Invertebrate paleontology is the scientific discipline within paleontology that investigates the fossil record of animals lacking a vertebral column, including groups such as mollusks, arthropods, echinoderms, cnidarians, and brachiopods. It focuses on the morphology, taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships, and evolutionary patterns of these organisms, using skeletal hard parts (e.g., shells, exoskeletons, ossicles) preserved in sedimentary rocks. Invertebrate paleontologists employ stratigraphic distribution, paleoecological reconstruction, and quantitative methods to infer biodiversity trends, biogeographic patterns, and environmental change through geologic time, and to refine biostratigraphic frameworks critical for correlating and dating sedimentary sequences.
A study by Dr. Gianpiero Fiorentino and his colleagues, published in the Journal of Paleontology, describes the identification of a new species of ant, Hypoponera electrocacica, belonging to the genus Hypoponera and representing ...
A UT San Antonio-led international research team has identified chitin, the primary organic component of modern crab shells and insect exoskeletons, in trilobite fossils more than 500 million years old, marking the first ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 6, 2026
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Even some 200 years after his death, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's scientific curiosity continues to yield new insights. This has now been demonstrated by biologists at Friedrich Schiller University Jena while closely examining ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 26, 2026
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A research team led by Associate Professor Wang Yaqiong from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS), in collaboration with colleagues from multiple domestic and international ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 2, 2026
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Research teams from the Academia Sinica and National Taiwan University have documented the first discovery of five freshwater mollusk species in the Early Pleistocene Tananwan Formation of northern Taiwan. This pivotal finding, ...
Ecology
Nov 7, 2025
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506
In amber some 99 million years old, LMU researchers have discovered the oldest known mosquito larva. The Cretaceous fossil comes from the Kachin region in Myanmar and was preserved in excellent condition. Described as a new ...
Evolution
Oct 28, 2025
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101
Body size evolution has long been a core topic in paleontological research. Cope's rule describes the tendency for body size to increase during the evolution of many lineages. However, a new study focusing on bryozoans, a ...
Evolution
Oct 23, 2025
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An international team of scientists led by the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC) has described a new species of fossilized insect from the Australian Jurassic period, estimated to be around 151 million years old. It represents ...
Evolution
Oct 14, 2025
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356
Scientists have discovered prehistoric insects preserved in amber for the first time in South America, providing a fresh glimpse into life on Earth at a time when flowering plants were just beginning to diversify and spread ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Sep 18, 2025
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247
A research team led by Prof. Huang Diying from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS) has identified three species of Jurassic orthopterans—an insect group that includes ...
Evolution
Sep 5, 2025
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