paleontology – News Stories About paleontology - Page 3

This Dinosaur Had a Unique Skill

Spinosaurus spent a lot of time swimming, say researchers

(Newser) - When Nizar Ibrahim suggested in 2014 that Spinosaurus was the first known dinosaur built to swim, not everyone was convinced. Skeptics wanted a better explanation of how the giant creature would have propelled itself through the water, notes Live Science . Now, Ibrahim and other researchers say they have the answer:...

Smallest Known
Dino Was a Weirdo

Mar 12, 2020 10:05 AM CDT

Smallest Known Dino Was a Weirdo

99-million-year-old species weighed about as much as a couple of dollar bills

(Newser) - Scientists say they've discovered the smallest known dinosaur which, at an estimated 2 grams, was roughly "the weight of two dollar bills," per Live Science . The skull of the new birdlike species, about the size of the smallest hummingbird on Earth today, was found in a 99-million-year-old,...

Ancient Parrots Likely Feared the Giant That Was 'Squawkzilla'

Giant Parrot
'Squawkzilla' Is a
First-of-Its-Kind Find

NEW STUDY

Aug 8, 2019 9:55 AM CDT

Giant Parrot 'Squawkzilla' Is a First-of-Its-Kind Find

Extinct bird was more than half the height of an average human

(Newser) - Researchers believe they've found the largest known parrot to ever inhabit our planet, and it just happens to be about twice the size of the parrot it now dethrones. While the critically endangered kakapo of New Zealand can weigh close to 8 pounds, Heracles inexpectatus weighed an estimated 15....

Experts Roaring Over
Rare T. Rex on eBay

Apr 17, 2019 7:21 AM CDT

Experts Roaring Over Rare T. Rex on eBay

Skeleton, likely of a juvenile, could be lost to science

(Newser) - What is touted as the only known fossil of a juvenile T. Rex is up for grabs on eBay—which came as quite a shock to the museum showcasing it. The 68 million-year-old skeleton found on private land in Montana in 2013 was on loan to the University of Kansas...

50K-Year-Old Mummified Wolf Pup Still 'So Cute'

Wolf Pup Died
50K Years Ago,
Still 'So Cute'

Sep 14, 2018 8:24 AM CDT

Wolf Pup Died 50K Years Ago, Still 'So Cute'

Wolf, caribou found in Canada provide some of the world's oldest mummified soft tissue

(Newser) - "It's so cute" is not a typical reaction upon finding a 50,000-year-old dead animal, yet it's hard to argue with paleontologist Grant Zazula's assessment. With pristine muscle, skin, and fur, the complete mummified wolf pup, believed to have died around eight weeks old, looks as...

Guy Stumbles
on Evidence of
Mega-Shark
That Ate Whales

Aug 10, 2018 3:00 AM CDT

Guy Stumbles on Evidence of Mega-Shark That Ate Whales

Schoolteacher Philip Mullaly found the shark teeth in Australia

(Newser) - Imagine strolling down the beach and discovering a razor-sharp tooth from a shark twice the size of a Great White. Well, meet Philip Mullaly: "It was an awesome creature, it would have been terrifying to come across," the amateur fossil hunter and schoolteacher tells the New York Times...

Deserving of Its Name: 150M-Year-Old 'Bigfoot'

Scientists ID Largest Dino Foot
Ever Found, 20 Years Later

Jul 25, 2018 9:45 AM CDT

Scientists ID Largest Dino Foot Ever Found, 20 Years Later

Body part from Wyoming belongs to 'Bigfoot' brachiosaur

(Newser) - "Bigfoot" has been found, just not the apish version. An international team of paleontologists has announced the discovery of the largest known dinosaur foot, which belonged to a close relative of the Brachiosaurus now dubbed "Bigfoot." Appropriately so, as a nearly complete left hind-foot fossil totaling 13...

Tire-Sized Footprints
Found on Scottish Coast

Apr 3, 2018 3:33 PM CDT

Tire-Sized Footprints Found on Scottish Coast

They were left by sauropods some 170M years ago

(Newser) - Some imprints are so big, they look like tidal pools. Perhaps that's why the footprints were able to hide in plain sight for years before observant paleontologists spotted the tell-tale signs of dinosaur toes. They're now celebrating the discovery of some 50 rare footprints left by long-necked sauropods...

3 Boys Make Ancient
Find on Spring Break

Mar 28, 2018 12:05 AM CDT

3 Boys Make Ancient Find on Spring Break

They discovered mastodon jawbone on family land

(Newser) - Three boys have found a part of a mastodon jawbone while exploring family property in Mississippi. The Vicksburg Post reports that two brothers and a cousin made the discovery on plowed land near Bovina, a small community east of the Mississippi River. The three were on spring break from school...

Bored by Soccer Game, Girl
Digs in Dirt, Makes Wild Find

Bored by Soccer Game, Girl Digs in Dirt, Makes Wild Find

7-year-old 'delighted' with ammonite fossil found in Oregon

(Newser) - At 7 years old, Naomi Vaughan probably has a hard time wrapping her head around a 65 million-year span. But that's the minimum amount of time elapsed between the death of a tiny sea creature and when Naomi picked up its remains. Bored with her sister's soccer game...

A New Study Just Rewrote
the History Book on Plants

NEW STUDY

Feb 20, 2018 6:03 PM CST

A New Study Just Rewrote the History Book on Plants

Study suggests they appeared 500M years ago, or 100M years earlier than believed

(Newser) - The arrival of plants on Earth changed the planet and its inhabitants in big ways, and a new study suggests they arrived far earlier than thought. University of Bristol researchers now say that land plants evolved from pond scum about 500 million years ago—a whopping 100 million years earlier...

Sahara Desert
Reveals 'Holy Grail'
of Dino Discoveries

NEW STUDY

Jan 30, 2018 9:25 AM CST

Sahara Desert Reveals 'Holy Grail' of Dino Discoveries

African dinosaur suggests link to Europe in late Cretaceous Period

(Newser) - Researcher Matt Lamanna calls it "the Holy Grail" of dinosaur discoveries. After decades of digging had left a 44-million-year gap in the fossil record for dinos in Africa, Lamanna says his jaw "hit the floor" when he saw photos of skull fragments, a lower jaw, neck and back...

Rarest of Rare
Discoveries:
a Swimming
Dinosaur

NEW STUDY

Dec 7, 2017 10:15 AM CST

Rarest of Rare Discoveries: a Swimming Dinosaur

It's believed to be only the 2nd swimming dinosaur ever found

(Newser) - The dinosaur was the size of a turkey and had a neck like a swan, teeth like a crocodile, forelimbs similar to a penguin's flippers, and clawed feet ideal for use on land. It's such a strange assortment of features that researchers who identified the new species from...

It Was a Wolf-Sized Otter,
but With Jaws Like a Bear

Nov 10, 2017 9:15 AM CST

It Was a Wolf-Sized Otter, but With Jaws Like a Bear

Modern otters wouldn't stand a chance against Siamogale melilutra

(Newser) - Modern-day sea otters would prove no match for their 6-million-year-old, wolf-sized ancestors , who didn't need rocks to smash open mollusks. They could do that, and perhaps rip into tougher and larger prey, with a single bite from surprisingly powerful jaws, according to new research. In the latest study of...

Scientists Find Surprise in
75M-Year-Old Dino Poop

Sep 21, 2017 1:53 PM CDT

Scientists Find Surprise in 75M-Year-Old Dino Poop

'Herbivores' might have eaten shellfish, say researchers

(Newser) - One of the most common herbivores of the dinosaur era might have been, well, not an herbivore. Fossilized poop likely to have come from a duck-billed dinosaur that roamed southern Utah some 75 million years ago contains ancient shellfish, shaking what researchers thought they knew about hadrosaurs and other egg-laying...

The Dodo May Be Dead,
but We Just Learned
More About Its Life

Aug 24, 2017 6:56 PM CDT

The Dodo May Be Dead, but We Just Learned More About Its Life

New study reveals life cycle of famously extinct bird

(Newser) - Big dodo news out of the science world this week. Yes, it's still extinct, but a study published Thursday in Scientific Reports finally sheds light on the life cycle of the famously dead bird. “We know so little about these birds that everything was basically a surprise,”...

'Frankenstein'
Dinosaur Transforms
Evolutionary Tree

NEW STUDY

Aug 17, 2017 9:24 AM CDT

'Frankenstein' Dinosaur Transforms Evolutionary Tree

Chilesaurus bridges two major dino groups, scientists say

(Newser) - Like the theropod dinosaur T. rex, Chilesaurus stood upright, with strong hind legs and shorter front limbs. But its flat teeth were more closely related to ornithischians like triceratops and stegosaurus. That's just one thing that irked scientists when Chilesaurus was named a theropod following its discovery in Chile...

T. Rex Just Got
a Lot Less Scary

NEW STUDY

Jul 19, 2017 8:34 PM CDT

T. Rex Just Got a Lot Less Scary

New research shows beast could only travel up to 12mph

(Newser) - Jurassic Park had us all fooled: Outstripping a Tyrannosaurus rex in a Jeep would've been easy-peasy because, well, T. rex couldn't run. After much debate about how fast T. rex moved—previous estimates suggested up to 45 miles per hour—scientists at the University of Manchester used advanced...

In Australia's 'Jurassic Park,'
World's Largest Dino Prints

NEW STUDY

Mar 27, 2017 1:02 PM CDT

In Australia's 'Jurassic Park,' World's Largest Dino Prints

21 different types of tracks found Down Under—some 6 feet long

(Newser) - Twenty-one is the lucky number for paleontologists in Australia: That's the "globally unparalleled" number of different varieties of dinosaur prints they appear to have found in a "magical place" they call the country's own "Jurassic Park," per Phys.org . In a study published in...

New Twist on
Why Dinosaurs
Got So Big So Fast

Nov 24, 2016 11:37 AM CST

New Twist on Why Dinosaurs Got So Big So Fast

Those with funky-looking skulls grew most quickly

(Newser) - For years, paleontologists have theorized that many of the world's largest dinosaurs sported head ornaments (think horns, knobs, and crests) as a means of intimidation and defense, and that these giants evolved to be so big because size helped them be more effective killers. But now new research published...