Paleontology

Sauropod: First Dinosaurs Identified In Arabia

Dinosaur fossils are exceptionally rare in the Arabian Peninsula but researchers have uncovered the first record of dinosaurs from Arabia itself. What is now dry desert was once a beach littered with the bones and teeth of ancient marine reptiles and dino ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 8 2014 - 10:19am

Yongjinglong Datangi: A Titan Once Roamed China

A team has characterized a new dinosaur based on fossil remains found in northwestern China. The species, a plant-eating sauropod named Yongjinglong datangi, roamed during the Early Cretaceous period, more than 100 million years ago. This sauropod belonge ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 29 2014 - 6:04pm

Fossilized While Giving Birth? Ancient Reptile Preserved During Labor

Fossilization is rare. It may seem common to find them because there have been billions of years and an entire planet on which to do it, but things really have to go right. An ancient fossil caught in the act of giving birth is bordering on spectacular. ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 12 2014 - 10:26pm

Pigment Or Bacteria? The Idea Of 'Color' In Fossil Feathers Gets A Rethink

How do researchers know what color ancient fossils were when they lived? Paleontologists studying fossilized feathers have proposed that the shapes of certain microscopic structures inside the feathers can reveal the color of ancient birds but new researc ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 6 2014 - 1:12am

Torvosaurus Gurneyi Dinosaur Is Now The Largest Jurassic Terrestrial Predator From Europe

A new dinosaur species found in Portugal is one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs from the Jurassic period- and may be the largest land predator discovered in Europe- 30 feet long and weighing up to 5 tons. Scientists discovered bones belonging to this ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 5 2014 - 6:40pm

Nanuqsaurus Hoglundi: Alaska's 'Pigmy' T. Rex

A 70 million year old fossil found in the Late Cretaceous sediments of Alaska reveals a new small tyrannosaur named Nanuqsaurus hoglundi.   ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 12 2014 - 5:13pm

3 Million Years Old: Little Foot Is The Oldest Complete Australopithecus

After 13 years of excavation of the nearly complete skeleton of the Australopithecus fossil named Little Foot, researchers conclude that it is probably around 3 million years old, refute previous dating claims that suggested it is younger.  The Sterkfonte ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 16 2014 - 10:44am

"Even Weirder Than We Imagined"- Anzu Wyliei, The Dinosaur Chicken From Hell

A member of a mysterious dinosaur group has been discovered  in North and South Dakota, from roughly 66 million-year-old rocks of the Hell Creek Formation, which is already celebrated for its abundant fossils of famous dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex a ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 19 2014 - 4:36pm

Prehistoric Poop Reveals Early Holocene Bighorn Sheep On Tiburon Island

Genetic analysis of ancient poop found off the coast of Mexico suggests bighorn sheep may be native to Tiburón Island, the largest island in the Gulf of California and Mexico. Bighorn sheep were not thought to inhabit Tiburón Island prior to their introdu ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 19 2014 - 8:46pm

Rare Find: Unique Chromosomes Preserved In 180 Million Year Old Swedish Fossil

Somewhere around 180 million years ago, during the Jurassic period, the southern Swedish county of Skåne was a tropical paradise populated by dinosaurs and volcanoes. One sudden volcanic eruption caused a fern to be preserved instantaneously and now resea ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 21 2014 - 10:01am