Paleontology News

Organic Matter Found in 3.5-Billion-Year-Old Stromatolites

Baumgartner et al provide exceptional evidence for the biogenicity of some of Earth’s oldest stromatolites through preservation of organic matter, including microbial remains, by sulfidization. Image credit: Paul Harrison.
Oct 3, 2019 by News Staff

Researchers have found exceptionally preserved organic matter inside samples of rock from the 3.5-billion-year-old Dresser Formation in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Baumgartner et al provide exceptional evidence for the biogenicity of some of Earth’s oldest stromatolites through preservation of organic matter, including microbial remains, by sulfidization. Image credit: Paul Harrison. The Dresser Formation stromatolites have been thought...

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An artist’s reconstruction of two rauisuchians fighting over a desiccated corpse of a mammal-relative in the Triassic of southern Africa. In the background, dinosaurs and mammal-like reptiles form other parts of the ecosystem. Image credit: Viktor Radermacher.

Triassic Crocodile Cousins Preyed on Plant-Eating Dinosaurs

Sep 24, 2019 by News Staff

Rauisuchians — predatory crocodile-like creatures that lived during the Triassic period, some 210 million years ago — preyed on early herbivorous...

Protodontopteryx ruthae. Image credit: Derek Onley / Canterbury Museum.

Bony-Toothed Seabird Lived in New Zealand 62 Million Years Ago

Sep 18, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found the remains of a pelagornithid bird that lived 62 million years ago (early Paleocene epoch) in New Zealand. Protodontopteryx...

Life reconstruction of Mystriosaurus laurillardi. Image credit: Julia Beier.

Meet Mystriosaurus laurillardi, Marine Crocodile from Jurassic Period

Sep 13, 2019 by News Staff

An incomplete crocodile skull found near the city of Altdorf in Bavaria, southern Germany, in the 1770s has been recognized as Mystriosaurus laurillardi,...

Simosthenurus occidentalis. Image credit: Nobu Tamura, spinops.blogspot.com / CC BY 3.0.

Extinct Kangaroo Had Feeding Habits Similar to Giant Panda

Sep 12, 2019 by News Staff

An analysis of the skull biomechanics of Simosthenurus occidentalis, a species of giant short-faced kangaroo that persisted until about 42,000 years ago,...

Cryodrakon boreas. Image credit: David Maas.

New Pterosaur Species Identified in Canada

Sep 11, 2019 by News Staff

Cretaceous pterosaur remains discovered in the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta have been identified as a new genus and species, Cryodrakon boreas. Cryodrakon...

Life reconstruction of Kamuysaurus japonicus with a carcass of a mosasaur (Phosphorosaurus ponpetelegans), a sea turtle (Mesodermochelys undulates), and shells of ammonoids (Patagiosites compressus and Gaudryceras hobetsense) and bivalves (Nannonavis elongatus) on the beach. Image credit: Kobayashi et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-48607-1.

New Duck-Billed Dinosaur Unveiled: Kamuysaurus japonicus

Sep 6, 2019 by Natali Anderson

A new genus and species of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) dinosaur has been identified from bones discovered six years ago in Japan. Life reconstruction of...

A graphic thermal image of a T. rex with its dorsotemporal fenestra glowing on the skull. Image credit: Brian Engh.

Tyrannosaurus rex Had ‘Thermostat’ in Its Head

Sep 5, 2019 by News Staff

Tyrannosaurus rex, a species of carnivorous dinosaur that lived about 68 million years ago, had an internal thermostat in its head, according to a study...

An artist’s impression of the Cretaceous pterosaur Pterodaustro. Image credit: Nobu Tamura, spinops.blogspot.com / CC BY 3.0.

Jurassic Pterosaurs Were Filter-Feeders, Study Says

Aug 27, 2019 by News Staff

A new study led by Uppsala University researchers provides the first direct evidence of filter feeding in Jurassic pterosaurs and shows that they had a...

An artist’s impression of Pseudotherium argentinus. Image credit: Agencia CTyS-UNLaM.

Triassic-Era Mammal Relative Had Saber Teeth

Aug 27, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of cynodont has been identified from a fossilized skull found in the San Juan province, Argentina. An artist’s impression of Pseudotherium...

Chindesaurus bryansmalli. Image credit: Petrified Forest National Park.

Elevated Levels of Oxygen Gave Rise to North American Dinosaurs, Scientists Say

Aug 22, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Texas Austin has used a new technique to analyze tiny amounts of gas...

Adratiklit boulahfa is closely related to the European stegosaurs Dacentrurus and Miragaia (seen here). Image credit: Nobu Tamura, spinops.blogspot.com / CC BY 3.0.

Meet Adratiklit boulahfa, World’s Earliest Known Stegosaur

Aug 22, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists in Morocco have found fossil fragments from a new genus and species of stegosaur that walked the Earth about 168 million years ago (Jurassic...

A pair of extant penguins. Image credit: Martin Fuchs.

Ancient Giant Penguin Unearthed in New Zealand: Crossvallia waiparensis

Aug 15, 2019 by News Staff

The fossilized bones of a large-sized penguin species that lived during the Paleocene epoch (between 66 and 56 million years ago) have been discovered...

Reconstruction of the Xinhang forest landscape. Image credit: Wang et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.053.

Devonian Fossil Forest Unearthed in China

Aug 12, 2019 by News Staff

Paleontologists have discovered a 360-million-year-old (Devonian period) fossilized forest of lycopsid trees near Xinhang in China’s Anhui province —...

Reconstruction of Heracles inexpectatus, dwarfing a bevy of 3.1-inch (8 cm) high Kuiornis -- small New Zealand wrens scuttling about on the forest floor. Image credit: Brian Choo, Flinders University.

World’s Largest Parrot Lived 19 Million Years Ago in New Zealand

Aug 7, 2019 by News Staff

An international group of paleontologists has found two incomplete bones from an ancient parrot with a mass of 7 kg, double that of the heaviest known...

The skull of Ngwevu intloko. Image credit: Kimberley Chapelle.

Meet Ngwevu intloko, New Jurassic Dinosaur from South Africa

Aug 6, 2019 by News Staff

A new genus and species of sauropodomorph dinosaur has been described — after its fossilized remains spent more than three decades sitting in a museum. The...

Reconstruction of Archaeopteryx albersdoerferi. Image credit: Zhao Chuang / Martin Kundrát.

Study: Dinosaur Feathers Evolved for Sexual Display

Aug 5, 2019 by News Staff

New research, published recently in the journal Evolution, shows that some dinosaurs may have taken flight thanks to sex appeal. Persons & Currie explored...

Carnivorous Cambrian Creature Had Rake-Like Claws and Pineapple-Slice-Shaped Mouth

Aug 1, 2019 by News Staff

A new species of marine predator that lived about 506 million years ago (Cambrian period) has been identified from exceptionally well-preserved fossils...

An artist’s reconstruction of Microdocodon gracilis as a nocturnal animal active on a bennettitalean tree of the Jurassic. Image credit: April I. Neander.

Jurassic Docodont Had Complex, Modern Mammal-Like Hyoid Bones

Jul 24, 2019 by News Staff

Our highly mobile tongues, which allow us to swallow chewed food and suckle milk as babies, may have evolutionary origins in some of our most early mammal...

A microtektite from the shell bed of southwestern Florida. Image credit: Meyer et al, doi: 10.1111/maps.13299.

Researchers Find 2-3-Million-Year-Old Microtektites inside Fossil Clams

Jul 23, 2019 by News Staff

Fossil clams found in southwestern Florida contain ancient microtektites, tiny (about 200 μm in diameter) glass beads that form when the explosive impact...

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