All articles tagged with #fossils
Researchers identified a new extinct crocodile species, Herugavialis cairensis, from fossils found in the limestone used to build the Great Sphinx. CT scans revealed distinct skull features that distinguish it from the false gharial, adding a new branch to the gavial family tree.
Before modern paleontology, medieval and early modern Europeans misidentified giant fossils as mythical creatures or biblical giants. This belief persisted for centuries until scientists like Cuvier proved extinction was real.
A newly described 57-centimeter microraptorine dinosaur from China, Norellraptor barsboldi, suggests that flight evolved independently in birds and feathered dinosaurs through different developmental pathways, challenging the idea of a shared ancestral flight apparatus.
A new study in Nature reclassifies the Early Carboniferous fossil Westlothiana lizziae as a stem tetrapod rather than an early amniote, revealing that terrestrial adaptations evolved in a mosaic fashion within an amphibious context.
A newly described 57-centimeter microraptorine dinosaur, Norellraptor barsboldi, found in China, shows that flight-related adaptations in birds and non-avian dinosaurs likely evolved independently. The fossil, dated to 100–145 million years ago, shares about 30% of anatomical changes with birds but in a different sequence, supporting convergent evolution over a shared ancestral flight apparatus.
Researchers describe a new 57-centimeter microraptorine dinosaur, Norellraptor barsboldi, from the Lower Cretaceous of China. The fossil exhibits flight-related adaptations similar to birds but evolved them independently. Analysis of bone histology and phylogenetic data indicates that flight adaptations in microraptorines and birds arose through different developmental and evolutionary pathways, rather than being inherited from a common ancestor.
A team led by Cairo University’s Dr. Tarek Yassin identified 14 fossilized shark teeth in Egypt’s Western Desert, confirming the area was once a shallow tropical sea. Published in Cretaceous Research, the findings reveal five distinct species, including an ancient relative of the goblin shark, preserved in phosphate-rich rocks from 70 to 80 million years ago.
Scientists studying the Hell Creek Formation near Marmarth, North Dakota, describe what appears to be the first known trackway of an adult Tyrannosaurus rex, featuring at least four three‑toed footprints over more than 23 feet with a fifth track later uncovered; high‑resolution 3D scans suggest the dinosaur walked about 3.5–4.5 mph, and researchers anticipate more footprints as digging continues.
Researchers analyzing a coprolite (fossilized dinosaur dung) from Montana’s Hell Creek Formation found a tiny feather and other remains that suggest a small diving bird related to hesperornithiforms may have struggled to survive the asteroid-driven “impact winter.” The study proposes that modern birds (Neornithes) persisted because their feather traits differed enough to withstand the post‑impact cooling, while the primitive feather types did not insulate as well. Scientists say confirming this would require a pre‑asteroid Neornithes fossil preserved with enough detail, but the coprolite work shows how such fossils can illuminate why some lineages survived mass extinctions.
Spanish researchers identify a 25-meter Diplodocus at La Tejería, Teruel—the first confirmed Diplodocus outside North America—strengthening evidence that Late Jurassic dinosaurs dispersed between Europe and North America via fleeting land bridges.
Archaeologists in North Dakota unearthed the first continuous trackway of a running Tyrannosaurus rex—four giant three-toed footprints spanning about 23 feet—from the 66-million-year-old Hell Creek Formation, found by a Colorado schoolteacher; the trace offers rare insight into T. rex locomotion and will be airlifted to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for study.
Archaeologists in Yunnan, China, report Denisovans used the Bianfu Cave for roughly 190,000 to 70,000 years, with five fossils dated to 134,000–167,000 years ago, including two teeth and three bone fragments identified as Denisovan via ZooMS proteomics (the radius fragment is the only Denisovan radius found to date). The site yielded about 1,400 stone artifacts, hundreds of animal bones, and bone tools, indicating Denisovans hunted large game in a forested eastern Asia landscape and used bone tools, revealing new details about their biology and culture.
Researchers reconstructed the mating calls of Jurassic Orthoptera from exceptionally preserved fossils, using AI to simulate the sounds and revealing a surprisingly rich ancient soundscape, including a species that produced ultrasonic calls beyond human hearing.
An international team dated over 7,500 marine fossils using radiocarbon and amino-acid dating to quantify time averaging in fossil beds. They found sedimentation rate is the primary control on how much time is captured in a layer: rapid burial minimizes mixing across generations, while slow deposition blends remains from different eras. This large, worldwide dataset enables more confident reconstructions of past ecosystems and could extend to older fossils if the same relationship holds.
A Carboniferous fossil, Chosha praecursor, reveals amphibious stem-insect traits (ovipositor and paddle-like abdominal legs) and is placed as an early-diverging hexapod, suggesting insects colonized land earlier than some molecular clocks imply. The find helps bridge the ‘hexapod gap’ in the fossil record, indicates a semi-aquatic lifestyle for at least some stem-insects, and revises views on early insect morphology while providing open data for phylogenetic analysis.