Paleontology News

Fossils Reveal True Color of Mosasaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Prehistoric Turtles

Jan 9, 2014 by News Staff

Fossilized skin pigments from an 85 million-year-old mosasaur, a 193 million-year-old ichthyosaur and a 55 million-year-old leatherback turtle have revealed the skin color of these extinct marine reptiles. This is an artist’s impression of a dark-colored ichthyosaur, mosasaur, and prehistoric leatherback turtle:mosasaurs and leatherback turtles had a dark back and light belly, whereas ichthyosaurs, similar to the modern deep-diving sperm whale,...

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Reconstruction of Dormaalcyon latouri. Image credit: Charlène Letenneur, MNHN / Pascale Golinvaux, RBINS.

Dormaalocyon latouri: Prehistoric Mammal Sheds Light on Origins of Carnivoraforms

Jan 9, 2014 by News Staff

A newly discovered genus and species of primitive carnivorous animal that lived in what is now Europe roughly 55 million years ago sheds light on the origins...

The Dusky cockroach (Ectobius lapponicus) is a member of the genus Ectobius. Image credit: Adam Opioła / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Eurasian Ectobius Cockroaches May Have Originated in North America

Jan 8, 2014 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has reported the important discovery of a new fossil species in the cockroach genus Ectobius. The Dusky cockroach...

This image shows flowers of Micropetasos burmensis in a 100-million-year-old piece of amber. Image credit: Oregon State University.

Amber Reveals Oldest Evidence of Reproduction in Flowering Plants

Jan 3, 2014 by News Staff

A 100-million-year-old piece of amber from mines in the Hukawng Valley of Myanmar (formerly Burma) has revealed the oldest known evidence of sexual reproduction...

Every year, hundreds of new dinosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles and fishes are discovered, and among them are always a few really weird or funny species. 2013's list includes a giant hedgehog, the oldest big cat species, a toothed platypus, dinosaurs, prehistoric fishes and birds.

Top 20 Fossil Species Discovered in 2013 – Part 2

Dec 31, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Every year, hundreds of new dinosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles and fishes are discovered, and among them are always a few really weird or beautiful...

Every year, hundreds of new dinosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles and fishes are discovered, and among them are always a few really weird or funny species. 2013's list includes a giant hedgehog, the oldest big cat species, a toothed platypus, dinosaurs, prehistoric fishes and birds.

Top 20 Fossil Species Discovered in 2013

Dec 31, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

Every year, hundreds of new dinosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles and fishes are discovered, and among them are always a few really weird or beautiful...

Life reconstruction of a pair of Chasmaporthetes gangsriensis. Image credit: Julie Selan.

Chasmaporthetes gangsriensis: New Fossil Hyena Found in Tibet

Dec 28, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists have discovered fossils of a previously unknown species of cursorial hyena that lived in what is now Tibetan Plateau during the middle...

The Great spotted kiwi, Apteryx haastii: a male with a juvenile. Artwork by John Gerrard Keulemans, 1876.

Proapteryx micromeros: Kiwi’s Ancestor Could Have Flown from Australia

Dec 26, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

A 19 to 16-million-year-old fossil of a kiwi-like bird unearthed at St Bathans, New Zealand, suggests that the kiwi is not a dwarf version of a distant...

This is an artist's impression of the newly discovered Acheroraptor temertyorum, which lived at the same time as Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi.

Acheroraptor temertyorum: New Dinosaur Discovered in Montana

Dec 20, 2013 by News Staff

Canadian paleontologists have described a new genus and species of raptor dinosaur that lived in western North America about 66 million years ago, at the...

Edmontosaurus regalis. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi / Current Biology.

Edmontosaurus Fossil Shows Duck-Billed Dinosaurs Had Soft-Tissue Comb

Dec 19, 2013 by News Staff

A unique fossil of the duck-billed dinosaur Edmontosaurus regalis shows for the first time that those dinosaurs’ heads were adorned with a fleshy...

This painting shows three representatives of Hypohippus, an extinct genus of three-toed horse that lived in North America during the middle Miocene, 17 - 11 million years ago. Painting by Heinrich Harder, 1916.

Eurygnathohippus woldegabrieli: New Fossil Species of Horse Found in Ethiopia

Dec 18, 2013 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists have discovered fossils of a new horse species that was about the size of a small zebra and roamed eastern Africa...

Niassodon mfumukasi. Image credit: Fernando Correia, dbio / UAveiro.

Niassodon mfumukasi: Fossil of New Mammal-Like Reptile Found in Mozambique

Dec 5, 2013 by News Staff

Paleontologists have discovered a new genus and species of dicynodont that lived in what is now modern Mozambique during the Late Permian period, about...

Erlikosaurus andrewsi. Image credit: Dinosaur-world.com.

Research Reveals Role of Dinosaur Beaks

Dec 3, 2013 by News Staff

By using CT scanning technology combined with computer simulations, paleontologists have revealed what role keratinous beaks of some dinosaurs played in...

An artist's reconstruction of Siats meekerorum. Image credit: Jorge Gonzales.

Siats meekerorum: New Giant Dinosaur Found in Utah

Nov 22, 2013 by News Staff

Paleontologists announced today the discovery of a new predatory dinosaur that lived in what is modern-day Utah around 100 million years ago. An artist’s...

Extant tarsier species: Philippine Tarsier (Tarsius syrichta). Image credit: Jasper Greek Golangco.

Hesperotarsius: New Miocene Tarsier Discovered in Pakistan

Nov 21, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists led by Dr Jelle Zijlstra from Harvard’s Peabody Museum have discovered a new genus and species of tarsier that lived in what is modern-day...

Life reconstruction of Panthera blytheae. Image credit: Mauricio Antón.

Panthera blytheae: Oldest Big Cat Fossil Found in Tibet

Nov 14, 2013 by Natali Anderson

A well-preserved 6 to 4 million-year-old skull of a previously unknown species of prehistoric snow leopard from Tibet is the oldest big cat fossil ever...

Left: 3.48 billion-year-old macrostructures from the Dresser Formation in Pilbara, Western Australia. Right: possible modern equivalents. Scale bars - 1 cm. Image credit: Nora Noffke et al.

3.48 Billion-Year-Old Fossilized Ecosystems Found in Australia

Nov 12, 2013 by News Staff

Dr Nora Noffke from Old Dominion University in Norfolk and her colleagues have unearthed evidence of complex microbial ecosystems in 3.48 billion year...

This is an artist's reconstruction of Deinogalerix koenigswaldi, the largest known Deinogalerix species. Image credit: © Roman Yevseyev / Other-worlds.ucoz.ru.

Deinogalerix masinii: New Giant Fossil Hedgehog from Italy

Nov 11, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new species of giant, spineless hedgehog that lived in what is today the Gargano peninsula of Italy during the late Miocene,...

This is an artist's impression of a pair of copulating froghoppers, Anthoscytina perpetua. Image credit: Li S et al.

Oldest Known Fossil of Copulating Insects Discovered in China

Nov 7, 2013 by News Staff

A team of scientists has found a well-preserved, 165-million-year-old fossil of copulating froghoppers, Anthoscytina perpetua, at the Daohugou village...

Reconstructed head of Lythronax argestes. Image credit: Gary Staab.

Lythronax argestes: Remarkable New Species of Tyrannosaur Found in Utah

Nov 7, 2013 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed a huge new predatory dinosaur in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah. Artist’s impression of...

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