurus sp.; (E) crown of the piatnitzkysaurid Marshosaurus bicentessimus; (F) crown of the tyrannosauroid Tanycolagreus topwilsoni; (G) crown of the maniraptoriform Ornitholestes hermanni; (H) crown of the troodontid Hesperornithoides miessleri. Image credit: Lei et al., doi: 10.7717/peerj.16327.

New Study Sheds Light on Dining Habits of Jurassic Carnivorous Dinosaurs

Nov 14, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists from Queen Mary University of London and elsewhere have performed an extensive survey of the literature and fossil collections cataloging...

A microfossil from the 2.4-billion-year-old Turee Creek Group in Western Australia. Image credit: Barlow et al., doi: 10.1111/gbi.12576.

2.4-Billion-Year-Old Microfossils Suggest Earlier Rise in Complex Cellular Organization

Nov 14, 2023 by News Staff

Around 2.4 billion years ago, the Great Oxidation Event caused fundamental changes to the chemistry of Earth’s surface environments. However, the effect...