Palaeontology
Rare Cretaceous-Age Fossil Opens New Chapter in Story of Bird Evolution
A Cretaceous-age, crow-sized bird from Madagascar would have sliced its way through the air wielding a large, blade-like beak and offers important new insights on the evolution of face and beak shape in the Mesozoic forerunners of modern birds.
Palaeontology
Water-to-Land Transition in Early Tetrapods
The water-to-land transition is one of the most important and inspiring major transitions in vertebrate evolution.
Palaeontology
T. Rex Had Huge Growth Spurts, But Other Dinos Grew “Slow and Steady”
Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the biggest meat-eating dinosaurs of all time--it measured up to 42 feet long from snout to tail and would have weighed in at around 16,000 pounds.
Palaeontology
Ireland’s Only Dinosaurs Discovered in Antrim
The only dinosaur bones ever found on the island of Ireland have been formally confirmed for the first time by a team of experts from the University of Portsmouth and Queen's University Belfast, led by Dr Mike Simms, a curator and palaeontologist at National Museums NI.
Palaeontology
Study Reveals True Origin of Oldest Evidence of Animals
Two teams of scientists have resolved a longstanding controversy surrounding the origins of complex life on Earth.
Palaeontology
Prehistoric Shark Hid its Largest Teeth
Some, if not all, early sharks that lived 300 to 400 million years ago not only dropped their lower jaws downward but rotated them outwards when opening their mouths.
Palaeontology
Paleontologists Uncover Three New Species of Extinct Walruses in Orange County
Millions of years ago, in the warm Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California, walrus species without tusks lived abundantly.
Palaeontology
Fossil Shark Turns in to Mystery Pterosaur
Palaeontologists have made a surprising discovery while searching through 100-year-old fossil collections from the UK - a new mystery species of pterosaur, unlike anything seen before.
Palaeontology
The First Duckbill Dinosaur Fossil From Africa Hints at How Dinosaurs Once Crossed Oceans
The first fossils of a duckbilled dinosaur have been discovered in Africa, suggesting dinosaurs crossed hundreds of kilometres of open water to get there.
Palaeontology
Paleontologists Describe Skeleton of a Juvenile Plateosaurus For First Time
Long neck, small head and a live weight of several tons - with this description you could have tracked down the Plateosaurus in Central Europe about 220 million years ago.
Palaeontology
Ancient Crocodiles’ Family Tree Reveals Unexpected Twists & Turns
Scientists probing a prehistoric crocodile group's shadowy past have discovered a timeless truth - pore over anyone's family tree long enough, and something surprising will emerge.
Palaeontology
Half a Billion Years Old Microfossils May Yield New Knowledge of Animal Origins
When and how did the first animals appear? Science has long sought an answer. Uppsala University researchers and colleagues in Denmark have now jointly found, in Greenland, embryo-like microfossils up to 570 million years old, revealing that organisms of this type were dispersed throughout the world.