Paleontogly

In a paper published in the journal Cretaceous Research, Oregon State University researchers described a never-before-seen insect species found in a piece of 100-million-year-old amber excavated from a mine in Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Aethiocarenus burmanicus in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. The specimen originated from the Noije Bum 2001 Summit …

A team of paleontologists led by North Carolina State University researchers has isolated collagen peptides from the fossilized femur of Brachylophosaurus canadensis, a duck-billed dinosaur (hadrosaur) that lived what is now Montana around 80 million years ago. The research is published in the Journal of Proteome Research. This is a …

An international team of paleontologists has identified a new species of giant otter that lived in what is now China during the latest Miocene, approximately 6.2 million years ago. Artist’s reconstruction of two individuals of Siamogale melilutra, one of them feeding on a freshwater clam. The tapir in the background …

New evidence indicates the primary cause of megafaunal extinction in Australia 45,000 years ago was likely a result of humans, not climate change. A paper on the subject is published in the journal Nature Communications. A range of now extinct megafauna that was present when humans first arrived in Australia. …

Paleontologists have finally determined what hyoliths — a group of extinct marine creatures — actually are. Reconstruction of the hyolith Haplophrentis on the Cambrian sea floor. Image credit: D. Dufault / Royal Ontario Museum. Hyoliths evolved over 530 million years ago during the Cambrian period and are among the first …

CT scans of the fossilized skull of Dwykaselachus oosthuizeni — a shark-like fish that lived during the Permian period, around 280 million years ago — reveal the origin of chimaeras, a group of cartilaginous fish related to sharks. The research appears today in the journal Nature. Reconstruction of the early …

Non-avian dinosaur eggs took a long time to hatch — between 3 and 6 months, according to new research on the teeth of fossilized dinosaur embryos. Herds of female titanosaurs gathered at traditional nesting grounds 80 million years ago in what is now Patagonia, Argentina. Image credit: Luis Rey / …

An international team of paleontologists has discovered that Limusaurus inextricabilis, a species of Jurassic dinosaur, lost its teeth in adolescence and did not grow another set as adults. Limusaurus inextricabilis is the only known reptile to lose its teeth and form a beak after birth. Image credit: Yu Chen. Limusaurus …

A team of paleontologists has found the remains of a prehistoric bird that lived 90 million years ago (Cretaceous period) in the Canadian Arctic. An artist’s conception of Tingmiatornis arctica’s possible environment 90 million years ago, characterized by volcanic activity, a freshwater bay, turtles, fish, and champsosaurs. Image credit: Michael …

According to new research, American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) have remained virtually untouched by evolutionary change for at least 8 million years — up to 6 million years older than previously thought. American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Image credit: Gareth Rasberry / CC BY-SA 3.0. “If we could step back in time …