News on Paleontology

CORRECTION India Prehistoric Snake

2010-03-04T20:45:52Z

In this 2008 photo released by Wilson et al. 2010, PLoS Biology shows blocks preserving the snake Sanajeh indicus in association with a partial clutch of three sauropod eggs and a sauropod hatchling. The fossilized remains of a 67 million-year-old snake found coiled around a dinosaur egg offer rare insight into the ancient reptile's dining habits and evolution, scientists said Tuesday, March 2, 2010. The findings, which appeared in Tuesday's issue of the PLoS Biology journal, provide the first e...

It's official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs

2010-03-04T11:16:24Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - A giant asteroid smashing into Earth is the only plausible explanation for the extinction of the dinosaurs, a global scientific team said on Thursday, hoping to settle a row that has divided experts for decades.</p><p>A panel of 41 scientists from across the world reviewed 20 years' worth of research to try to confirm the cause of the so-called Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) extinction,...

Fossils of snake eating dino eggs found in India

2010-03-02T12:46:04Z

<div id="subtitle">Scientists find fossil of ancient snake killed while dining on dinosaur eggs in India</div><div><p>The fossilized remains of a 67 million-year-old snake found coiled around a dinosaur egg offer rare insight into the ancient reptile's dining habits and evolution, scientists said Tuesday.</p><p>The findings, which appeared in Tuesday's issue of the PLoS Biology journal, provide the first evidence that ...

New species of dinosaur found in eastern Utah rock

2010-02-23T18:31:00Z

<div id="subtitle">Paleontologists: New species of long-necked dinosaur found hidden in slabs of Utah rock</div><div><p>Fossils of a previously undiscovered species of dinosaur have been found in slabs of Utah sandstone that were so hard that explosives had to be used to free some of the remains, scientists said Tuesday. The bones found at Dinosaur Natio...

Dinosaur Discovery

2010-02-23T13:46:41Z

This image provided by Michael W. Skrepnick on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010 shows an artist's conception of the newly-discovered dinosaur Abydosaurus mcintoshi feeding on conifer trees. Paleontologists say this new species of dinosaur was found in Dinosaur National Monument, Utah hidden in slabs of sandstone so har...

dwp feathered dinosaur

2010-01-29T17:46:54Z

Pictured: Zebra Finch New development in research of coloured feathers The colour of some feathers on dinosaurs and early birds have been identified for the first time. A team of researchers from the University of Bristol, England, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthro...

Experts unveil dino, oldest known ancestor of birds

2010-02-22T13:49:19Z

<div><p>HONG KONG (Reuters) - China has unearthed the fossil of a two-legged carnivorous dinosaur that lived 160 million years ago and which researchers have identified as the earliest known member of a long lineage that includes birds.</p><p>The "Haplocheirus sollers" had a long, narrow skull, many small teeth and powerful biceps and...

ISU museum may take on fossil oversight from Idaho

2010-02-22T17:31:48Z

<div id="subtitle">Energy projects could unearth old animal bones, so Idaho wants to shift oversight to museum</div><div><p>Big energy projects awash in federal stimulus cash could accelerate discoveries of woolly mammoths and other ancient creatures in Idaho, so the state wants to put a different agency in charge.</p><p>Officials have recommended shifting oversight of su...

4-legged animals emerged earlier than thought

2010-02-23T00:34:43Z

<div id="subtitle">Fossil footprints show 4-legged animals conquered land millions of years earlier than thought</div><div><p>The water-dwelling ancestors of modern-day mammals, reptiles and birds emerged onto land millions of years earlier than previously believed, researchers reported.</p><p>A set of fossilized footprints show that the first tetrapods — a term applied to any four-footed animal with a spine — we...

Fish out of water: When did animals move to land?

2010-02-23T00:29:46Z

<div><p>Fossilised footprints, found in a Polish quarry, of an enigmatic, long-extinct creature have prompted palaeontologists to reopen the file of how life in the sea moved to the land.</p><p>A key theory in evolutionary biology is that tetrapods -- four-limbed land-loving vertebrates -- emerged from fishes with pairs of lobed fins.</p><p>The intermediate stage in the process was fishes called elpistostegids, w...

New fossils shed light on evolution of dinosaurs

2010-02-23T17:59:25Z

<div id="subtitle">Researchers say new fossils shed light on development of earliest dinosaurs</div><div><p>Newly described dinosaur fossils from New Mexico are helping scientists better understand the early development of these ancient creatures. The 6-to-12 foot-long, meat-eating creature, Tawa hallae, is described in Friday's edition of the journal Science.</p><p&am...

New Dino

2009-12-10T11:30:43Z

This undated handout artist rendering provided by the National Science Foundation shows the newly discovered Triassic, carnivorous dinosaur, Tawa hallae. Newly described dinosaur fossils from New Mexico are helping scientists better understand the early development of these ancient creatures. The six-to-12 foot long, meat-eating creature, Tawa hallae, is desc...

Paris evolution sale: from dinosaurs to space diapers

2010-02-23T23:53:25Z

<div><p>PARIS (Reuters) - From entire dinosaur skeletons and fossilised bugs alive more than 400 million years ago, to modern space paraphernalia, there is something for every pocket in a Paris evolution-themed auction next month.</p><p>The hundreds of pieces charting life on earth culminate in curiosities from the space age, such as ...

3 new ancient crocodile species fossils found

2010-02-24T03:20:01Z

<div id="subtitle">Crocodile fossils found with boar-like tusks, pancake heads, other odd features</div><div><p>A 20-foot-long crocodile with three sets of fangs — like wild boar tusks — roamed parts of northern Africa millions of years ago, researchers reported Thursday. While this fearsome creature hunted meat, not far away another newly found type of croc with a wide, flat snout like a pancake ...

New fossils reveal a world full of crocodiles

2010-02-24T03:08:48Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New fossils unearthed in what is now the Sahara desert reveal a once-swampy world</p><p>divided up among a half-dozen species of unusual and perhaps intelligent crocodiles, researchers reported on Thursday.</p><p>They have given some of the new species snappy n...

Five strange ancient crocs found in Sahara desert

2010-02-24T03:14:54Z

<div><p>The fossils of five hitherto unknown bizarre-looking crocodiles which roamed the world 100 million years ago have been unearthed in the Sahara desert, US scientists revealed Thursday.</p><p>The five now extinct species -- dubbed BoarCroc, RatCroc, DogCroc, DuckCroc and PancakeCroc because of their strange appearances -...

South Africa Dinosaur

2009-11-11T20:17:41Z

Graphic released by Australian paleontologist Adam Yates, based at the University of the Witwatersrand, on Wednesday Nov. 11, 2009 in Johannesburg, South Africa, shows a newly discovered dinosaur species that roamed the Earth about 200 millio...

Scientists: New dinosaur species found in SAfrica

2010-02-24T06:59:07Z

<div id="subtitle">Newly discovered dinosaur species dating back 200 million years found in South Africa</div><div><p>A newly discovered dinosaur species that roamed the Earth about 200 million years ago may help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land, scientists in South Africa said Wednesday.</p><p>The Aardonyx celestae was a 23...

New dinosaur discovered in S. Africa

2010-02-24T06:55:50Z

<div><p>A new species of dinosaur that roamed the Earth 197 million years ago, likely an ancestor of the enormous brontosaurus, has been discovered in South Africa, scientists said Wednesday.</p><p>Dubbed Aardonyx Celestae, a combination of Afrikaans and Greek that means "Earth Claw", fossils of the seven-metre (23-feet) long dinosaur were uncovered in the central South Africa, scientists say</div><div><p>Scientists say they've discovered a new dinosaur species in South Africa that may help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land.</p><p>Paleontologist Adam Yates ...