Paleontology News

New Research Challenges Assumption that Ancestral Primates were Solitary

Drummond-Clarke et al. show that trees were an essential component of the hominin adaptive niche, with bipedalism evolving in an arboreal context, likely driven by foraging strategy. Illustration by Arturo Asensio, via Quo.es.
Jan 3, 2024 by News Staff

Was the ancestor of all primates a solitary-living species? Did more social forms of primate societies evolve from this basic and simple society? Until now, the classic answer was yes. Using modern statistical analysis, including variations within species, researchers have now found that the ancestral primate social organization was most likely variable: most lived in pairs, and only 10 to 20% of individuals were solitary; living in pairs was likely...

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Life reconstruction of Unktaheela specta in its proposed habitat of sunlit waters just below the surface, with eyes shaded by supraorbital ledge. Image credit: Clark et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105812.

New Species of Plesiosaur Identified in United States

Jan 2, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of small polycotylid plesiosaur from two specimens found in Wyoming and South Dakota in the United...

This is an artist’s rendering of Pentecopterus decorahensis. Image credit: Patrick Lynch / Yale University.

Biggest Bugs Were Giant Sea Scorpions and Were All Predatory

Dec 28, 2023 by Simon Braddy

Pterygotid eurypterids (sea scorpions), giant aquatic arthropods with big claws, were all regarded as apex predators but some scientists then suggested...

Early Miocene mysticete gigantism. Image credit: Ruairidh Duncan

Baleen Whales First Evolved Large Body Size in Cold Southern Waters, New Fossil Shows

Dec 26, 2023 by News Staff

Baleen whales (mysticetes) include the largest animals on the Earth. How they achieved such gigantic sizes remains debated, with previous research focusing...

Life reconstruction of Meilifeilong youhao. Image credit: Maurilio Oliveira.

New Species of Toothless Pterosaur Discovered in China

Dec 25, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from China and Brazil have identified a new species of chaoyangopterid pterosaur from two specimens, one of which is the most complete...

An artistic reconstruction of Ferussina petofiana. Image credit: Márton Zsoldos.

72-Million-Year-Old Snail Fossil Uncovered in Romania

Dec 22, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of the extinct land snail genus Ferussina has been identified from a complete specimen found in Hațeg Basin, Romania. An artistic reconstruction...

Gremlin slobodorum. Image credit: Ddinodan / Sci.News.

New Herbivorous Dinosaur Species Identified in Canada

Dec 19, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have found the fossil of a previously unknown species of leptoceratopsid dinosaur that lived more than 70 million years ago in what is...

Potteromyces asteroxylicola, holotype in white light: (a) location of the fungus (asterisks) along the aerial axis and enations of the plant Asteroxylon mackiei; arrowhead showing animal remains; (b) plant reaction induced by the fungal attack; (c, d) higher magnifications of the framed zone from (b) showing the plant cell proliferation in response to the fungal attack; arrowheads showing hyphae; (e) conidiophores in tuft; (f) higher magnification of (e); (g) conidiophores in high magnification, slightly shrunken at their distal end, and conidia. Scale bars - 900 µm in (a); 400 µm in (b); 120 µm in (c), 45 µm in (d), 85 µm in (e), 35 µm in (f, g). Image credit: Strullu-Derrien et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43276-1.

407-Million-Years-Old Microfossils Reveal Earliest-Known Disease-Causing Fungus

Dec 12, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Potteromyces asteroxylicola parasitized on an extinct species of lycopsid plant called Asteroxylon mackiei, according to a paper published in the journal...

Megapterygius wakayamaensis was about the size of a great white shark. Image credit: Takumi.

Cretaceous-Period Mosasaur Had Enormous, Wing-Shaped Flippers

Dec 12, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of mosasaurine mosasaur being named Megapterygius wakayamaensis has been identified from a largely complete skeleton found in Wakayama...

A juvenile of Gorgosaurus libratus feeding on Citipes elegans. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi / Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology / University of Calgary.

Fossilized Stomach Contents Reveal What Young Tyrannosaurs Ate

Dec 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Canada have found a 75-million-year-old skeleton of a juvenile of the tyrannosaurid dinosaur Gorgosaurus libratus with the remains of...

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 —...

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