Paleontology

Newly discovered fossil challenges idea of ape origins in east Africa - study

The remains, discovered in 2023 and 2024, are incomplete, and made up of only a few jawbone fragments and worn teeth. 

Image from Apes and monkeys, Their life and language; illustrative.
A 46-foot (14m) long Spinosaurus cast debuts at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, US, June 2, 2023.

Fossils of a new species of huge dinosaur Spinosaurus unearthed in Niger

160-million-year-old Anchiornis fossils.

160 million years later: This rare fossil is overturning everything we knew about how birds evolved

Dinosaur, edmontosaurus close up with open mouth. Ukraine, Khmelnitsky, October 2021.

'Medusa,' possible 'dinosaur mummy' discovered in Badlands, transferred for further research


Plesiosaurs inhabited freshwater in Morocco, researchers find - study

Fossils discovered in Morocco indicate that the ancient marine reptiles were adapted to freshwater conditions and may have spent their entire lives there.

 Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus, 2008.

Study refutes claim T. Rex was three separate species

"Based on all the fossil evidence we currently have, T. rex stands alone as the single giant apex predator from the end of the Age of Dinosaurs in North America.”

A fossil of a dinosaur claw.

New dino species discovery may explain why the T-Rex had tiny arms - study

The newly-discovered dino, the Meraxes gigas, was another predator that had a large skull and short arms like the Tyrannosaurus rex.

 An artist's reconstruction of the Cretaceous Period meat-eating dinosaur Meraxes gigas.

Hundreds of frogs died mid-sex in a swamp 45 million years ago - study

Irish paleontologists have uncovered why hundreds of fossil frogs were buried under an ancient swamp millions and millions of years ago.

 Eopelobates wagneri, frog, Eocene, Messel, Hesse, Germany - Houston Museum of Natural Science

Dinosaurs survived one extinction in chilly temperatures - study

Feathers and a high metabolism helped dinosaurs thrive while most other species died out, a new study shows.

 A handout illustration shows a sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Montana 150 million years ago during the Jurassic Period.

Analysis of mastodon tusk reveals first evidence of seasonal migration

Using new isotopic and life-history analyses technology, scientists were able to reconstruct he landscape where the animal roamed during his adolescence and final years of his life.

 University of Michigan paleontologist and study co-leader Daniel Fisher participated in the Buesching mastodon excavation 24 years ago. He later used a bandsaw to cut a thin, lengthwise slab from the center of the animal’s banana-shaped, 9½-foot right tusk.

Ancient giraffes had shorter necks and armored heads - study

New fossils found in northern China have revealed that ancient giraffes had a disk-shaped bone structure on their heads intended for head-butting opponents.

 A giraffe in the Akagera National Park.

Squamates were present on Earth for longer than previously thought - study

Although the Squamata is the largest order of reptiles, made up of over 10,000 different species, their evolutionary origins are not yet well understood.

Lizard 521

Perfectly preserved egg reveals what birds have inherited from dinosaurs

Birds are descended from a dinosaur species called Oviraptorosaurs.

Dinosaurs

Preserved dinosaur embryo sheds light on connection to modern birds

Scientists believe the embryo was fossilized in its egg after being buried by a mudslide that protected it from exposure to the elements and scavengers.

Dinosaurs