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NEWS ABOUT: paleontology

paleontology stories: 30 news summaries

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PALEONTOLOGISTS SAY

 100M Years Ago, Africa 
 Was Crocodile Central 

3 new species unearthed from Sahara include DogCroc

Nov 20, 09 1:12 PM CST
(Newser) - The universe of diverse prehistoric crocodile species keeps expanding, suggesting crocs were one of the dominant forms of life 100 million years ago. Paleontologists have just unearthed three new species in the Sahara desert: the 20-foot BoarCroc, which likely fed on dinosaurs; the 20-foot PancakeCroc, a flat-bodied fish-gobbler; and the... More »

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Africa • paleontology • dinosaur • crocodile • Sahara • National Geographic • Cretaceous Period • scientific research • reptiles • new species

Scientists Find Ancestor
to Giant Dinosaurs

It's a link between smaller bipeds and huge quadripeds

Nov 12, 09 7:23 PM CST
(Newser) - Paleontologists in South Africa have found a new dinosaur, a sort of missing link between smaller two-legged creatures that dined on plants and the long-necked carnivorous giants of Jurassic Park. The new species, aardonyx celestae, was 20 feet long and walked on two feet. But crucially, it was able to... More »

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plants • South Africa • paleontology • dinosaur

 Fossil Hunter 
 Finds Giant 
 Sea Monster 

Colossal pliosaur was big enough to snack on T. Rex

Oct 28, 09 2:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - A sea monster big enough to have munched on T. Rex has been found by an amateur fossil collector scouring Britain's south coast. The collector gathered chunks of the prehistoric beast's 8-foot-long skull as they fell from a cliff face over several years. Paleontologists believe the pliosaur skull is the... More »

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paleontology • fossil • dinosaur • Tyrannosaurus rex • sea creatures

 'Ballerina-Like' T. Rex 
 Cousin Discovered 

Size, light skeleton and delicate teeth suggest different prey from larger relative

Oct 6, 09 3:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - A smaller, more agile cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex has been identified. The skull and a nearly complete skeleton of Alioramus altai was discovered in Mongolia in 2001, and has features that distinguish it from its more lumbering cousin. Unlike its “big bad boy” relatives, a study author... More »

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paleontology • fossil • Gobi desert • dinosaur • Mongolia • predators • Tyrannosaurus rex • Alioramus altai

 Fossil Find 
 Shakes Up 
 Evolution 
 Timeline 

Ardipithecus ramidus lived in trees and walked upright

Oct 1, 09 11:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - A primate fossil found in Africa in 1994 predates the famous “Lucy” skeleton by 1 million years and offers clues to human evolution, researchers say. “This is huge,” a paleoanthropologist tells the Washington Post. “This is the biggest discovery really since” Lucy. The researchers believe... More »

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Africa • evolution • archaeology • paleontology • fossil • chimpanzees • Lucy • primates • scientific study • Australopithecus • Ardipithecus ramidus

 Sore Throat May 
 Have Axed T Rex 

Trichomonosis still affects modern birds and makes eating almost impossible

Sep 29, 09 12:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Tyrannosaurus rex could have been laid low not by a planetwide dinosaur holocaust or vicious infighting, but by a parasite that still affects modern birds. Researchers have taken a close look at lesions on T. rex fossils once presumed to be battle scars and concluded that they are the work... More »

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birds • paleontology • starvation • infection • extinction • parasite • T. rex • Tyrannosaurus rex • feeding • trichomonosis

 Oldest Feathered 
 Dino Found 
 in China 

Dinosaur is earliest known feathered species, may have flown on four wings

Sep 25, 09 5:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - A fossilized creature found in northern China puts an end to any controversy over whether birds descended from dinosaurs, say Chinese scientists. The dinosaur, who lived some 10 million years before Archaeopteryx, is the oldest feather species ever discovered. The feathers cover its arms, tail, and also its feet, leading... More »

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China • evolution • birds • paleontology • dinosaur • feather

 Pint-Size T-Rex 
 Surprises Scientists 

'Raptorex' was 1/100th the weight of its descendant

Sep 17, 09 5:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Paleontologists have unearthed a miniature predecessor of Tyrannosaurus Rex, a finding that may rewrite the origins of the most iconic of dinosaurs. “Raptorex,” discovered in China, has all the distinctive features of a Tyrannosaurus—large head and jaws, long legs, and small arms—but it weighed only 150... More »

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paleontology • fossil • dinosaur • T Rex • T. rex • Tyrannosaurus rex

 T. Rex 'Mostly Ate Babies' 


Aug 5, 09 1:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Hollywood image of Tyrannosaurus Rex battling huge herbivores is a long way from Jurassic reality, according to a new study. Instead of picking on animals its own size, T. Rex and other massive carnivores preferred their prey as young as possible, ideally when they were small enough to be... More »

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paleontology • dinosaur • Tyrannosaurus rex

(Newser) - Dinosaurs grew to their massive sizes because of lack of exercise and easy access to food, according to a leading zoologist. Dr. Brian McNab studied large mammals for comparison and concluded that a lack of energy expenditure, combined with abundant resources and a blood temperature somewhere between warm and cold,... More »

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paleontology • dinosaur • zoology • couch potato

 Aussies 
 Dig Up 
 3 New 
 Dinosaurs 

Dinos from Down Under evolved separately from cousins elsewhere

Jul 3, 09 6:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - The skeletons of three previously unknown species of dinosaur have been found in the Australian Outback, reports ABC News of Australia. The dinosaurs—two big herbivores and a fearsome carnivore—roamed about 100 million years ago. One of the herbivores is similar to a hippo and the other to a... More »

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Australia • paleontology • dinosaur

 Giant Dinos 
 'Held Heads High' 

Study suggests museums wrongly show sauropods slouching forward

May 27, 09 5:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Giant dinosaurs like Diplodicus and Apatosaurus spent most of their time with their incredibly lengthy necks held tall like giraffes instead of slouching forward as seen in most museum reconstructions, according to a new study. Reseachers compared the bones of sauropods with mammals and birds, the only modern animals that... More »

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paleontology • fossil • dinosaur

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the oldest intact primate fossil on record, ABC News reports. Nicknamed “Ida,” the 47-million-year-old lemur-like creature had opposable thumbs, fingernails instead of claws, and legs that could have evolved to walk upright. Scientists don’t think Ida is a direct ancestor of humans, though. “... More »

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evolution • paleontology • fossil • scientific discoveries • primates • opposable thumbs

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a 47 million-year-old primate fossil that they believe represents the common ancestor of all later monkeys, apes, and humans, reports the Wall Street Journal. The find supports a theory that humans' ancient ape-like ancestor was an adapid, which is also believed to be linked to lemurs. The... More »

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paleontology • fossil • anthropology • skeleton • Neanderthals • prehistoric • Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology • primates

Dinos Evolved Wings
to Lure Opposite Sex

Feathered displays may have been about finding mates, not climbing trees

Apr 5, 09 1:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - Among paleontologists, one of the big battles has long been over why dinosaurs originally evolved wings: Did they start gliding down from trees, or need extra propulsion when running? According to a new study, the first wings were all about impressing the ladies—it was sexual selection that let bigger-winged... More »

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evolution • paleontology • dinosaur • natural selection • wings

 Fossil Discovery 
 Hints Dinos Were 
 Warm and Fuzzy 

Feathers may have arisen with the earliest dinosaurs

Mar 19, 09 4:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - The evolutionary history of feathers just got a whole lot fuzzier, reports the BBC. A 130-million-year-old fossil has been found in China with “protofeathers,” leading scientists to believe that one of the two main families of dinosaurs—previously thought to have had scaly hides—may in fact have... More »

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evolution • birds • paleontology • dinosaur

North America's
Tiniest Dino Found

Chicken-sized predator roamed Canada 75M years ago

Mar 17, 09 4:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have identified the remains of the smallest dinosaur species ever found in North America, reports National Geographic. Hesperonychus elizabethae was a Cretaceous-era carnivore no bigger than a chicken, according to researchers. Scientists believe the existence of the Velociraptor cousin helps confirm that dinosaurs, not mammals, filled the role of... More »

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paleontology • dinosaur • predators • Cretaceous Period

 LA Unearths 
 Mammoth 
 Fossil Stash 

Giant cache of Ice Age fossils unearthed from under city park

Feb 18, 09 8:24 AM CST
(Newser) - Workers digging up an underground Los Angeles parking garage have unearthed the biggest cache of fossils from the last Ice Age ever discovered, including a nearly intact mammoth skeleton, reports the Los Angeles Times. Researchers have lifted huge chunks of earth from the site adjacent to the La Brea tar... More »

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Los Angeles • paleontology • fossil • woolly mammoth • Mammoth

(Newser) - A 45-foot, 1.25-ton snake stalked the jungles of South America in the period shortly after dinosaurs went extinct, the Times of London reports. Researchers have found 28 individual “Titanoboas” in Colombia’s Cerrejon Coal Mine; with every specimen at least 40 feet long, scientists say it’s likely... More »

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Colombia • paleontology • snake • dinosaur • scientists • prehistoric • Amazon rainforest

 Comet Crash Created 
 Diamonds, Death 

'Nanodiamond' discovery points to species-destroying collision 13,000 years ago

Jan 2, 09 6:13 AM CST
(Newser) - Newly discovered microscopic diamonds suggest that a comet crashed into North America 13,000 years ago, triggering devastating floods and fires that killed 35 species and wiped out human communities, reports the Los Angeles Times. Layers of "nanodiamonds," found in a number of regions in the country, were... More »

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climate change • paleontology • North America • American Geophysical Union • nanodiamonds • Young Dryas • extinctions • Clovis people • Laurentide glacier • iridium • Douglas Kennett • James Kennett

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