Paleontogly

Jurassic Pterosaur

Paleontologists have unearthed and described the fragmentary fossilized remains of a non-pterodactyloid pterosaur in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Life reconstruction of a rhamphorhynchine pterosaur from the Cerro Campamento Formation, Chile. Image credit: Universidad de Chile. The newly-described pterosaur inhabited the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana some 160 million years ago …

Read More »

Permian Period Shark

Paleontologists have uncovered seven well-preserved teeth from the extinct shark genus Petalodus in Shanxi province, China. Life restoration of Petalodus sharks. Image credit: Dinghua Yang. Petalodus is a small genus of Petalodontiformes, a intriguing group of extinct marine cartilaginous fish that flourished from the Carboniferous to the Permian period. First …

Read More »

Rare Cambrian Worm

A new genus and species of palaeoscolecid worm has been identified from two specimens found in the Burgess Shale-type deposits in Utah, the United States. Arrakiscolex aasei. Image credit: University of Missouri. Palaeoscolecida is a group of extinct ecdysozoan worms that existed from the Ealy Cambrian to the Late Silurian …

Read More »

New Giant Penguin

A new species of large-sized penguin being named Kairuku waewaeroa has been identified from the fossilized bones found in Kawhia Harbour on the North Island of New Zealand. Life reconstruction of giant penguins. Image credit: Simone Giovanardi. Kairuku waewaeroa roamed Earth during the Oligocene epoch, between 27 and 35 million …

Read More »

New Bird Species

Paleontologists in China have identified a new species of pengornithid enantiornithine bird with a pair of elaborate tail feathers. An illustration showing what Yuanchuavis kompsosoura might have looked like in life. Image credit: Haozhen Zhang. Enantiornithes are the most successful group of Mesozoic birds, arguably representing the first global avian …

Read More »

Modern Snake Diversity

About 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into Earth near the site of the small town of Chicxulub in what is now Mexico. The impact eradicated roughly 75% of the animal and plant species on Earth, including whole groups like non-avian dinosaurs and ammonites. New research from the …

Read More »

Extinct Kiwi Species

Paleontologists have described a new species of kiwi that lived during the mid-Pleistocene period on the North Island of New Zealand. The little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii). Artwork by John Gerrard Keulemans, 1870s. “Kiwi are an enigmatic and threatened group of birds, unique to New Zealand, with six living species …

Read More »

Carnotaurus Scaly Skin

Paleontologists have described in detail for the first time the scaly skin of Carnotaurus sastrei, an abelisaurid theropod that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous epoch, sometime between 72 and 70 million years ago. An artist’s reconstruction of Carnotaurus sastrei based on the scaly skin described by Hendrickx …

Read More »

Meet Titanokorys Gainesi

                  Paleontologists have described the largest Cambrian hurdiid radiodont known so far, named Titanokorys gainesi, from the Burgess Shale, British Columbia, Canada. Reconstruction of Titanokorys gainesi. Image credit: Caron & Moysiuk, doi: 10.1098/rsos.210664. Radiodonts, a group of primitive arthropods that evolved during …

Read More »

Early Eocene Primate

Dental cavities or caries is a common disease among modern humans, affecting almost every adult. New research shows that Microsyops latidens, a species of stem primate from the Early Eocene epoch, had a high prevalence of dental caries (7.48% of individuals), with notable variation through time, reaching 17.24% of individuals …

Read More »
Bizwhiznetwork Consultation