Paleontology News

Paleontologists Reconstruct Cloacal Opening of Non-Avian Dinosaur

Jan 21, 2021 by News Staff

Although paleontologists know now much about dinosaurs and their appearance, they have not known anything about how their cloacal region — the all-purpose...

Life reconstruction of Xenodens calminechari. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Cretaceous Mosasaur Had Shark-Like Cutting Teeth

Jan 20, 2021 by News Staff

A bizarre new genus and species of mosasaur with teeth unlike those of any known reptile has been identified from fossils found in Morocco. Life reconstruction...

Holotype of Chinatichampsus wilsonorum: (A) cranium in dorsal view; (B) interpretive line drawing; gray areas indicate matrix. Abbreviations: a. - alveolus; fr - frontal; ITF - infratemporal fenestra; ju - jugal; la - lacrimal; m. - matrix; OR - orbit; pa - parietal; palp - possible palpebral; pmx - premaxilla; po - postorbital; prf - prefrontal; qj - quadratojugal; qu - quadrate; so - supraoccipital; sq - squamosal; STF - supratemporal fenestra; t. - tooth. Scale bar - 5 cm. Image credit: Stocker et al., doi: 10.7717/peerj.10665.

New Species of Ancient Caiman Unearthed in Texas

Jan 20, 2021 by News Staff

A new genus and species of caimanine alligatorid being named Chinatichampsus wilsonorum has been discovered by a team of paleontologists from Virginia...

99-Million-Year-Old Bioluminescent Beetle Found Preserved in Amber

Jan 20, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Found in a piece of mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar, the wonderfully-preserved male of Cretophengodes azari has a light organ on the abdomen...

Life appearance of the non-archosaurian archosauriform, the most suitable producer of Isochirotherium gardettensis. Image credit: Fabio Manucci.

250-Million-Year-Old Archosauriform Footprints Found in Italy

Jan 19, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Italy have discovered an assemblage of fossil footprints left by an Early Triassic archosauriform. Life appearance of the non-archosaurian...

Tentative life reconstruction of the hybodontiform shark Asteracanthus ornatissimus. Image credit: Sebastian Stumpf / Fabrizio De Rossi.

Well-Preserved Fossil of Jurassic-Period Shark Unearthed in Germany

Jan 15, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of paleontologists from Austria and Switzerland has uncovered an exceptionally well-preserved skeleton of Asteracanthus ornatissimus,...

Somewhere in Southwestern North America during the Late Pleistocene, a pack of dire wolves (Canis dirus) are feeding on their bison kill, while a pair of gray wolves (Canis lupus) approach in the hopes of scavenging. One of the dire wolves rushes in to confront the gray wolves, and their confrontation allows a comparison of the bigger, larger-headed and reddish-brown dire wolf with its smaller, gray relative. Image credit: Mauricio Antón / Nature.

Dire Wolves Split from Living Canids 5.7 Million Years Ago: Study

Jan 15, 2021 by News Staff

Dire wolves (Canis dirus) are considered to be one of the most common and widespread large carnivores in Pleistocene America, yet relatively little is...

Hypothetical reconstruction of the Emslie’s vulture (Cathartes emsliei). Image credit: William Suárez.

Fossils of New Vulture Species Found in Cuba

Jan 13, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of small vulture that lived during the Quaternary period in the Greater Antilles has been identified from fossils found in western Cuba. Hypothetical...

Canadian Eskimo dogs. Illustration by John James Audubon and John Bachman (1845-1848).

Sharing Leftover Meat Enabled Dog Domestication during Harsh Ice Age Winters: Study

Jan 13, 2021 by News Staff

New research led by the University of Helsinki suggests that dog domestication needs to be understood in terms of competition over resources in the particularly...

Reconstruction of the living Namacalathus: 1 - stem; 2 - parental cup; 3 - daughter cups; 4 - hollow ciliated tentacles; 5 - spines; 6 - lateral lumen; 7 - central opening; 8 - inner skeletal layer, foliated with columnar microlamellar inflections; 9 - internal (middle) skeletal later, organic rich; 10 - external outer skeletal layer, foliated with columnar skeletal inflections. Image credit: J. Sibbick.

Paleontologists Find Evolutionary Link between Ediacaran and Early Cambrian Multicellular Animals

Jan 12, 2021 by News Staff

Paleontologists have described the first three-dimensional preservation of soft tissue in Namacalathus hermanastes, a skeletal metazoan (multicellular...

An artist’s impression of Smilodon fatalis. Image credit: Sergio De la Rosa / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Saber-Toothed Tigers Had Unique Growth Strategy among Big Cats

Jan 8, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of Toronto have found and examined the fossilized remains of two subadult and one adult...

Life restoration of the carnivorous mammal Gobiconodon, a distant relative of Priacodon fruitaensis. Image credit: Pavel Riha / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Jurassic-Period Mammal Had Powerful and Precise Bite

Dec 27, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

An early mammal called Priacodon fruitaensis was well adapted for powerful and precise biting, and had a varied faunivorous diet that likely included insects...

Valviloculus pleristaminis, flower in lateral view. Image credit: Poinar, Jr. et al., doi: 10.17348/jbrit.v14.i2.1014.

99-Million-Year-Old Fossil Flower Found Encased in Burmese Amber

Dec 23, 2020 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from Oregon State University and the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has found a new genus...

Meachen et al. report detailed morphometric, isotopic, and genetic analyses of Zhùr that reveal details of her appearance, evolutionary relationships to other wolves and short life-history and ecology. Image credit: Meachen et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.11.011.

57,000-Year-Old Frozen Remains of Wolf Pup Found in Canada

Dec 22, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

An ancient wolf pup, named Zhùr (means ‘wolf’ in the Hän language of the local Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people), lived approximately 57,000 years...

Paludirex vincenti belongs to Mekosuchinae, an extinct subfamily of crocodylids from Australia and the South Pacific. Image credit: University of Queensland.

Fossils of Large-Bodied Crocodile Found in Australia

Dec 22, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of prehistoric crocodile, Paludirex vincenti, has been identified from fossils unearthed in Queensland, Australia. Paludirex vincenti...

Life restoration of Erythrovenator jacuiensis. Image credit: Marcio Castro.

New Meat-Eating Dinosaur Species Found in Brazil

Dec 21, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A partial thigh bone found in southern Brazil belongs to a previously unknown species of theropod dinosaur. A partial left femur of Erythrovenator jacuiensis....

Pythons Lived in Europe as Early as 48 Million Years Ago

Dec 18, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of medium-sized python that lived during the early-middle Eocene period has been identified from several nearly complete skeletons...

Life restoration of Ubirajara jubatus. Image credit: Bob Nicholls, paleocreations.com.

Cretaceous Dinosaur Had Impressive Mane and Shoulder Ribbons

Dec 16, 2020 by News Staff

A maned theropod dinosaur with elaborate filamentous structures has been identified by a research team led by University of Portsmouth paleontologists. Life...

Life restoration of Thecodontosaurus antiquus. Image credit: Mario Lanzas / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Paleontologists Reconstruct Neuroanatomy of Triassic Omnivorous Dinosaur

Dec 15, 2020 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from the University of Bristol and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History has digitally reconstructed the brain of Thecodontosaurus...