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Massive dinosaur fossil footprints have been found in southern China. They were left behind by a raptor which might be among the largest ever. Raptor is the term commonly given to members of the Dromaeosauridae and Troodontidae groups of bipedal dinosaurs. Analysis of their skulls indicates that these were pack-hunters and the smartest of dinosaurs, […]

Palaeontologists have described 3 new species of extinct megafauna kangaroos which lived from about 5 million to 40,000 years ago. The megafaunal macropodids in the genus Protemnodon would have looked something like a grey kangaroo but were generally squatter and more muscular. One new species named as part of the study, Protemnodon viator, weighed up […]

A new analysis of the fossil record shows that dinosaurs bucked an ecological trend known as Bergmann’s rule. The rule was put forward by German biologist Carl Bergmann in 1847. It suggests that larger animals are found in colder environments. It is most often applied to birds and mammals. For example, the largest penguins are […]

An analysis of a fossil found 20 years ago has revealed new details which might explain how vertebrates evolved to walk on land nearly 400 million years ago. Tiktaalik, a 375-million-year-old fish,  discovered in Canada, is a “fishapod” – a missing link between fish and the first four-legged tetrapods to walk the Earth. All land […]

To make it in a tough world, the first dinosaurs had to grow up fast according to a study published in the open-access PLOS ONE journal. Fossils analysed in this study came from the Ischigualasto Formation in northwestern Argentina. The rocks in the geological formation date between 231 million and 229 million years old. It […]

Researchers have found the fossilised skull of the largest ever river dolphin. While found in the Peruvian Amazon, the ancient dolphin’s closest living relatives are in South Asia. Pebanista yacuruna would have measured between 3 and 3.5 m. The skull of the extinct animal was found in 2018 along the Rio Napo near Peru’s border […]

Kermitops gratus are thought to be among first true amphibians and a key step in transition of life from water to landAfter achieving worldwide fame through numerous hit films and TV shows, leading to a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, Kermit the Frog has another accolade: a 270m-year-old fossil named after him.Scientists have discovered a species of an ancient amphibian ancestor, which they...

An ancient amphibian ancestor found in Texas has been named Kermitops gratus in honour of iconic Muppet, Kermit the Frog. The animal is known from a fossil skull which was in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. It is described as a new species of proto-amphibian in a paper published in […]

Fossil of giant river dolphin found in Peru, whose closest living relation is in South Asia, gives clues to future extinction threatsScientists have discovered the fossilised skull of a giant river dolphin, from a species thought to have fled the ocean and sought refuge in Peru’s Amazonian rivers 16m years ago. The extinct species would have measured up to 3.5 metres long, making it...

Soft tissues preserved in the geological record, let alone entire organs, are rare finds for palaeobiologists. But new research suggests that preserved human brains are more common in the archaeological record than previously thought. A team led by researchers at the Oxford University  has compiled a new archive of more than 4,000 preserved human brains […]

Fossilised remains of a giant freshwater turtle which lived between 40,000 and 9,000 years ago have been found in the Brazilian Amazon. It’s shell, or carapace, measured about 1.8 m, making it one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world. Peltochephalus maturin lived during the late Pleistocene period (2.58 million to 11,700 years ago) […]

A large group of fossilised dinosaur footprints, plants and tree stumps in Alaska’s far northwest reveal a very different environment 100 million years ago. The new find is detailed in a paper published in the journal Geosciences. Alaska is home to several beautifully preserved dinosaur trackways. But the newly discovered tracks are much older. “We’ve […]

Sometimes it takes the smallest thing to undertake a mammoth task. That’s what researchers behind the attempts to de-extinct the woolly mammoth are hoping as they announced what they believe to be a step forward in their efforts. One Texas-based company has made de-extinction its business. It is looking at not only de-extinction of the […]

Before dinosaurs, ancestors of mammals were the top predators. Research suggests these first large land carnivores evolved new tools to hone their skills as hunters. The battle between predator and prey was heating up on land during the 60 million years before the ‘Age of Dinosaurs’ began 252 million years ago. As herbivores grew larger, […]

A newly discovered prehistoric dolphin appears to have had a unique method for catching its prey. Aureia rerehua was found in the Hakataramea Valley in the South Canterbury region of New Zealand’s south island. It was uncovered in a limestone quarry in a layer of sediment that dates to 22–23 million years ago (mya). It […]

A celebrated reptile fossil discovered in the Italian alps in 1931 is mostly fake. The Tridentinosaurus antiquus was thought to be a significant specimen in understanding reptile evolution because earlier interpretations suggested the rare presence of preserved soft tissues. Research published in Palaeontology re-analysing the find with modern scientific methods reveals the truth – what was thought to be […]

Retroviruses may have triggered the evolution of large, complex brains in vertebrates hundreds of millions of years ago according to new research. Deepening our understanding of brain evolution in vertebrates could help us piece together how human brains evolved to be so large and complex. A retrovirus genetic element, called a “retrotransposon”, could be the […]

European archaeologists, anthropologists and researchers remain perplexed about a handful of human-animal co-burials found in a pre-Roman settlement. An archaeological site at Seminario Vescovile (in modern day Italy) contains 161 human graves dating between the 3rd and 1st century BCE. Among the graves are 4 individuals interred alongside skeletal remains of horses and dogs.  Among the 4, […]

One of the world’s richest and most diverse fossil sites from the lower Ordovician period (488–444 million years ago) has been unearthed in southern France. 400 well-preserved fossils dating back 470 million years were found in Montagne Noire. The new fossils were analysed by scientists from the University of Lausanne and their colleagues at the […]

An ancient, fossilised fish that probably breathed through holes on the top of its head has been discovered in remote Australia. The species was sleek and predatory with large fangs and bony scales and would have grown to about 40 cm, according to a paper describing the finding in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. “We […]

Palaeontologist Jun Ebersole was in for a surprise as he rummaged through fossil collections at the Geological Survey in Alabama. “A few years ago, I was looking through the historical fossil collections […] and came across a small box of shark teeth that were collected over 100 years ago in Wilcox County,” says Ebersole, Director […]

Speed, bonny boat, like a pterosaur on the wing… Palaeontologists have declared a new species of pterosaur, found on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. They’ve published their discovery in the Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. The pterosaur, Ceoptera evansae, hails from the Middle Jurassic period, roughly 170 million years ago. This discovery has implications for […]

A 352-million-year-old tree fossil has been discovered in Canada which resembles nothing that we have ever seen before. The find is also very rare because, unlike most fossilised trees, it shows what the overall tree’s form would have looked like. Usually, only the trunks of trees fossilise. This doesn’t reveal the tree’s canopy or how […]

How did the ancestors of modern humans first start to walk on two legs? A new study might offer an answer – and it’s an earful. New evidence from the fossilised skulls of a 6-million-year-old ape called Lufengpithecus has revealed important clues about how our quadrupedal ancestors made the transition to walking on two legs. […]