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.
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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527
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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121
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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1921
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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1504
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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183
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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41
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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120
A study published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology describes a new species of dinosaur discovered during construction of a road-rail terminal in the city of Davinópolis in the state of Maranhão, in the Northeast ...
Evolution
May 6, 2026
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659
In 2024, the Western Australian Museum received a donation. It was a koala skull collected from Moondyne Cave in Margaret River by Lindsay Hatcher, an avid caver. There was something a bit odd about this skull, and we were ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 6, 2026
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12
A new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals the surprising neurological landscape of fish brains. Harvard researchers map the internal structures of ray-finned fishes' brains in 3D detail, discovering brain ...
Evolution
May 5, 2026
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21
