Vertebrate paleontology is the scientific discipline within paleontology that focuses on the study of fossilized remains of vertebrate animals, including their morphology, systematics, evolutionary relationships, and paleoecology. It integrates anatomical analysis, comparative biology, stratigraphy, and geochronology to reconstruct the origin, diversification, and extinction patterns of vertebrates through deep time. Research in vertebrate paleontology often involves detailed examination of skeletal elements, functional morphology, and phylogenetic methods to infer evolutionary trajectories and biogeographic histories, as well as to interpret environmental and climatic conditions recorded in vertebrate fossil assemblages and associated sedimentary contexts.
The Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is famous because adults look like overgrown babies, or tadpoles, retaining juvenile features as adults and capable of remarkable regeneration of lost limbs or tails. New studies ...
In the Triassic, the modern animals we know were just beginning to diversify into a menagerie of forms and body plans that rhyme with the lifestyles of extinct and living animals better known to the public, but nested in ...
Evolution
May 26, 2026
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For animator and academic Dr. Jason Kennedy, palaeoart isn't just a hobby. Creating 3D images of prehistoric animals sits at the intersection of science and art, combining fossil analysis, comparisons with living species, ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 25, 2026
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There's a new T. rex in the fossil record, only this one terrorized the ancient seas. New research led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, and Southern ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 21, 2026
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The sight of a saltwater crocodile basking on a mudbank is one of the most iconic and intimidating images of northern Australia. Yet the crocodiles that inhabit the region today are just the survivors of a much richer and ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 20, 2026
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The evolution of tiny arms in several groups of meat-eating dinosaurs was likely driven by the development of strong, powerful heads, which were used to attack prey, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL (University ...
Evolution
May 19, 2026
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It is one of the strangest puzzles in human evolution. About 90% of people across every human culture favor their right hand—with no other primate species showing a population-level preference on this scale. Despite decades ...
Evolution
May 15, 2026
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A new type of long-necked plant-eating dinosaur—the largest ever found in Southeast Asia—has been revealed in a study led by researchers at University College London (UCL), Mahasarakham University, Suranaree University of ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 14, 2026
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Scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have uncovered new information suggesting a potential connection between Homo erectus and modern humans, ...
Evolution
May 13, 2026
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Baby dinosaurs were likely fed more nutritious food than their adult counterparts, a finding that could offer insights into their social evolution, suggests a new study. Paleontologists uncovered this finding by studying ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 8, 2026
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