The world’s first mass extinction 444 million years ago was likely caused by a series of freeze-ups, and not a single massive ice age as previously thought. The extinction, which marks the boundary between the Ordovician and Silurian ages, wiped out 85 per cent of life in the oceans. In the new paper, fossil records […]
Tag: fossil
No sitting duck(bill) – how hadrosaurs won the “dino derby”
A new paper indicates that hadrosaurs – also known as duck-billed dinosaurs – were built for endurance rather than speed, and that this helped them avoid predators despite their lack of horns or armour. Computer analysis of leg bones showed that a critical muscle known as the caudofemoralis attached lower on the thigh in hadrosaurs […]
Ancient amphibious reptile discovered in China
Fossil remains discovered in China could shed light on the early evolution of aquatic reptiles, including icthyosaurs. Icthyosaurs were sea-going reptiles whose body shape resembled modern dolphins, but the fossil record has been silent about the land-based animals they evolved from. The new remains – which date back to the Lower Triassic (about 248 million […]
Mongolian fossil finds expand ankylosaur family tree
A new paper on ankylosaurs from Mongolia has named one new species and ‘resurrected’ another. The new species is Zaraapelta nomadis: ‘Zaraapelta’ is a combination of the Mongolian and Greek words for ‘hedgehog’ and ‘shield’ and refers to the elaborate pattern of bumps and grooves near the eye and a ridge along the back of […]
Largest ‘ostrich-like’ dinosaur may have been an omnivore
New fossils of a rare dinosaur found in Mongolia shed light on its dietary habits, and may indicate an omnivorous diet. Deinocheirus mirificus was previously known only from two large forelimbs found in the 1960s, and was thought to be the largest of the ornithomimids, a group of dinosaurs that superficially resemble modern ostriches. The […]
Genome of a 45,000-year-old modern human
Researchers have found that the genome of a 45,000-year-old human from Siberia is quite similar to the genome of modern Native Americans and East Asians and carries similar amount of Neanderthal ancestry. The remains of the Siberian male are believed by the authors to represent the oldest directly radiocarbon-dated modern human outside Africa and the […]
New “punk-rock” armoured dinosaur species described
Researchers have discovered a new species of ankylosaur in New Mexico that is related to others found in Alberta. The new species is called Ziapelta sanjuanensis and sports unusually tall spikes on the cervical half ring, a structure like a yoke of bone sitting over the neck, which looks a bit like a punk-rock collar. […]
New Pterosaur – Avatar style
Researchers have found deposits of a new species of pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived about 120 million years ago. This new species was named Ikrandraco avatar for it’s similarities to the ‘ikran’ flying creatures in the 2009 Avatar movie and to a dragon (draco). The fossils were found in Northeastern China. Original research paper published […]
Colossal fossil: 26 meter dinosaur discovered
International scientists have found a new species of dinosaur in Argentina, named Dreadnoughtus, which may represent one of the most complete examples of gigantic titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs ever discovered. It lived in the southern continents over 66 million years ago, and was one of the biggest creatures ever to walk the Earth. Dreadnoughtus was the most massive land […]
Newfoundland fossil may be world’s oldest muscle
A 560 million-year-old fossil from Newoundland’s Bonavista Peninsula may record the oldest evidence of muscle tissue, according to a new paper. The fossil comes from a time known as the Ediacaran period, renowned for its preservation of the first large and complex organisms known. Most Ediacaran organisms were flat, sheet-like, or frond-like creatures whose […]
Can fossils survive cosmic impacts?
An experiment has shown that microscopic fossils can survive being fired from a gun and impacting at pressures up to 19 gigapascals (GPa). The fossils recovered by the researchers were smaller as projectile speed increased, however intact fossils were recovered from all trials. Researchers made the discovery by using fossilized diatoms – aquatic microorganisms with silica-based shells – […]
Ancient hedgehogs and tiny tapirs in BC
Newly described fossils from the eocene epoch – between 50 and 53 million years ago – found in British Columbia’s Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park provide evidence of hedgehogs and tapirs, two species that today are absent from North America. The fossils help fill an important gap as the only other North American fossil localities yielding […]
Discovery of new large feathered dinosaur in North America
A ten foot tall raptor, with a chicken-like head and possibly covered in feathers roamed North America 66 million years ago, says a new study. A team of scientists identified this new species, Anzu wyliei, from three partial fossils found in North and South Dakota. These fossils gave paleontologists a more detailed picture of North American […]
‘Living fossil’ genome provides a window on immune system evolution
Elephant sharks – also known as Australian ghost sharks – shared a common ancestor with humans about 450 million years ago, and have changed very little since. This week, the elephant shark genome was sequenced and found to evolve more slowly than any other known vertebrate. The data provides important insights into how modern traits […]
What colour were ancient reptiles?
To the chagrin of dinosaur fans everywhere, skin colour generally doesn’t survive fossilization. But a new analysis of fossilized skin from three ancient sea-going reptiles – an icthyosaur, a mosasaur and a sea turtle – may have changed that by providing strong chemical evidence of the pigment melanin. Interestingly, the icthyosaur appears to have been […]
