Japanese Archipelago Was Once a Refuge for Cave Lions
Between 73,000 and 20,000 years ago (Late Pleistocene), the Japanese Archipelago was inhabited by cave lions (Panthera spelaea),…
307-Million-Year-Old Fossil of Plant-Eating Land Vertebrate Found in Canada
Tyrannoroter heberti, a new species of pantylid ‘microsaur’ from the Carboniferous period, shows that some of Earth’s earliest…
Archaeopteryx’s Feeding-Related Structures Reflect Elevated Demands of Flight, Scientists Say
New research led by Field Museum of Natural History paleontologists suggests that Archaeopteryx, the oldest known bird, had…
Giant Pythons Once Lived in Taiwan
A fossil trunk vertebra from the Chiting Formation of Taiwan reveals that nearly 4-m-long pythons roamed the island…
Enigmatic Fossils Fill Missing Chapters in Story of Earth’s First Fishes
In two separate studies, paleontologists in Australia and China examined the fossilized remains of enigmatic Devonian lungfish with…
230-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Footprint is Australia’s Oldest: Study
A footprint unearthed by a teenage fossil hunter at Albion in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, in 1958 has now…
Tiny New Species of Herbivorous Dinosaur Unearthed in Spain
A new genus and species of diminutive bipedal dinosaur has been identified from the fossils found in Burgos…
In Morrison Formation, Very Young Sauropod Dinosaurs Fueled Food Chain
New research led by University College London paleontologists shows that newly-hatched long-necked giants were prey for multiple carnivores…
Paleontologists Unearth New Species of Titanosaur in Argentina
A new genus and species of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period has been identified…
Pleistocene-Age Fossils Reveal Hopping Wasn’t Just for Small Kangaroos
New research by paleontologists from the University of Bristol, the University of Manchester and the University of Melbourne…
Fossil Shorebirds Tell New Story about Climate Change in Australia
Shorebirds are widespread birds whose dependence on coastal and wetland environments makes them effective paleoenvironmental indicators. Wading shorebirds…
Study: Late Ordovician Mass Extinction Cleared Way for First Fishes
A long-standing mystery in vertebrate evolution — why most major fish lineages appear suddenly in the fossil record…