New Dinosaur Species Discovered in Mongolia, Gobiraptor Minutus
A new oviraptorosaur species from the Late Cretaceous was discovered in Mongolia, according to a study published in February 6, 2019 in the open-access journal…
Paleontology
Paleontologists Discover A New Giant Dinosaur, The Volgatitan
Paleontologists from Russia have described a new dinosaur, the Volgatitan. Seven of its vertebrae, which had remained in the ground for about 130 million years,…
Burnt Toast and Dinosaur Bones Have a Common Trait
Burnt toast and dinosaur bones have a common trait, according to a new, Yale-led study. They both contain chemicals that, under the right conditions, transform…
Finding the ‘Breath of Life’ in a Silurian Ostracod
A new animal species related to crabs and shrimp, preserved in 430-million-year-old rocks in Herefordshire, England, presents a rare look at the respiratory organs of…
Dinosaur Egg Color Had a Single Evolutionary Origin
A new study says the colors found in modern birds’ eggs did not evolve independently, as previously thought, but evolved instead from dinosaurs. According to…
Mass Extinction Happened in a Geological ‘Instant’
It took less than 30,000 years and maybe only thousands, to kill more than 90% of sea creatures and most land species, according to the…
Fossils Reveal New Insight on Mesozoic Pollinating Insects
Insect pollination played an important role in the evolution of angiosperms. Little is known, however, about ancient pollination insects and their niche diversity during the…
Paleontologists Discover a New Species of Lobopodian
Yale paleontologist Derek Briggs was part of a research team that identified Thanahita distos, a new species of lobopodian, an ancient relative of modern-day onychophorans,…
Paleontologists Discover First North American Co-occurrence of Hadrosaur and Therizinosaur Tracks
An international team of paleontologists and other geoscientists has discovered the first North American co-occurrence of hadrosaur and therizinosaur tracks in the lower Cantwell Formation…
Researchers Identify Two New Ancient Mammals in Bolivia
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University and two other universities have discovered the 13-million-year-old fossils of a pair of new species of extinct hoofed mammals…
Ancient Crocodile Reveals the Humble Beginnings of the Apex Predator
The mouth of today’s crocodilians inspires fear and awe, with their wide gape and the greatest known bite force in the vertebrate animal kingdom. However,…
When Did Animals Leave Their First Footprint on Earth?
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong put the first footprint on the moon. But when did animals leave the first footprint on Earth? Recently, an…
All Modern Birds Evolved From The Same Common Ancestor
A new study says all modern birds evolved from the same ground-dwelling, common ancestor, after an asteroid slammed into Earth millions of years ago and…
Jurassic Fossil Links Ancient Crocodiles With Dolphin-Like Animals
A 180 million-year-old fossil has shed light on how some ancient crocodiles evolved into dolphin-like animals. The specimen – featuring a large portion of backbone…
Scientists Reveal the First Bird Beak, 3D Skull of Ichthyornis Dispar
Researchers have pieced together the three-dimensional skull of an iconic, toothed bird that represents a pivotal moment in the transition from dinosaurs to modern-day birds….
Paleontologists Identify a New Species of Ancient Whale
University of Otago paleontologists are rewriting the history of New Zealand’s ancient whales by describing a previously unknown genus of baleen whale, alive more than…
Four-Eyed Lizard Provides a New Wrinkle in Eyesight Evolution
Researchers have found an ancient monitor lizard with a fourth eye — a discovery that may signal a new wrinkle in the way eyesight evolved…
Paleontologists Provide New Perspective on Triassic Period, Emergence of Dinosaurs
After a great mass extinction shook the world about 252 million years ago, animal life outside of the ocean began to take hold. The earliest…