Paleontology News

Titanosaurs Hatched with Adult-Like Proportions, Paleontologists Say

Baby Rapetosaurus krausei is compared to neonatal mammals: the dinosaur was only 14 inches tall at the hip, and weighed around 40 kg when it died a few weeks after hatching. This body size is similar to that of some large-bodied mammalian newborns: black rhinoceros calves are 35-45 kg at birth and stand a little taller at the shoulder than baby Rapetosaurus krausei at 25.6 inches (65 cm); African elephants are close to 39 inches (1 m) high at the hip and weigh between 90 and 120 kg at birth; hippo newborns are the closest in both height and mass to the specimen of Rapetosaurus krausei, checking in between 24-45 kg at birth with a shoulder height of 14.6 inches (37 cm). Image credit: D. Vital.
Apr 22, 2016 by News Staff

A rare specimen of the titanosaur Rapetosaurus krausei from the Cretaceous of Madagascar sheds light on early life in the smallest stage of one of the largest dinosaurs, says a team led by Macalester College paleontologist Kristina Curry-Rogers. Baby Rapetosaurus krausei is compared to neonatal mammals: the dinosaur was only 14 inches tall at the hip, and weighed around 40 kg when it died a few weeks after hatching. This body size is similar to that...

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The skull of Gryposuchus pachakamue, a proto-Amazonian gavialoid from the Miocene lakes and swamps of the Pebas Mega-Wetland System, in dorsal, ventral, and lateral view. Scale bar - 5 cm. Image credit: Salas-Gismondi R. et al.

Discovery of Miocene Crocodilian Suggests Parallel Evolution of Protruding Eyes

Apr 21, 2016 by News Staff

Fossils of a 13-million-year-old extinct gavialoid crocodilian from the Peruvian Amazon suggest that South American and Indian gavialoids evolved separately...

A white-headed capuchin (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica. Image credit: Geoff Gallice / CC BY 2.0.

Panamacebus transitus: First North American Monkey Fossils Unearthed in Panama

Apr 21, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Seven fossil teeth recovered from the Miocene layers of the Las Cascadas Formation in the Panama Canal Basin are the first evidence of a monkey on the...

Reconstruction of the giant, short-faced North American bear Arctodus simus. Image credit: Daniel Reed / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ancient Mitochondrial DNA Reveals Convergent Evolution of Giant Bears in the Americas

Apr 20, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

A study led by Dr. Kieren Mitchell of the University of Adelaide sheds new light on the evolution of what are believed to be the largest bears that ever...

Torvosaurus gurneyi. Image credit: © Sergey Krasovskiy.

Dinosaurs Were in Long-Term Evolutionary Decline before Chicxulub Impact

Apr 19, 2016 by News Staff

According to a new research published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and which has been led by University of Reading scientists...

Asilisaurus kongwe: in this artist’s rendering, the reptile is shown as it would walk and move about; the stripes are artistic license, although the animal’s proto-feathers are likely. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Triassic Fossils Indicate How Dinosaurs Grew from Hatchlings to Adults

Apr 6, 2016 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists has found that fossilized leg bones of Asilisaurus kongwe — a dinosaur cousin that lived during the Middle Triassic epoch...

Aquilonifer spinosus: Silurian Arthropod Kept Its Young on Tether

Apr 5, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has unearthed a fossilized arthropod that carried its young in pouches tethered to the parent’s body, like a...

An artistic representation of the Miocene snake as it would have appeared in life. Image credit: Jim Robbins.

True Colors of Ancient Snake Revealed

Apr 4, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A green and black colubrid snake lived about 10 million years ago in what is today Spain, according to a team of scientists led by University College Cork...

Scientist Links Earth’s Periodic Mass Extinctions to Planet Nine

Mar 31, 2016 by News Staff

According to Prof. Daniel P. Whitmire from the University of Arkansas, the suspected Planet Nine triggers comet showers linked to mass extinctions on Earth...

An artist’s recreation of Giraffatitan (foreground), a sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Jurassic period. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov / Gerhard Boeggemann / Sci-News.com.

Paleontologists Explain Evolution of Sauropod Dinosaurs

Mar 30, 2016 by News Staff

A large team of paleontologists led by University of Liverpool scientist Dr. Karl Bates has developed computer models of the bodies of sauropod dinosaurs...

A pair of Boreonykus certekorum. Image credit: University of New England.

Boreonykus certekorum: Paleontologists Discover New Dinosaur Species in Canada

Mar 19, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

A new species of dromaeosaurid (raptor) dinosaur — Boreonykus certekorum — that thrived in the cold has been discovered in a remote part of...

Paleontologists Solve Mystery of ‘Tully Monster’

Mar 17, 2016 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists from the United States has determined that Tullimonstrum gregarium (popularly known as the Tully monster) — a large soft-bodied...

Reconstruction of Timurlengia euotica. Image credit: Todd Marshall.

Timurlengia euotica: New Species of Tyrannosaur Discovered in Uzbekistan

Mar 15, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new dinosaur cousin of T. rex – named Timurlengia euotica — has been found in the Kyzylkum Desert, northern Uzbekistan. A reconstruction of Timurlengia...

An artist’s rendition of Teyujagua paradoxa. Image credit: Voltaire Neto.

Ancient Crocodile-Like Reptile Unearthed in Brazil: Teyujagua paradoxa

Mar 11, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Fossil remains of a previously unknown species of reptile that lived about 250 million years ago (Triassic period) have been found in the Brazilian state...

Life restoration of Ichthyosaurus anningae. Image credit: James McKay.

New Research Sheds Light on Extinction of Ichthyosaurs

Mar 10, 2016 by News Staff

According to a new research published in the journal Nature Communications, ichthyosaurs were driven to extinction by climate change and their own failure...

Fossiliferous mudstone containing Tortotubus protuberans. Image credit: Martin R. Smith.

Scientist Finds Fossil of Oldest Known Fungus

Mar 2, 2016 by News Staff

According to Dr. Martin Smith, a paleontologist at Durham University, UK, a fossil dating from the Silurian period of the Palaeozoic era, about 440 million...

An artist’s drawing of the abelisaur. Image credit: Davide Bonadonna / Imperial College London.

Paleontologists Determine Size of Rare Cretaceous Dinosaur

Mar 1, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A partially preserved femur from the Kem Kem beds of Morocco has revealed the size of a large-bodied theropod dinosaur called abelisaur. An artist’s...

Complete specimen of Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis and morphological reconstruction. Image credit: Jie Yang, Yunnan University / Javier Ortega-Hernández, University of Cambridge.

Paleontologists Find 520 Million-Year-Old Fossilized Central Nervous System

Feb 29, 2016 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists led by Yunnan University scientist Xi-guang Zhang has unearthed one of the oldest fossils of the central nervous system yet found. Complete...

Tube sponges Callyspongia sp. attracting cardinal fishes, golden sweepers and wrasses. Image credit: Nick Hobgood / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Study: Simple Sea Sponges Were Earth’s First Animals

Feb 25, 2016 by News Staff

Sea sponges appeared on our planet about 640 million years ago, much earlier than any other animal, according to a study published this week in the Proceedings...

This is an illustrated rendition of two male glyptodonts (Doedicurus clavicaudatus); massive, club-shaped tails were probably used more for intraspecific combat than defense against predators. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Researchers Sequence Mitochondrial Genome of Glyptodont

Feb 23, 2016 by Natali Anderson

An international group of scientists has successfully sequenced the whole mitochondrial genome of the ancient glyptodont – a heavily armored herbivorous...

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