Feature Channels: Paleontology

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Released: 13-May-2021 10:15 AM EDT
Ankle and foot bone evolution gave prehistoric mammals a leg up
University of Edinburgh

The evolution of ankle and foot bones into different shapes and sizes helped mammals adapt and thrive after the extinction of the dinosaurs, a study suggests.

Released: 11-May-2021 6:05 AM EDT
New ancient shark discovered
University of Vienna

In a new study, an international team led by Sebastian Stumpf from the University of Vienna describes a fossil skeleton of an ancient shark, which is assigned to a new, previously unknown genus and species. This rare fossil find comes from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation in England, a series of sedimentary rocks that was formed in a shallow, tropical-subtropical sea during the Upper Jurassic, about 150 million years ago. The fossil shark skeleton was found more than 20 years ago on the southern coast of England and is now held in the Etches Collection. Additional fossil shark specimens from it will be investigated in the years to come.

Released: 6-May-2021 1:15 PM EDT
Slender-snouted Besanosaurus was an 8 m long marine snapper
PeerJ

Middle Triassic ichthyosaurs are rare, and mostly small in size. The new Besanosaurus specimens described in the peer-reviewed journal PeerJ - the Journal of Life and Environmental Sciences - by Italian, Swiss, Dutch and Polish paleontologists provide new information on the anatomy of this fish-like ancient reptile, revealing its diet and exceptionally large adult size: up to 8 meters, a real record among all marine predators of this geological epoch.

5-May-2021 11:00 AM EDT
Study Shows Independent Evolutionary Origins of Vertebrate Dentitions
University of Bristol

The origins of a pretty smile have long been sought in the fearsome jaws of living sharks which have been considered living fossils reflecting the ancestral condition for vertebrate tooth development and inference of its evolution. However, this view ignores real fossils which more accurately reflect the nature of ancient ancestors.

Released: 3-May-2021 3:05 PM EDT
Flatfish got weird fast due to evolutionary cascade
Rice University

Ever look at a flatfish like a flounder or sole, with two eyes on one side of its head, and think, "How did that happen?"

Released: 3-May-2021 12:05 PM EDT
Newly identified saber-toothed cat is one of largest in history
Ohio State University

A giant saber-toothed cat lived in North America between 5 million and 9 million years ago, weighing up to 900 pounds and hunting prey that likely weighed 1,000 to 2,000 pounds, scientists reported today in a new study.

Released: 22-Apr-2021 11:05 AM EDT
Fat-footed tyrannosaur parents could not keep up with their skinnier adolescent offspring
Taylor & Francis

New research by the University of New England's Palaeoscience Research Centre suggests juvenile tyrannosaurs were slenderer and relatively faster for their body size compared to their multi-tonne parents.

Released: 20-Apr-2021 3:25 PM EDT
Little Foot fossil shows early human ancestor clung closely to trees
University of Southern California (USC)

A long-awaited, high-tech analysis of the upper body of famed fossil "Little Foot" opens a window to a pivotal period when human ancestors diverged from apes, new USC research shows.

Released: 12-Apr-2021 11:05 AM EDT
Unusual fossil reveals last meal of prehistoric pollinator
University of Bristol

An amber fossil of a Cretaceous beetle has shed some light on the diet of one of the earliest pollinators of flowering plants.

30-Mar-2021 8:00 AM EDT
Paleopharmaceuticals from Baltic amber might fight drug-resistant infections
American Chemical Society (ACS)

For centuries, people in Baltic nations have used ancient amber for medicinal purposes. Now, scientists report compounds that help explain its therapeutic effects and that could lead to new medicines to combat antibiotic-resistant infections. They will present their results at ACS Spring 2021.

   
Released: 30-Mar-2021 12:40 PM EDT
Researchers Announce "Resurrection" Of Skink Species
Carnegie Museum of Natural History

An international team of researchers announces the "resurrection" of the Philippine skink species Brachymeles burksi.

Released: 24-Mar-2021 4:05 AM EDT
Older than expected: Teeth reveal the origin of the tiger shark
University of Vienna

With a total length of up to 5.5m, the tiger shark is one of the largest predatory sharks known today. This shark is a cosmopolitan species occurring in all oceans worldwide. It is characterized by a striped pattern on its back, which is well marked in juveniles but usually fades in adults. An international team of researchers led by Julia Türtscher from the University of Vienna examined the fossil record of these apex predators and found out that modern tiger sharks are older than previously thought and that several tiger shark species existed in past compared to the single species living today.

22-Mar-2021 11:00 AM EDT
Snappy evolution was behind the success of ancient crocodiles
University of Bristol

New research led by the University of Bristol has revealed that crocodiles once flourished on land and in the oceans as a result of fast evolution.

16-Mar-2021 2:05 PM EDT
New study investigates how life on land recovered after “The Great Dying”
University of Bristol

Over the course of Earth’s history, several mass extinction events have destroyed ecosystems, including one that famously wiped out the dinosaurs. But none were as devastating as “The Great Dying,” which took place 252 million years ago during the end of the Permian period.

11-Mar-2021 8:05 AM EST
Scientists stunned to discover fossil plants beneath mile-deep Greenland ice—indicating risk of rapid sea-level rise
University of Vermont

Scientists found frozen plant fossils, preserved under a mile of ice on Greenland. The discovery helps confirm a new and troubling understanding that the Greenland Ice Sheet has melted entirely during recent warm periods in Earth’s history—like the one we are now creating with human-caused climate change.

Released: 11-Mar-2021 3:05 AM EST
Fossilized feeding frenzy:
University of Vienna

An international team of scientists with Fridgeir Grímsson from the University of Vienna has found a previously unknown fossil fly species in old lake sediments of the Messel Pit, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Germany. In the stomach of the fossil insect, pollen from various plants could be detected, which allows rare insights into the feeding behavior, the ecology and the role of the fly as a pollinator.

8-Mar-2021 1:35 PM EST
Long-accepted theory of vertebrate origin upended by fossilized fish larvae
University of Chicago Medical Center

A new study out of the University of Chicago, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Albany Museum challenges a long-held hypothesis that the blind, filter-feeding larvae of modern lampreys are a holdover from the distant past, resembling the ancestors of all living vertebrates, including ourselves.

9-Mar-2021 12:45 PM EST
New Study Sheds Light on Caribbean Mammal Extinctions, Helps Guide Conservation Strategies
Stony Brook University

A new study reveals that the largest and smallest mammals in the Caribbean have been the most vulnerable to extinction. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, help predict future extinction risk and inform the conservation strategies needed to prevent future biodiversity loss.

Released: 9-Mar-2021 2:40 PM EST
An epic walk: 15 million years needed for dinosaurs to get from South America to Greenland
University of Copenhagen

For the first time, two researchers--one from the University of Copenhagen and the other from Columbia University--have accurately dated the arrival of the first herbivorous dinosaurs in East Greenland.

4-Mar-2021 11:00 AM EST
Younger Tyrannosaurus Rex bites were less ferocious than their adult counterparts
University of Bristol

By closely examining the jaw mechanics of juvenile and adult tyrannosaurids, some of the fiercest dinosaurs to inhabit earth, scientists led by the University of Bristol have uncovered differences in how they bit into their prey.

2-Mar-2021 5:05 AM EST
Cutting-edge analysis of prehistoric teeth sheds new light on the diets of lizards and snakes
University of Bristol

New research has revealed that the diets of early lizards and snakes, which lived alongside dinosaurs around 100 million years ago, were more varied and advanced than previously thought.

Released: 26-Feb-2021 2:35 PM EST
Dinosaur species: 'Everyone's unique'
University of Bonn

"Everyone's unique" is a popular maxim. All people are equal, but there are of course individual differences. This was no different with dinosaurs.

Released: 26-Feb-2021 12:50 PM EST
Pioneering prehistoric landscape reconstruction reveals early dinosaurs lived on tropical islands
University of Bristol

A new study using leading edge technology has shed surprising light on the ancient habitat where some of the first dinosaurs roamed in the UK around 200 million years ago.

Released: 26-Feb-2021 8:05 AM EST
Pioneering prehistoric landscape reconstruction reveals early dinosaurs lived on tropical islands
University of Bristol

A new study using leading edge technology has shed surprising light on the ancient habitat where some of the first dinosaurs roamed in the UK around 200 million years ago.

Released: 24-Feb-2021 1:55 PM EST
Fossils may hold clues to climate change, says BGSU paleobiologist
Bowling Green State University

Evolution and extinction of an ancient mollusk, informs the research of Dr. Peg Yacobucci

Released: 24-Feb-2021 1:35 PM EST
Scientists describe earliest primate fossils
University of Washington

A new study published Feb. 24 in the journal Royal Society Open Science documents the earliest-known fossil evidence of primates. These creatures lived less than 150,000 years after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event that killed off non-avian dinosaurs and saw the rise of mammals.

Released: 19-Feb-2021 1:35 PM EST
42,000-year-old trees allow more accurate analysis of last Earth's magnetic field reversal
GFZ GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam

The last complete reversal of the Earth's magnetic field, the so-called Laschamps event, took place 42,000 years ago.

Released: 19-Feb-2021 12:25 PM EST
Fuel for earliest life forms: Organic molecules found in 3.5 billion-year-old rocks
University of Cologne

A research team including the geobiologist Dr. Helge Missbach from the University of Cologne has detected organic molecules and gases trapped in 3.5 billion-year-old rocks.

Released: 16-Feb-2021 1:25 PM EST
Climate change likely drove the extinction of North America's largest animals
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

A new study published in Nature Communications suggests that the extinction of North America's largest mammals was not driven by overhunting by rapidly expanding human populations following their entrance into the Americas.

28-Jan-2021 8:20 AM EST
Mysterious Magnetic Fossils Offer Past Climate Clues
University of Utah

There are fossils, found in ancient marine sediments and made up of no more than a few magnetic nanoparticles, that can tell us a whole lot about the climate of the past, especially episodes of abrupt global warming. Now, researchers have found a way to glean the valuable information in those fossils without having to crush the scarce samples into a fine powder.

27-Jan-2021 3:05 PM EST
New clues emerge in how early tetrapods learned to live — and eat — on land
University of Chicago Medical Center

New research out of the University of Chicago has found evidence that the lobe-finned fish species Tiktaalik roseae was capable of both biting and suction during feeding, similar to modern-day gars. These results provide evidence that bite-based feeding originally evolved in aquatic species and was later adapted for use on land.

Released: 1-Feb-2021 1:50 PM EST
Unmatched dust storms raged over Western Europe during Ice age maximum
University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Every late winter and early spring, huge dust storms swirled across the bare and frozen landscapes of Europe during the coldest periods of the latest ice age.

28-Jan-2021 10:30 AM EST
New Study Unravels Darwin’s ‘Abominable Mystery’ Surrounding Origin of Flowering Plants
University of Bristol

The origin of flowering plants famously puzzled Charles Darwin, who described their sudden appearance in the fossil record from relatively recent geological times as an “abominable mystery”.

Released: 26-Jan-2021 2:35 PM EST
Study sheds new light on the behaviour of the giant carnivorous dinosaur Spinosaurus
Queen Mary University of London

New research from Queen Mary University of London and the University of Maryland, has reignited the debate around the behaviour of the giant dinosaur Spinosaurus.

Released: 25-Jan-2021 12:15 PM EST
Dinosaur embryo find helps crack baby tyrannosaur mystery
University of Edinburgh

They are among the largest predators ever to walk the Earth, but experts have discovered that some baby tyrannosaurs were only the size of a Border Collie dog when they took their first steps.

15-Jan-2021 9:55 AM EST
Amber-encased fossil shines light on evolution of bioluminescent insects
University of Bristol

Trapped in amber for ~100 million years, an exceptionally well-preserved, light-producing beetle sheds light on the diversification of bioluminescent beetles in the Cretaceous period and provides the missing fossil link between fireflies’ living relatives.

14-Jan-2021 10:00 AM EST
All-purpose dinosaur opening reconstructed for first time
University of Bristol

For the first time ever, a team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, have described in detail a dinosaur’s cloacal or vent – the all-purpose opening used for defecation, urination and breeding.

12-Jan-2021 4:05 PM EST
Accounting for the gaps in ancient food webs
Santa Fe Institute

Studying ancient food webs can help scientists reconstruct communities of species, many long extinct, and even use those insights to figure out how modern-day communities might change in the future. There’s just one problem: only some species left enough of a trace for scientists to find eons later, leaving large gaps in the fossil record — and researchers’ ability to piece together the food webs from the past. A new paper shines a light on those gaps and points the way to how to account for them.

Released: 14-Jan-2021 8:05 AM EST
Spectacular fossil discovery: 150 million-year-old shark was one of the largest of its time
University of Vienna

In a new study, an international research team led by Sebastian Stumpf from the University of Vienna describes an exceptionally well-preserved skeleton of the ancient shark Asteracanthus. This extremely rare fossil find comes from the famous Solnhofen limestones in Bavaria, which was formed in a tropical-subtropical lagoon landscape during the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago.

11-Jan-2021 9:00 AM EST
Research reveals how teeth functioned and evolved in giant mega-sharks
University of Bristol

A pioneering study by University of Bristol researchers finds that the evolution of teeth in the giant prehistoric shark Megalodon and its relatives was a by-product of becoming huge, rather than an adaptation to new feeding habits.

Released: 8-Jan-2021 9:45 AM EST
Research explains why crocodiles have changed so little since the age of the dinosaurs
University of Bristol

New research by scientists at the University of Bristol explains how a 'stop-start' pattern of evolution, governed by environmental change, could explain why crocodiles have changed so little since the age of the dinosaurs.

5-Jan-2021 10:20 AM EST
Native biodiversity collapse in the Eastern Mediterranean
University of Vienna

An international team led by Paolo G. Albano from the Department of Palaeontology at the University of Vienna quantified a dramatic biodiversity collapse of up to 95 per cent of native species in the Eastern Mediterranean. The study is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Released: 21-Dec-2020 11:20 AM EST
Crikey! Massive prehistoric croc emerges from South East Queensland
University of Queensland

A prehistoric croc measuring more than five metres long - dubbed the 'swamp king' - ruled south eastern Queensland waterways only a few million years ago.

18-Dec-2020 8:30 AM EST
Study resolves the position of fleas on the tree of life
University of Bristol

A study of more than 1,400 protein-coding genes of fleas has resolved one of the longest standing mysteries in the evolution of insects, reordering their placement in the tree of life and pinpointing who their closest relatives are.

Released: 18-Dec-2020 1:20 PM EST
The 'crazy beast' that lived among the dinosaurs
Taylor & Francis

Adalatherium is an important piece in a very large puzzle on early mammalian evolution in the southern hemisphere, one in which most of the other pieces are still missing

Released: 16-Dec-2020 2:25 PM EST
When dinosaurs disappeared, forests thrived
McGill University

It's known that the primary cause of the mass extinction of dinosaurs, about 66 million years ago, was a meteorite impact.

9-Dec-2020 9:55 AM EST
Research reveals unexpected insights into early dinosaur’s brain, eating habits and agility
University of Bristol

A pioneering reconstruction of the brain belonging to one of the earliest dinosaurs to roam the Earth has shed new light on its possible diet and ability to move fast.

Released: 11-Dec-2020 1:20 PM EST
Last Interglacial: warming amplified in mountain environments
University of Innsbruck

The Last interglacial period was the last warm period before our present Holocene age and dates back some 129,000 to 116,000 years ago.

Released: 10-Dec-2020 2:05 PM EST
Academy scientists describe 213 species in 2020
California Academy of Sciences

This past year, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences added 213 plant and animal species to the tree of life, providing deeper insight into the rich biodiversity of our planet and helping to inform global conservation strategies.



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