Paleontogly

Devonian Fossil Forest Unearthed in China

Paleontologists have discovered a 360-million-year-old (Devonian period) fossilized forest of lycopsid trees near Xinhang in China’s Anhui province — the oldest known fossil forest in Asia. Reconstruction of the Xinhang forest landscape. Image credit: Wang et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.053. The Xinhang forest covered an area of at least 62 acres …

Read More »

Meet Ngwevu intloko, New Jurassic Dinosaur from South Africa

A new genus and species of sauropodomorph dinosaur has been described — after its fossilized remains spent more than three decades sitting in a museum. The skull of Ngwevu intloko. Image credit: Kimberley Chapelle. The newly-identified dinosaur species, named Ngwevu intloko, lived between 191 and 201 million years ago (Early …

Read More »

New Bird-Like Dinosaur Unearthed in Wyoming

A new species of carnivorous bird-like dinosaur being named Hesperornithoides miessleri has been discovered by an international team of paleontologists from the United States and the United Kingdom. Hesperornithoides miessleri. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto. Hesperornithoides miessleri roamed our planet approximately 150 million years ago (Jurassic period). Nicknamed Lori, the ancient …

Read More »

Jurassic Docodont Had Complex, Modern Mammal-Like Hyoid Bones

Our highly mobile tongues, which allow us to swallow chewed food and suckle milk as babies, may have evolutionary origins in some of our most early mammal ancestors, according to an analysis of hyoid bones in Microdocodon gracilis, a newly-discovered docodontan mammaliaform that lived 166 million years ago (Jurassic period) …

Read More »

‘Shovel-Billed’ Dinosaur Roamed Texas 80 Million Years Ago

A new genus and species of primitive hadrosaurid dinosaur — named Aquilarhinus palimentus — has been identified from fossils found in Big Bend National Park, Texas, the United States. Aquilarhinus palimentus lived approximately 80 million years ago in what is now Texas. Image credit: ICRA Art. Aquilarhinus palimentus belongs to …

Read More »

Foot of Cretaceous Enantiornithine Bird Found Encased in Burmese Amber

The ancient bird, named Elektorornis chenguangi, lived 99 million years ago (Cretaceous period) and had a hyper-elongated third toe. An artist’s reconstruction of Elektorornis chenguangi, showing the possible probing function of the elongate toe. Image credit: Zhongda Zhang. Elektorornis chenguangi belongs to a group of extinct birds called Enantiornithes, the …

Read More »

Microraptors Ate Lizards for Lunch

Paleontologists in China have uncovered a nearly complete, fully articulated skeleton of Microraptor zhaoianus, a pigeon-sized, four-winged dinosaur that lived about 120 million years ago, and found an additional surprise preserved in its stomach: a previously unknown species of prehistoric lizard. Microraptor swallowing Indrasaurus wangi. Image credit: Doyle Trankina. The …

Read More »

Paleontologists Identify Oldest Known Ancestor of Mackerel Sharks

Mackerel (lamniform) sharks include some of the most iconic shark species, like the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) and the extinct Carcharocles megalodon, the biggest predatory shark that has ever roamed the world’s oceans. A team of paleontologists has examined the tooth mineralization processes in mackerel sharks and discovered a …

Read More »

Giant Birds Roamed Europe Two Million Years Ago

A giant ostrich-like bird that lived about two million years ago (Pleistocene epoch) has been identified from a fossilized femur found in the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine. Pachystruthio dmanisensis. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin. Named Pachystruthio dmanisensis, the ancient bird was at least 11.5 feet (3.5 m) tall and had an estimated …

Read More »
Bizwhiznetwork Consultation