Xenoceratops, A New Species of Horned Dinosaur Discovered in Canada
Scientists in Canada have named a newly found horned dinosaur (ceratopsian) and it’s called Xenoceratops foremostensis. It was identified from fossils originally collected in 1958…
Paleontology
Smilodon’s Distinctive Fangs Still Puzzling to Paleontologists
The extinct genus Smilodon encompasses three species, and they are part of North American’s vanished megafauna. While the carnivore broadly resembles other Felidae, its fangs…
How Tyrannosaurus Rex Ate Triceratops Horridus
Tyrannosaurus rex bite marks have been found on the fossilized bones of Triceratops horridus, but so far such fossils have been studied in an isolated…
Ankle Bone Fossil of Earliest Primate Implies That It Was Arboreal
It’s always been contentious when primates started climbing trees. The discovery of some new ankle bones is now making it look like primates have always…
Molecular Analysis of Dinosaur Osteocytes Indicates Presence of Endogenous Molecules
20 years ago, Mary Schweitzer discovered that she spotted the effects of what could only be described as a red blood cell in a slice…
Fossils Reveal Headbutts May Have Been Used as a Dinosaur Courtship Behavior
Pachycephalosaurids had domed heads with thick, bony protuberances, which paleontologists hypothesized the dinosaurs used in courtship behavior, perhaps to determine which male would be allowed…
Predator X Officially Named Pliosaurus funkei
Back in 2009, researchers had become quite excited about Predator X, an immense, big-headed marine reptile that was supposed to have a bite four times…
Researchers Calculate That DNA Has a 521 Year Half-Life
A new study of fossils in New Zealand has discovered that cloning dinosaurs or organisms that have been extinct for millions of years is highly…
Amber Captured Cretaceous Period Spider Attacking a Wasp
A Cretaceous period juvenile spider was trapped in amber before it could devour a male wasp caught in its web. This is the first time…
Silurian Fossil of Dibasterium Durgae Untangles Horseshoe Crab Past
Paleontologists have discovered that horseshoe crabs haven’t had an entirely static evolutionary history. A new fossil has helped elucidate the mystery of the horseshoe crabs,…
Pegomastax Africanus, A Miniature Dinosaur that Thrived in Southern Africa
Pegomastax africanus is a new species of plant-eating dinosaur with tiny, 1-inch long jaws, which was discovered in South Africa. It thrived during the Lower…
Sediment-Bound Fossil Specimens Suggest Effects of Ocean Acidification
Palentologists have discovered micrometer-scale fossils of plankton from the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, a period of rapid ocean warming and acidification that occurred 55 million years…
3D Renderings of Carboniferous Period Insects
Two 305-million-year-old insect nymphs were scanned in high resolution in order to construct three-dimensional portraits. The two insects were scanned using fossils from the Carboniferous…
World’s Smallest Fossilized Footsteps Are From Diminutive Tetrapod
Fossilized imprints and trackways record the movement and behavior of species long extinct. An amateur paleontologist discovered a fossil that has allowed others to follow…
230 Million Year Old Arthropods Found Preserved in Amber
Arthropods from the Triassic period have been discovered preserved in amber. They are 100 million years older than previous amber inclusions. The two mites and…
Jaw Structures of Fossils Seems to Suggest That Three Homo Species Roamed Africa Concurrently
New evidence, presented as fossilized skulls, has been discovered that seems to imply that three different and distinct species belonging to the genus Homo existed…
Bushy-Tailed Fossilized Theropod Could Mean that Most Dinosaurs Had Feathers
A particularly well-preserved bushy-tailed fossilized theropod could imply that most of dinosaurs actually had feathers. The dinosaur, named Sciurumimus albersdoerferi lived 150 million years ago,…
Prehistoric Fossilized Eocene Epoch Turtles Died Locked In Coitus
These extraordinary 47-million year old fossils depict prehistoric turtles reproducing. The study was led by Walter Joyce, of the University of Tübingen in Germany, and…