Paleontology News

Triassic Apex Predator Had Much Weaker Bite than Previously Thought

Skull and life reconstruction of Saurosuchus galilei. Image credit: Jordan Bestwick, University of Birmingham.
Aug 21, 2023 by News Staff

Saurosuchus galilei, a large loricatan pseudosuchian archosaur that lived in South America 230 million years ago (Late Triassic epoch), was thought to be an apex predator due to its size and diet, standing at between 5-8 m (16-26 feet) in length and weighing over 250 kg. However, the new analysis of Saurosuchus galilei’s skull and comparisons with the later well-known dinosaur Allosaurus found that despite their similar skull strengths, Saurosuchus...

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Life reconstruction of Potamotherium valletoni. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

Early Seal Had Otter-Like Appearance, May Have Used Its Whiskers to Forage for Food

Aug 21, 2023 by News Staff

Seals, sea lions and walruses (Pinnipedia) use their whiskers (vibrissae) to explore their environment and locate their prey. Today they live mostly in...

Life reconstruction of Venetoraptor gassenae. Image credit: Caio Fantini.

Triassic Pterosaur Relative Had Raptorial-Like Beak and Long Hands with Scimitar-Like Claws

Aug 17, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of pterosaur precursor has been described from a 230-million-year-old partial skeleton found in southern Brazil. Life reconstruction...

Palaeopycnogonides gracilis. Scale bars - 5 mm. Image credit: Sabroux et al., doi: 10.1002/spp2.1515.

New Research Sheds More Light on Evolution of Sea Spiders

Aug 17, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists have examined a collection of 160-million-year-old sea spider fossils from Southern France. The rare specimens show that the diversity...

Life reconstruction of Arenaerpeton supinatus preying on Cleithrolepis granulata. Image credit: José Vitor Silva.

Paleontologists Identify New Triassic Amphibian Species in Australia

Aug 16, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Arenaerpeton supinatus is the fourth species of chigutisaurid temnospondyl amphibian from Australia and the first from the Sydney Basin. Life reconstruction...

The hadrosaur footprints at the Coliseum site. Image credit: Patrick Druckenmiller.

Paleontologists Discover Largest Known Dinosaur Track Site in Alaska

Aug 15, 2023 by News Staff

Dubbed the Coliseum, the newly-discovered paleontological site contains ornithopod, ceratopsid, and large and small-bodied avian and non-avian theropod...

Life reconstruction of Prosaurosphargis yingzishanensis depicted in the Early Triassic shallow marine environment of the Nanzhang-Yuan’an region, Hubei Province, South China. Image credit: Wolniewicz et al., doi: 10.7554/eLife.83163.

Triassic Armored Marine Reptile Unearthed in China

Aug 14, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The newly-described saurosphargid reptile Prosaurosphargis yingzishanensis represents the earliest known occurrence of its clade. Life reconstruction of...

Life reconstruction of Tutcetus rayanensis swimming in the Tethys Ocean 41 million years ago. Image credit: Ahmed Morsi / Hesham Sallam / Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center.

Miniature Basilosaurid Whale from Eocene Was Just 8 Feet Long

Aug 10, 2023 by News Staff

The newly-identified species of basilosaurid whale has been named Tutcetus rayanensis after the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. This new species...

Life reconstruction of the Alaskan saurornitholestine dinosaur in its environment. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Tiny Shrew-Like Mammal Lived in Arctic 73 Million Years Ago

Aug 10, 2023 by News Staff

A new genus and species of eutherian mammal has been described from a handful of tiny teeth found in the Prince Creek Formation in northern Alaska, the...

Parasites found in the vertebrate coprolite from Thailand. Image credit: Nonsrirach et al., 10.1371/journal.pone.0287891.

Triassic Crocodile-Like Reptile Was Infected by Multiple Parasite Species

Aug 10, 2023 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found several species of parasites, including Ascaridida eggs, in a 200-million-year-old coprolite probably produced by a crocodile-like...

Reconstruction of Hupehsuchus nanchangensis about to engulf a shoal of shrimps. Image credit: Shunyi Shu & Long Cheng, Wuhan Center of China Geological Survey.

Triassic Marine Reptile Was a Filter-Feeder, Paleontologists Say

Aug 9, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Hupehsuchus nanchangensis, a species of marine reptile that lived between 249 and 247 million years ago in what is now China, had soft structures such...

Reconstruction of Shaihuludia shurikeni from the Spence Shale of Utah. Image credit: Rhiannon LaVine.

Cambrian Annelid Worm Had Bizarre Blade-Like Chaetae

Aug 9, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Chaetae are stiff bristles made of chitin that characterize many species of annelid worms. Reconstruction of Shaihuludia shurikeni from the Spence Shale...

Aulacopleura koninckii. Image credit: Nigel Hughes / University of California, Riverside.

Flexibility Enabled Success of Trilobites, New Research Suggests

Aug 7, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

New research by paleontologists from the University of California, Riverside and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid focuses on Aulacopleura koninckii,...

An artist’s reconstruction of Jeholornis prima with potential angiosperm arboreal herbivorous feeding ecology. Image credit: Wu et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40311-z.

Early Cretaceous Bird Consumed Leaves of Magnolia-Like Flowering Plants

Aug 4, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Fossil plant phytoliths from the digestive tract of Jeholornis prima — an extinct species of bird that lived in what is now China during the Early...

Reconstruction of Perucetus colossus in its coastal habitat; the associated sawfish, Pristis, was recovered from the same unit in the East Pisco Basin, the Yumaque Member of the Paracas Formation, Peru. Image credit: A. Gennari.

Eocene-Period Whale Might Be Heaviest Animal on Record

Aug 3, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Perucetus colossus substantially pushes the upper limit of skeletal mass in mammals, as well as in aquatic vertebrates in general. This early basilosaurid...

Plant-herbivore interactions from the Cenozoic fossil record: (A) meta-network of plant-herbivore interactions, based on 10,714 damaged leaves from 21 fossil floras; colored bars represent the total interaction frequencies of host plants and herbivores; the ten most abundant plant orders are labeled; gray lines represent pair-wise interactions, with more frequent interactions being thicker and less transparent; (B) examples of damage types: (a and b) mines mainly produced by moths; (c and d) galls mainly produced by gall midges; (e-h) external foliage feeding including hole feeding, margin feeding, surface feeding, and skeletonization; (i) endophytic oviposition; (j) in situ preservation of armored scale insects. Scale bars - 10 mm. Image credit: Albrecht et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2300514120.

Fossil Leaves with Insect Imprints Reveal Drivers of Herbivore Functional Diversity during Cenozoic Era

Aug 2, 2023 by News Staff

Plant-eating insects are the most diverse group of multicellular organisms on Earth. The most discussed drivers of their inordinate taxonomic and functional...

Artistic reconstruction of a group of Burgessomedusa phasmiformis swimming in the Cambrian sea. Image credit: Christian McCall.

Paleontologists Identify Oldest Known Species of Free-Swimming Jellyfish

Aug 2, 2023 by News Staff

Burgessomedusa phasmiformis had a cuboidal umbrella up to 20 cm (8 inches) high and over 90 short, finger-like tentacles. Artistic reconstruction of a...

Oblitosaurus bunnueli. Image credit: Daniel Ayala, Fundación Dinópolis.

New Species of Ornithopod Dinosaur Identified in Spain

Aug 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Spain have described a new genus and species of ankylopollexian ornithopod from the fossilized remains found in the Villar del Arzobispo...

Discoscapa apicula; the bee is carrying four beetle triungulins. Image credit: George Poinar Jr. / College of Science, Oregon State University.

Bees Originated in Western Gondwana before Breakup of Africa and South America, Study Suggests

Jul 31, 2023 by News Staff

Bees are the most significant pollinators of flowering plants. This partnership began approximately 120 million years ago, but the uncertainty of how and...

General morphology of Panagrolaimus kolymaensis, female. Image credit: Shatilovich et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010798.

Researchers Sequence Genome of 46,000-Year-Old Soil Nematode from Siberian Permafrost

Jul 31, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Precise radiocarbon dating indicates that Panagrolaimus kolymaensis, a species of soil nematode new to science, remained in cryptobiosis for about 46,000...

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