Feature Channels: Paleontology

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Released: 18-Aug-2023 2:05 PM EDT
Explore the avian world. Read the latest research on Birds here.
Newswise

The discovery that birds evolved from small carnivorous dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic was made possible by recently discovered fossils of theropods such as Tyrannosaurus rex and the smaller velociraptors. In a way, you could say that dinosaurs are still with us and seen tweeting from your own backyard! Below are the latest research headlines in the Birds channel on Newswise.

Newswise: Massive pre-Jurassic reptile had weaker bite than modern crocs
Released: 17-Aug-2023 1:15 PM EDT
Massive pre-Jurassic reptile had weaker bite than modern crocs
University of Birmingham

The apex predators that roamed the earth 230 million years ago had a much weaker bite than previously thought, and likely couldn’t crunch through bone to consume the entirety of their kills.

Newswise: The modern sea spider had started to diversify by the Jurassic, study finds
15-Aug-2023 8:50 AM EDT
The modern sea spider had started to diversify by the Jurassic, study finds
University of Bristol

An extremely rare collection of 160-million-year-old sea spider fossils from Southern France are closely related to living species, unlike older fossils of their kind.

Released: 15-Aug-2023 1:50 PM EDT
Scientists explore dinosaur ‘coliseum’ in Denali National Park
University of Alaska Fairbanks

University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists have discovered and documented the largest known single dinosaur track site in Alaska. The site, located in Denali National Park and Preserve, has been dubbed “The Coliseum” by researchers.

Newswise: Global consortium creates large-scale, cross-species database and universal ‘clock’ to estimate age in all mammalian tissues
10-Aug-2023 12:40 PM EDT
Global consortium creates large-scale, cross-species database and universal ‘clock’ to estimate age in all mammalian tissues
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

An international research team details changes in DNA that researchers found are shared by humans and other mammals throughout history and are associated with life span and numerous other traits.

Newswise:Video Embedded extreme-cooling-ended-the-first-human-occupation-of-europe
VIDEO
7-Aug-2023 8:50 AM EDT
Extreme cooling ended the first human occupation of Europe
University College London

Paleoclimate evidence shows that around 1.1 million years ago, the southern European climate cooled significantly and likely caused an extinction of early humans on the continent, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.

Newswise: Whale like filter-feeding discovered in prehistoric marine reptile
Released: 7-Aug-2023 8:00 PM EDT
Whale like filter-feeding discovered in prehistoric marine reptile
University of Bristol

A remarkable new fossil from China reveals for the first time that a group of reptiles were already using whale-like filter feeding 250 million years ago.

Newswise: Canadian paleontologists discover microvertebrate faunal assemblages in Manitoba, Canada
Released: 3-Aug-2023 5:20 PM EDT
Canadian paleontologists discover microvertebrate faunal assemblages in Manitoba, Canada
PeerJ

Canadian vertebrate palaeontologist, Aaron Kilmury, and a team of researchers from the University of Manitoba have published new research in PeerJ Life and Environment, unveiling the first-ever formal description of microvertebrate fossil assemblages from the late Cenomanian to middle Turonian periods in Manitoba, Canada.

Newswise: The very hungry Caterpillar: 60 Million-year-old Feeding Traces. Sharing of food plants as a driving force for insect diversity
Released: 1-Aug-2023 2:00 PM EDT
The very hungry Caterpillar: 60 Million-year-old Feeding Traces. Sharing of food plants as a driving force for insect diversity
Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum

Researchers from the Hessian State Museum Darmstadt and the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center Frankfurt have uncovered the factors that determine the enormous diversity of herbivorous insects.

Newswise: Nematode resurrected from Siberian permafrost laid dormant for 46,000 years
25-Jul-2023 12:35 PM EDT
Nematode resurrected from Siberian permafrost laid dormant for 46,000 years
PLOS

A soil nematode reanimated from Siberian permafrost had laid dormant for approximately 46,000 years, according to a study.

Newswise: Unraveling the Loch Ness Monster’s Eel Connection
Released: 24-Jul-2023 8:55 AM EDT
Unraveling the Loch Ness Monster’s Eel Connection
JMIR Publications

In a new study published in JMIRx Bio, one of JMIR Publications’ new overlay journals, scientist Floe Foxon explores whether the Loch Ness Monster, a creature in Scottish folklore, could be a giant eel. Using previous estimates of the monster’s size to predict the probability of encountering a large eel of a similar size, the study found that giant eels could not account for sightings of larger animals in Loch Ness, a freshwater lake in the Scottish Highlands.

   
Newswise: Miocene period fossil forest of Wataria found in Japan
Released: 21-Jul-2023 8:40 AM EDT
Miocene period fossil forest of Wataria found in Japan
Hokkaido University

An exquisitely preserved fossil forest from Japan provides missing links and helps reconstruct a whole Eurasia plant from the late Miocene epoch.

Released: 14-Jul-2023 1:20 PM EDT
New fossil flying reptile ‘Elvis’ takes flight
Queen Mary University of London

A new 145-million-year-old pterosaur (extinct flying reptiles that lived alongside the dinosaurs) was named today by a team of British, American and German researchers.

Newswise: Tiny scales reveal Megalodon was not as fast as believed, but mega-appetite explains gigantism
Released: 11-Jul-2023 10:05 AM EDT
Tiny scales reveal Megalodon was not as fast as believed, but mega-appetite explains gigantism
DePaul University

A new study reveals the iconic extinct Megalodon, or ‘megatooth shark’, was a rather slow cruiser that used its warm-bloodedness to facilitate digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Newswise: Why do we find so much amber in Cretaceous rocks?
Released: 7-Jul-2023 3:20 PM EDT
Why do we find so much amber in Cretaceous rocks?
Universidad De Barcelona

What would a traveler from the future think if one day s/he could analyze the rocks that are currently forming on the planet? Surely, this person would find quite a few plastic fragments and wonder why this material was so abundant in rocks of a certain age on Earth.

Newswise: Apex predator of the Cambrian likely sought soft over crunchy prey
Released: 5-Jul-2023 3:30 PM EDT
Apex predator of the Cambrian likely sought soft over crunchy prey
American Museum of Natural History

Biomechanical studies on the arachnid-like front “legs” of an extinct apex predator show that the 2-foot (60-centimeter) marine animal Anomalocaris canadensis was likely much weaker than once assumed. One of the largest animals to live during the Cambrian, it was probably agile and fast, darting after soft prey in the open water rather than pursuing hard-shelled creatures on the ocean floor.

Released: 27-Jun-2023 6:50 PM EDT
Newly discovered Jurassic fossils are a Texas first
University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin)

A team led by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin has filled a major gap in the state’s fossil record – describing the first known Jurassic vertebrate fossils in Texas.

Newswise: New study sheds light on the evolution of animals
Released: 27-Jun-2023 6:10 PM EDT
New study sheds light on the evolution of animals
University of Oxford

A study led by the University of Oxford has brought us one step closer to solving a mystery that has puzzled naturalists since Charles Darwin: when did animals first appear in the history of Earth?

Released: 27-Jun-2023 5:10 PM EDT
A jaw-dropping conundrum: Why do mammals have a stiff lower jaw?
University of California, Berkeley

From the 20-foot-long jawbones of the filter-feeding blue whale to the short, but bone-crushing, jaws of the hyena and the delicate chin bones of a human, the pair of lower jawbones characteristic of mammals have evolved with amazing variation.

26-Jun-2023 8:05 AM EDT
Humans' ancestors survived the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs
University of Bristol

A Cretaceous origin for placental mammals, the group that includes humans, dogs and bats, has been revealed by in-depth analysis of the fossil record, showing they co-existed with dinosaurs for a short time before the dinosaurs went extinct.



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