Mammal diversity exploded immediately after dinosaur extinction
New analysis of the fossil record shows that placental mammals, the group that today includes nearly 5000 species including humans, became more varied in anatomy
Tag : Palaeontology press releases
Palaeontology press releases and fossil news
Fossils reveal humans were greater threat than climate change to Caribbean wildlife
Nearly 100 fossil species pulled from a flooded cave in the Bahamas reveal a true story of persistence against all odds -- at least until
Taking dinosaur temperatures with eggshells
Researchers know dinosaurs once ruled the earth, but they know very little about how these animals performed the basic task of balancing their energy intake
Shift in weaning age supports hunting-induced extinction of Siberian woolly mammoths
Chemical clues about weaning age embedded in the tusks of juvenile Siberian woolly mammoths suggest that hunting, rather than climate change, was the primary cause
Developing Saurolophus dino found at ‘Dragon’s Tomb’
Found with associated shell fragments, Saurolophus dino likely from nest, in earliest stages of development.
Cretaceous period mammal likely suffered from hair disease
An international team of researchers, together with participation from the University of Bonn, has investigated a stunning fossil finding from the Cretaceous period.
Measurements of dinosaur body temperatures shed new light on 150-year debate
Were dinosaurs really fast, aggressive hunters like the ones depicted in the movie "Jurassic World"? Or did they have lower metabolic rates that made them
48-million-year-old horse-like fetus discovered in Germany
A 48 million year-old horse-like equoid fetus has been discovered at the Messel pit near Frankfurt, Germany according to a study published October 7, 2015
New fossils intensify mystery of short-lived, toothy mammal found in ancient North Pacific
The identification of a new species belonging to the marine mammal group Desmostylia has intensified the rare animal's brief mysterious journey through prehistoric time, finds
Tiny ancient fossil from Spain shows birds flew over the heads of dinosaurs
Birds have an enormously long evolutionary history: The earliest of them, the famed Archaeopteryx, lived 150 million years ago in what is today southern Germany.
Washtenaw County mammoth find hints at role of early humans
A team of University of Michigan paleontologists were able to recover about 20 percent of the animal's bones, including the skull and two tusks, numerous
Animal species in today’s oceans more diverse than ever
A new analysis of the fossil record by paleontologists at the University of Connecticut and the Smithsonian Institute demonstrates that the number of animal species
Student reports new finds of a living fossil
The coelacanth fish, found today in the Indian Ocean, is often called a ‘living fossil’ because its last ancestors existed about 70 million years ago
Largest dinosaur population growth study ever shows how Maiasaura lived and died
Decades of research on Montana's state fossil -- the "good mother lizard" Maiasaurapeeblesorum - has resulted in the most detailed life history of any dinosaur
Stability of surviving communities increases following mass extinction
By using fossil data, researchers have found that the structure of ecological communities leading up to the Permian-Triassic Extinction, one of the largest drivers of
Ancient dirt churners took their time stirring up the ocean floor
Earth’s early burrowers were slow to discover the bottom of the ocean as a good place to kick up dirt.
Researchers ID pigment from fossils, revealing color of extinct animals
Scientists from Virginia Tech and the University of Bristol have revealed how pigment can be detected in mammal fossils, a discovery that may end the
Testing the fossil record
How good is the fossil record? And does it paint an accurate picture of the history of life? Those are the long-standing questions that geobiologist
Enamel evolved in the skin and colonized the teeth much later
When did the enamel that covers our teeth evolve? And where in the body did this tissue first appear?
Cold snap: Climate cooling and sea-level changes caused crocodilian retreat
Fluctuating sea levels and global cooling caused a significant decline in the number of crocodylian species over millions of years, according to new research.
Giant killer lizard fossil shines new light on early Australians
As if life wasn't hard enough during the last Ice Age, research led by the University of Queensland has found Australia's first human inhabitants had
New hadrosaur species discovered on Alaska’s North Slope
Researchers working with specimens at the University of Alaska Museum of the North have described a new species of hadrosaur, a type of duck-billed dinosaur