Paleontogly

A group of paleontologists from the University of Queensland and James Cook University has documented the most diverse assemblage of dinosaur tracks in the world on the north-western coast of Western Australia. Dinosaur tracks in the Walmadany area, Western Australia. Image credit: Steve Salisbury. At least 48 dinosaurian tracksites were …

Exceptionally well-preserved specimens unearthed in Early Cretaceous sediments of Mongolia belong to an ancient, dinosaur-era relative of the living plant Ginkgo biloba (today is native only to China). Reconstruction of Umaltolepis mongoliensis showing four seed-bearing structures and attached Pseudotorellia resinosa leaves. Note that three seed-bearing organs have split at the …

A fossil crustacean, discovered by a University of Leicester-led team of paleontologists, has been named Cascolus ravitis in honor of the naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, in celebration of his 90th birthday. Cascolus ravitis. Image credit: David J. Siveter et al. Cascolus ravitis, a member of the stem-group of …

A fossil crustacean, discovered by a University of Leicester-led team of paleontologists, has been named Cascolus ravitis in honor of the naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, in celebration of his 90th birthday. Cascolus ravitis. Image credit: David J. Siveter et al. Cascolus ravitis, a member of the stem-group of …

A team of paleontologists from the University of Cambridge and the Natural History Museum, London, UK, has proposed radical changes to the dinosaur family tree, based on their careful analysis of dozens of fossil skeletons and tens of thousands of anatomical characters. The research by Baron et al provides important …

A new study led by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) provides the strongest evidence to date that sharks arose from a group of bony fishes called Acanthodii (acanthodians, or ‘spiny sharks’). General view of the Doliodus problematicus specimen, showing the ventral part of the individual viewed in dorsal …

An international team of paleontologists from the Nordic Center for Earth Evolution and the Swedish Museum of Natural History has unearthed uniquely well-preserved fossils of 1.6 billion-year-old crown-group rhodophytes (red algae). Ramathallus lobatus. Image credit: S. Bengtson et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2000735. The extraordinarily preserved fossils came from phosphorite deposits at …

It was the power of the eyes — not the limbs — that first led our ancient aquatic ancestors to make the leap from water to land, according to a team of scientists led by Northwestern University Professor Malcolm MacIver and Lars Schmitz of Claremont McKenna, Scripps and Pitzer Colleges. …

New research by Brockport College Professor Judy Massare and University of Manchester paleontologist Dean Lomax confirms that two species of ichthyosaurs — Ichthyosaurus communis and I. intermedius – are actually one and the same species. Ichthyosaurs. Image credit: Julio Lacerda. Ichthyosaurs — predatory marine reptiles that ranged in size from …

A prehistoric monster worm that terrorized the Devonian seas some 400 million years ago has been identified by an international team of paleontologists from the University of Bristol, Lund University and the Royal Ontario Museum. This is an artistic reconstruction showing Websteroprion armstrongi attacking a fish in the Devonian sea. …