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.
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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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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359
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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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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296
When we think of pollinating insects, bees, butterflies, or flies usually come to mind—but rarely true bugs. Yet it seems that in the past, they also played an important role in plant pollination. A Hungarian research group ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Sep 4, 2025
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Paleontologists, including researchers from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (MfN), have described the oldest insect larval feeding tunnels inside leaves, also known as leaf mines, along with associated egg deposits, based ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 2, 2025
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