Peculiar New Species of Belemnite Unearthed in Wyoming
A new species of belemnite — an extinct relative of today’s cuttlefish and squid — has been identified…
Jurassic Crocodile Relative from Morocco Had Needle-Thin Teeth
Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of teleosaurid thalattosuchian based on two specimens found in eastern…
Jurassic Fossil Shows Mammal-Like Throat Evolved Far Earlier Than Thought
Megacauda sungei, a furry, otter-size mammaliaform that lived in what is now Inner Mongolia, China, some 165 million…
Scientists find evidence for several Earth axis shifts during the age of dinosaurs
A new study finds evidence that Earth may have undergone several episodes of rapid true polar wander during…
Ichthyosaurs Had Surprisingly Dense Ribs, New Study Finds
Long before whales ruled the oceans, dolphin-shaped marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs patrolled the same waters. New research from…
Archaeopteryx Took Off with Series of Hops, Not One Big Leap: Study
Archaeopteryx — the first ever bird to inhabit the Earth — may have hopped its way into the…
Germany’s Famous Fossil Beds Yield New Species of Jurassic Ichthyosaur
For more than a century, paleontologists studying the Late Jurassic seas that once covered southern Germany believed only…
Fossil Find in China Reveals Dinosaur Family Never Before Seen in East Asia
Paleontologists working in southern China have identified a new species of sauropod dinosaur that appears to belong to…
Small Sauropod Dinosaur from Jurassic Period Discovered in India
Paleontologists in India have unearthed a partial skeleton of a diminutive, previously unknown neosauropod dinosaur from the Middle…
Chinese fossil find shows birds shed their dinosaur tails step by step
A fossil found in China suggests modern birds shed the long, bony tails of their dinosaur ancestors through…
New Jurassic Fossil Reveals How Birds Lost Their Dinosaur Tails
Paleontologists in China have described a small, previously unknown Jurassic bird whose short tail offers new evidence for…
Scientists Solve 320-Million-Year Mystery of Reptile Skin Armor
While skin bone plates are well studied in crocodylians (shown here in a gharial, in purple), their presence…