Paleontology News

The team has identified fossil proteins in 3.8 million year-old ostrich eggshells. Image credit: Matthew Collins.

Researchers Find Ancient Proteins in 3.8-Million-Year-Old Ostrich Eggshells

Sep 27, 2016 by News Staff

A multinational team of researchers has uncovered fossil proteins dating back 3.8 million years — a discovery that will enhance future understanding...

Dr. Stocker and co-authors describe Triopticus primus, a bizarre Late Triassic animal, whose skull structure is converged on by distantly related dome-headed pachycephalosaurs. The unique body plans observed in Triopticus primus and other archosaurs at the ‘dawn of the age of dinosaurs’ re-evolved in dinosaurs and crocodylians after the end-Triassic mass extinction. Image credit: Michelle R. Stocker et al.

Triopticus primus: Triassic Reptile Had ‘Third Eye’ and Thick, Domed Skull

Sep 25, 2016 by News Staff

Paleontologists have described a completely unexpected new species of reptile that lived 230 million years ago (Triassic period). Dr. Stocker and co-authors...

An artistic life reconstruction of Jeddaherdan aleadonta. Image credit: Jorge González.

Jeddaherdan aleadonta: New Fossil is Africa’s Oldest Iguanian Lizard

Sep 21, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A 90-million-year-old fossil discovered in Morocco is the oldest known iguanian lizard from Africa, which could help tell the story of lizard evolution...

American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Image credit: Gareth Rasberry / CC BY-SA 3.0.

American Alligator’s Lineage is More Ancient than Previously Thought

Sep 20, 2016 by News Staff

According to new research, American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) have remained virtually untouched by evolutionary change for at least 8 million...

Model of Psittacosaurus sp. based on skin and pigmentation patterns on the specimen from the Senckenberg Museum, Germany. Image credit: Jakob Vinther et al.

Psittacosaurus Had Countershading Camouflage, Paleontologists Say

Sep 16, 2016 by News Staff

A University of Bristol-led international team of paleontologists has produced an accurate reconstruction of an exceptionally well-preserved specimen of...

3.7-billion-year-old Isua stromatolites: isolated stromatolite (strom) and aggregate of stromatolites (stroms); locally, lamination is preserved in the stromatolites (blue lines); layering in the overlying sediment (red lines) onlaps onto the stromatolite sides; a weak tectonic foliation is indicated (green lines). Image credit: Allen P. Nutman et al.

Paleontologists Find 3.7-Billion-Year-Old Microbial Fossils in Greenland

Sep 1, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from Australia and the UK has uncovered the world’s oldest fossils in a remote area of Greenland, revealing that...

Fossil of Previously Unknown Small-Bodied Pterosaur Found in Canada

Aug 30, 2016 by News Staff

Paleontologists say they’ve discovered the fossilized remains of a small-bodied pterosaur, a prehistoric flying reptile, which lived roughly 77 million...

An artist’s representation of the Jurassic pterosaur Allkauren koi. Image credit: Gabriel Lío.

Meet Allkauren koi: Argentina’s Newest Flying Reptile

Aug 30, 2016 by Natali Anderson

170-million-year-old fossilized remains discovered in Patagonia, Argentina, have been identified as a new genus and species of pterosaur. An artist’s...

Reconstruction of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus). Image credit: Sergio de la Larosa / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Isotope Studies Shed Light on Dietary Habits of Extinct Cave Bear

Aug 24, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists from Belgium, Germany, Canada and Japan has taken a step back in time and provided a new insight into the lifestyle...

Reconstruction of Microleo attenboroughi. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Microleo attenboroughi: New Species of Marsupial Lion Unearthed in Australia

Aug 23, 2016 by News Staff

A new species of marsupial lion that lived approximately 18 million years ago has been identified from fossils found in Australia. Reconstruction of Microleo...

Mexican amber ptilodactyline beetle with attached pollinium of Annulites mexicana (arrow). Scale bar - 0.4 mm. Image credit: George Poinar Jr.

Ancient Beetles Pollinated Orchids 20 Million Years Ago

Aug 22, 2016 by News Staff

Certain beetles are known to pollinate plants. New fossil evidence from Mexican and Dominican fossilized amber indicates that they were doing so 20 million...

Reconstruction of the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex). Image credit: Mauricio Antón.

Marsupial Lion Thylacoleo carnifex Had Unique Hunting Style, Paleontologists Say

Aug 18, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has proposed that an extinct animal called the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) hunted in a very unique way...

Artistic reconstruction of a pod of Arktocara yakataga, swimming offshore of Alaska during the Oligocene, about 25 million years ago, with early mountains of Southeast Alaska in the background. Image credit: Alexandra Boersma.

Arktocara yakataga: Forgotten Fossil Found to be New Species of Ancient Dolphin

Aug 16, 2016 by News Staff

A fossil stored in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History for several decades has been identified as a new species of ancient...

Echovenator sandersi: Oligocene Whale Had Ultrasonic Hearing

Aug 8, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

27-million-year-old fossil of newly-discovered toothed whale species provides clues about evolution of high-frequency hearing. Echovenator sandersi produces...

Torvosaurus gurneyi. Image credit: © Sergey Krasovskiy.

Dinosaurs Had Bird-Like Color Vision, Gene Discovery Suggests

Aug 3, 2016 by News Staff

According to an international team of scientists led by Dr. Nicholas Mundy at the University of Cambridge, a gene for red color vision that originated...

This is an artist’s rendition of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius). Image credit: Flying Puffin / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Freshwater Scarcity Led to Extinction of Woolly Mammoths on Alaska’s Saint Paul Island

Aug 2, 2016 by News Staff

While the famous Minoan culture was just beginning, woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) were disappearing from Saint Paul Island, according to a group...

Illustration of elephant feeding ecology in the Late Pleistocene of southern China. Elephas (left) incoporates more graze in its diet; whereas Stegodon (right) is an obligate browser of fresh shoots and leaves. Image credit: Nicola Heath.

Paleontologists Reconstruct Diets of Ancient Elephant Relatives

Jul 28, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists headed by Prof. Mark Purnell of the University of Leicester, UK, and Dr. Yuan Wang from the Institute of Vertebrate...

Murusraptor barrosaensis: New Dinosaur Species Discovered in Argentina

Jul 22, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of theropod dinosaur has been discovered by a duo of paleontologists – Prof. Philip Currie from the University of Alberta in Canada and...

Turtle Shell Evolved for Burrowing, Study Suggests

Jul 19, 2016 by News Staff

A new study on the partially shelled fossil turtles suggests the broad-ribbed proto shell was initially an adaptation, not for protection, but rather for...