Paleontology: Discovery of new ancient giant snake in India
Researchers from an Indian university have discovered a new species of ancient snake, Vasuki Indicus, which could be among the largest ever, in Gujarat, India.
Digging up new species of Australia and New Guinea’s giant fossil kangaroos
Researchers at Flinders University in Australia have identified three new species of extinct giant kangaroos, revealing greater diversity in their morphology and locomotion.
Ancient giant dolphin discovered in the Amazon
Paleontologists at the University of Zurich have unveiled a new, ancient freshwater dolphin species from the Peruvian Amazon, the largest ever found, dating back 16 million years.
The hidden rule for flight feathers—and how it could reveal which dinosaurs could fly
From Field Museum 14/02/24 Birds can fly— at least, most of them can. Flightless birds like penguins and ostriches have evolved lifestyles that don’t require flight. However, there’s a lot that scientists don’t know about how the wings and feathers of flightless birds differ from their airborne cousins. In a new study in the journal […]
Palaeontology: New dinosaur species may be closest known relative of Tyrannosaurus rex
From Springer Nature 15/01/24 A new species of tyrannosaur from southern North America that may the closest known relative of Tyrannosaurus rex is described in a study published in Scientific Reports. Sebastian Dalman and colleagues identified the new species — which they have named Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis — by examining a fossilised partial skull, which was previously discovered in the Hall […]
It turns out, this fossil plant is really a fossil baby turtle
From Field Museum 22/12/23 From the 1950s to the 1970s, a Colombian priest named Padre Gustavo Huertas collected rocks and fossils near a town called Villa de Levya. Two of the specimens he found were small, round rocks patterned with lines that looked like leaves; he classified them as a type of fossil plant. But […]
Early Cambrian microfossils preserve introvert musculature of cycloneuralians
From Chinese Academy of Sciences 20/10/23 An international research team led by Prof. ZHANG Huaqiao from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS) has reported the discovery of extraordinary early Cambrian (ca. 535 million years ago, or Ma) microfossils preserving the introvert musculature of cycloneuralians, a group of […]
Rare fossil shows badger-like mammal attacking a dinosaur
By CANADIAN MUSEUM OF NATURE 03/08/23 Canadian and Chinese scientists have described an unusual fossil from around 125 million years ago that shows a dramatic moment in time when a carnivorous mammal attacked a larger plant-eating dinosaur. “The two animals are locked in mortal combat, intimately intertwined, and it’s among the first evidence to show […]