Paleontology News

Jun 11, 2025 by News Staff

Scientifically named Khankhuuluu mongoliensis, the newly-identified tyrannosauroid species is the closest-known ancestor to Tyrannosaurus rex. Khankhuuluu mongoliensis. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi. Khankhuuluu mongoliensis roamed our planet during the Cretaceous period, some 86 million years ago. This dinosaur was a medium-sized, fleet-footed predator that evolved after the extinction of other large predatory dinosaurs. As the closest-known ancestor,...

Jun 11, 2025 by News Staff

Using a novel method of geographical analysis, paleontologists inferred how archosauromorphs dispersed following one of the most impactful climate events...

Jun 9, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of gnathosaurine pterosaur, named Spathagnathus roeperi, from a fossilized specimen found in the...

Jun 9, 2025 by News Staff

Diamantinasaurus matildae, a species of sauropod dinosaur that lived around 94 million years ago (mid-Cretaceous period), ate conifers, seed ferns, and...

Jun 6, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have recovered the dinosaur skull material from beds of the Upper Jurassic Villar del Arzobispo Formation in Teruel, Spain, and confidently...

Jun 5, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

The discovery of a fossil blue-stain fungus colonizing the insect-infested conifer wood Xenoxylon phyllocladoides in China’s Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation...

Jun 3, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists have identified peptide markers for three species of extinct Australian megafauna — a hippo-sized wombat, a giant kangaroo, and a...

Jun 2, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of small lambeosaurine hadrosaurid dinosaur from two fossilized jaws found in Morocco. An artist’s...

Jun 2, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found evidence of a previously unrecognized soft tissue structure in the cheek region of many dinosaur species, which they’ve called...

May 30, 2025 by News Staff

Polar ecosystems are structured and enriched by birds, which nest there seasonally and serve as keystone ecosystem members. Despite the ecological importance...

May 26, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of eusauropod dinosaur has been identified from a fossilized partial skeleton with a nearly complete skull found in the Chinese...

May 26, 2025 by News Staff

In a study published today in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, paleontologists analyzed the ratio of two different zinc isotopes in the...

May 23, 2025 by News Staff

Today, there are only two sloth species, but historically, there were dozens of them, including one with a bottle-nosed snout that ate ants and another...

May 23, 2025 by News Staff

Traskasaura sandrae, a 12-m-long elasmosaur (a type of plesiosaur) that lived in the Cretaceous seas, 85 million years ago, had a strange mix of primitive...

May 21, 2025 by News Staff

Long dinosaur trackways provide valuable records of trackmaker behavior, yet their study is often hindered by logistical challenges in documentation and...

May 20, 2025 by News Staff

Large amber deposits discovered in northern Japan were likely swept out from a forest to the ocean by one or more tsunamis between 116 and 114 million...

May 20, 2025 by News Staff

Australopithecus sediba — a small hominin species that lived about 2 million years ago — had a mix of ape-like and human-like features, while...

May 19, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a new genus and species of baracromian ichthyosaur, based on the fossilized skull found in the Água de...

May 16, 2025 by Simon Braddy

Trilobites were a diverse group of ancient marine arthropods. Many trilobites lived on the seafloor but some occupied open water. New research has resolved...

May 15, 2025 by News Staff

Dubbed the Chicago Archaeopteryx, the new fossil is the 14th known specimen of this iconic Jurassic species. The Chicago Archaeopteryx. Image credit: Delaney...