Category:
Paleontology
Jul 20, 2015
The Sixth Mass Extinction. Poor Documentation Blamed for Its “Sudden” Appearance
Apr 24, 2014
Ancient Whale Linked To The Origins of Echolocation
A drainage ditch in South Carolina recently provided the paleontology community with a remarkable find - an ancient whale that used echolocation to orient itself.
Apr 17, 2014
Tiny Tyrannosaur Becomes Big News
Long before the Napoleon Complex became a common way to refer to those of us who are small but strong, the <em>Nanuqsaurus hoglundi </em>sauntered Alaska’s North Slope, unaware history would identify her as the smallest of the great tyrannosaurids.
Apr 11, 2014
Paleoartist John Gurche on Recreating Prehistoric Life: Part II
Paleoartist John Gurche has worked on the movie Jurassic Park, designed stamps for the US Postal Service, and recently crafted the sculptures for the Smithsonian Museum’s Hall of Human Origins. In his new book <em>Shaping Humanity</em><em></em>, Gurche delves into the data, research, creativity, and emotion employed in constructing the Smithsonian exhibit.Paleoartist John Gurche has worked on the movie Jurassic Park, designed stamps for the US Postal Service, and recently crafted the sculptures for the Smithsonian Museum’s Hall of Human Origins. In his new book Shaping Humanity, Gurche delves into the data, research, creativity, and emotion employed in constructing the Smithsonian exhibit.
Apr 9, 2014
New Findings on Size of Paraves
20 million years before<em> Archaeopteryx</em>, dozens of dinosaurs were found to be light and winged, though not flapping their wings.
Mar 6, 2014
Scientists Reveal Secrets of Dimetrodon Dentition
The ancient reptile <em>Dimetrodon</em> exhibited a variety of different tooth shapes, probably due to evolutionary pressure from competitors who fed on similar prey.
Feb 24, 2014
Glancing Backward Near Lance Creek: An Experiential Essay
A fossil search out West brings amateur paleontologist Randall Wehler and his brother to a quarry in Wyoming that held former inhabitants of the land and water during the late Cretaceous period of history when dinosaurs still reigned supreme.A fossil search out West brings amateur paleontologist Randall Wehler and his brother to a quarry in Wyoming that held former inhabitants of the land and water during the late Cretaceous period of history when dinosaurs still reigned supreme.
Feb 13, 2014
Protorosaur From China Sported Long Snout and Neck
An elongated snout was not something that got in the way for <em>Fuyuansaurus acutirostris</em>, a protorosaur recently discovered in Fuyuan County of Yunnan Province, China.
Jan 30, 2014
A History of Horses
A newly-discovered ancient horse species lived about 4.4 million years ago.
Jan 29, 2014
Solution to Anthropocene Controversy in Sight
Erle Ellis from the University of Maryland proposes a global approach to investigating the true origins of the Anthropocene.
Jan 16, 2014
A Wish for Wings that Work
Like the modern ostrich or penguin, Habib proposes <em>Archaeopteryx</em> may have had ancestors that could fly but then adapted to a lifestyle that did not require it any longer.
Dec 27, 2013
Man’s Best Friend: Decoded
Previous analysis of fragments of dog and dog relative DNA pointed to the Middle East as the geographic origin of the first dogs. A recent study released in <em>Nature Communications</em> is now pointing instead to an origination from East Asia, specifically, southern China.
Dec 17, 2013
New Arthropod Had First Complete Nervous System
<em>Alalcomenaeus</em> provides an important evolutionary step between scorpions and spiders and other arthropods like millipedes and crustaceans.
Nov 7, 2013
Bird Brains
Besides physiological changes in the muscular and skeletal systems to support the physical aspects of flight, a bigger more powerful brain is also thought to be a key characteristic necessary to fly.
Nov 5, 2013
Huge Ancient Elephant Was Hunted By Early Humans
What happens when 15,000 pounds of elephant encounters early humans? Dinner, of course.
Oct 22, 2013
In Spain, First Fossilized Beetle Found in Amber
The fossil found in the Peñacerrada I outcrop in Spain was the first Spanish beetle ever described in amber.
Oct 22, 2013
A Fecal Matter
Excrement from four different species of moa – flightless birds from New Zealand – is giving paleontologists insight into centuries-old ecosystems.
Oct 8, 2013
Fossil Flower Reveals Ancient History of Tulip Tree
A 100-million-year-old fossil flower indicates tulip trees diverged from their close relatives magnolias long ago - the tulip tree was a sight probably enjoyed by the dinosaurs.
Oct 1, 2013
West Antarctica Gets a Raise
From studying the nearby ocean sediments, scientists concluded that West Antarctica could have been hundreds of meters higher in elevation than it is today.
Sep 24, 2013
Freshwater Species Were Able to Outlive Marine Species After Dinosaur Mass Extinction
Robertson et. al proposes methods by which freshwater organisms were able to survive at higher rates than their marine counterparts.
Aug 27, 2013
Demystifying Conodont Mouthparts
A new study debunks some of the long-pondered mysteries surrounding the ancient chompers of conodonts.
Aug 15, 2013
Reconstructing the Original Building Blocks of Life
Scientists in Spain have rebuilt four-billion-year-old thioredoxins that could withstand harsh environments characteristic of early Earth.
Aug 14, 2013
Prehistoric Large Lizard Offers Insight About How Climate Affects Animal Size
Dental fossils of the newly discovered large lizard <em>Barbaturex morrisoni</em> were found in the Pondaung Formation in central Myanmar.
Aug 8, 2013
New ceratopsid Nasutoceratops: “Large-Nosed Horned Face”
The new ceratopsid species, a close relative of the well-known <em>Triceratops</em>, has been dubbed <em>Nasutoceratops titusi</em>, and would have grown approximately fifteen feet long and weighed around 2. 5 tons.
Jul 30, 2013
Wings of Gossamer and Stone
Four of the six families of scorpionflies that once lived on Earth died out before the Oligocene Epoch 33 million years ago, leaving us with the two families that exist today. Dr. Archibald has discovered the first specimens of one of those missing families, and dubbed it Eorpidae.
Jul 23, 2013
Maintaining Microplankton Morphology
Microscopic marine life forms that subsisted on Earth 3 billion years ago have been unearthed in Australia.
Jul 23, 2013
The Scissorhands of the Cambrian
Instead of pincers, this prehistoric arthropod had claws that each featured three long, sharp, boney protrusions, which bring to mind nothing so much as the bladed appendages of Tim Burton’s classic character Edward Scissorhands.
Jul 9, 2013
How Did Ancient Ecosystems React to Climate Change?
The Last Glacial Maximum impacted ecosystems and drove many species to extinction.
Jul 9, 2013
The Ears They Leave Behind
A new fossil belonging to an ancient fish is so complete that it is one of the few that still contained its tiny otoliths, or ear bones.
Jul 3, 2013
Bones I Have Known: Getting Students Excited About Paleontology
Why do non-geology majors become so engaged in learning about their earth, and in particular about fossils, paleontology, and the evolution of life?Why do non-geology majors become so engaged in learning about their Earth, and in particular about fossils, paleontology, and the evolution of life?
Jun 17, 2013
Mammoth Blood Preserved in Ancient Remains Brings Hopes of Cloning
A group of Russian scientists have discovered 10,000-year-old mammoth remains from Siberia, finding uniquely preserved tissue and blood.
Jun 10, 2013
Studies on Crocodile Diversity Discover Two New Species in Venezuela
An international group of paleontologists revealed in <em>Nature Communications</em> that, at one point during the late Miocene, at least seven crocodylic species lived sympatrically.
May 27, 2013
The Hamilton Fauna Revisited: A New Approach for Studying Ecological Stability
The Devonian Hamilton fauna has always been a somewhat of a paleontological puzzle. A new study uses a novel approach to determine if this Devonian ecosystem was stable.The Devonian Hamilton fauna has always been a somewhat of a paleontological puzzle. A new study uses a novel approach to determine if this Devonian ecosystem was stable.
May 26, 2013
New Dinosaur is Oldest Bone-headed from North America
A new dinosaur find is shedding light on the history of bone-headed dinosaurs, while at the same time reminding scientists of the shortcomings of the fossil record.
May 8, 2013
Volcanic Eruptions Timed Close to Mass Extinction
A study recently published in the journal <em>Science</em> puts a time period on the eruptions that is far more concrete than any estimate thus far.
Apr 24, 2013
Columbus Was Five Hundred Million Years Late
In spite of what our history books might have taught us, it was the euthycarcinoids that first stepped foot on the “New World” – while giant slug-like mollusks slimed ashore and primitive crustaceans fed along the land/water's edge.In spite of what our history books might have taught us, it was the euthycarcinoids that first stepped foot on the “New World” – while giant slug-like mollusks slimed ashore and primitive crustaceans fed along the land/water's edge.
Apr 10, 2013
Is All Life Due to an Alien Energy Source?
A group of researchers is simulating primordial Earth conditions to discover how life came to use phosphorous as its energy storage source. Most interesting--this phosphorous probably came from outer space.
Mar 20, 2013
How Did This Extinct Wolf Come to Inhabit Islands?
Darwin still had time to puzzle out a mystery that would continue to plague biologists for hundreds of years: how did such a large mammal get to an island so far out to sea? Even more perplexing: how did it become the only one that did?
Mar 13, 2013
Ancient Caimans Help Place Panama
A new study describes two new species of Crocodilians that lived in Panama when it was still an island during the Miocene Epoch twenty million years ago, long before it connected North and South America.
Mar 5, 2013
Intricately Preserved Fossil Is Helping Scientists Paint a Picture of Early Arthropod Evolution
In Southwestern China, a 520 million-year-old arthropod fossil known as a fuxhianhuiid was discovered.
Feb 26, 2013
Episodes from the History of Paleontology and Geology Chapter Two: Most Popular Dinosaur Ever?
Is the infamous <em>T. rex</em> really the most popular dinosaur in America?Is the infamous <em>T. rex</em> really the most popular dinosaur in America?
Feb 26, 2013
Tackling the Mystery Behind The Dodo and the Solitaire
Author Parish painstakingly works to unravel the scientific debates surrounding these iconic birds with varying success.Author Parish painstakingly works to unravel the scientific debates surrounding these iconic birds with varying success.
Feb 21, 2013
Did “Invasions” Occur in the Fossil Record?
A panel of evolutionary biologists during Ithaca Darwin Days reflects on what we can learn about species invasions from the fossil record.Are human-facilitated invasions today the same kinds of events as Earth-facilitated changes in species distributions in the distant past? Are all species invasions “destructive”? Does invasion shut down speciation? Do we really know what the rate of invasion was in the past? In most instances, we simply don’t know.
Feb 12, 2013
Charles Darwin: The Legacy
If he were still alive today, Charles Darwin would be proud of us. It isn’t just science. Literature, technology, music, politics, religion—you name it—the theory of evolution is pervasive in our society, and who do we have to thank for that? Charles Darwin. If he were still alive today, Charles Darwin would be proud of us. It isn’t just science. Literature, technology, music, politics, religion—you name it—the theory of evolution is pervasive in our society, and who do we have to thank for that? Charles Darwin.
Feb 11, 2013
Episodes from the History of Paleontology and Geology: Elucidated Using Culturomics
In this four-article series, Dr. Jonathan Hendricks from San Jose State University writes about a new approach to looking at trends in popular literature; applying this fascinating new method to paleontology, geology, and evolution. In this four-article series, Dr. Jonathan Hendricks from San Jose State University writes about a new approach to looking at trends in popular literature; applying this fascinating new method to paleontology, geology, and evolution.
Feb 4, 2013
Prehistoric Poop Pleasantly Pleases Paleontologists
What excites paleontologists just as much as finding a nice, old dinosaur skeleton? Finding a nice, old dinosaur dung heap, of course.