https://phys.org/biology-news/paleontology/ en-us News about paleontology, important paleontological discoveries and fossil studies Storms routinely wash marine material ashore, providing food for land animals and other organisms. This is known as marine subsidization (MS). Today, MS is particularly common in coastal ecosystems and is especially important to animals when land ecosystems produce less food than usual, such as during droughts. A new Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution study has shown that dinos and their prey, too, may have eaten seafood washed onto beaches. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-dinosaur-snacked-seaweed-north-american.html Ecology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:05 EDT news709895461 A newly described feathered dinosaur found in northeastern China adds evidence supporting the theory that flight-related features evolved differently in various bird-like dinosaur groups. The findings, reported in Nature Communications, are based on an analysis of an exceptionally well-preserved fossil of a microraptorine (a small dinosaur with feathers and wings) found in a geological formation estimated to be between 145 and 100 million years old. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-feathered-winged-dinosaur-china-theories.html Evolution Tue, 29 Sep 2026 16:20:09 EDT news709913642 A pair of exceptionally rare Cretaceous bird bones found at separate sites near Richmond, Queensland, reveal a previously unknown species—the second formally named Cretaceous bird from Australia. Cretaceous bird fossils are extremely scarce in Australia, with fewer than a dozen isolated bones reported, making these finds especially significant. The research is published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ancient-bird-australian-species-cretaceous.html Plants & Animals Tue, 29 Sep 2026 10:40:10 EDT news709891864 In the 1960s, a miner working at a mineral extraction site in Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, struck something far more valuable than any mineral in the area: a skull with distinctly humanlike features. After an initial examination, archaeologists excavated further and uncovered more remains, which they estimated to be around 40,000 years old. They identified the main skull as an African Neanderthal and named it Irhoud 1. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ancient-human-emerges-pieced-moroccan.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 28 Sep 2026 08:00:02 EDT news709546556 Fossils offer a glimpse into Earth's distant past. They provide insights into extinct animals and plants, as well as past ecosystems. However, the fossil record is incomplete: Fossilization is rare, and only a small fraction of Earth's organisms are preserved this way. In addition, geological strata from different eras must be accessible today for fossils to be found in them. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-treasure-marine-life.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 24 Sep 2026 14:40:01 EDT news709464370 Around 309 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs, the area around Chicago was a swampy river delta swarming with early land-dwelling animals, giant insects and strange swimming animals. What was once a hotbed for new forms of life to flourish and evolve has become one of today's richest Carboniferous period fossil deposits. Two student scientists from the Field Museum have just described the latest animal discovered at this location—and they named it after their mothers, who both happen to be named Jean. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-species-proto-amphibian-students-honor.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 24 Sep 2026 10:00:01 EDT news709374961 It walked on two legs and may have looked like a feathered bear with giant claws. Meet Kayrasaurus changliensis—well, its almost complete skeleton, to be precise. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-bizarre-dinosaur-giant-claws-china.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 23 Sep 2026 12:40:02 EDT news709373767 New research from the University of St Andrews has created the largest combined study of bat genomes and fossils ever undertaken, finding that bats most likely originated in Europe around 65 million years ago before spreading across the world. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-genomes-fossils-european-million-years.html Evolution Wed, 23 Sep 2026 11:00:05 EDT news709214222 Plesiosaurs swam into river deltas to vomit up shells and other indigestible elements of their marine meals, suggests new research published by Cambridge University Press. The behavior resembles that of today's fur seals and marine crocodiles. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-queasy-plesiosaurs-swam-shore-vomit.html Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 22 Sep 2026 19:00:01 EDT news709201289 For more than 170 years, paleontologists have been trying to solve the mystery of what created the strangely uniform hexagonal tunnels found in fossils. In a new study published in Earth Science Reviews, a team of researchers pored over the evidence and concluded that the most likely culprit was a type of arthropod—probably a small crustacean. This challenges a long-standing idea that a worm-like creature may have created the tunnels. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-elusive-builders-hexagonal-tunnel-fossils.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:20:03 EDT news709210408 Ask any zoo-goer and they will tell you that capybaras are adorable. Ask a scientist specializing in the rodents, which resemble oversized guinea pigs, and they will tell you they are obligate semiaquatic herbivores that indicate persistent riparian ecosystems. In plain English: Capybaras like it wet. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-capybaras-fossil-atacama-world-oldest.html Ecology Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:20:24 EDT news708856372 A new study combines paleoanthropology and diving physiology to address a fundamental question in human evolution: Why did humans evolve their exceptional aerobic endurance? Did our ancestors begin endurance running to exhaust terrestrial prey, or did breath-hold diving for aquatic resources also play a key role? https://phys.org/news/2026-09-endurance-running-or-diving-which.html Evolution Thu, 17 Sep 2026 11:00:04 EDT news708854355 Bipedalism, or walking on two legs, is one of the key features that distinguishes humans from other apes. But when and why our ancestors transitioned from a life often spent in trees to a life spent almost exclusively on the ground remains a subject of debate. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-bone-strength-reveals-clues-human.html Evolution Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:00:29 EDT news708695928 When picturing a scaled, toothy Tyrannosaurus rex stomping across North America, building nests and eating other dinosaurs, it's easy to forget that scientists have gleaned everything we know about T. rex from clues left more than 60 million years ago. While the presence of fossils in Alaska suggested that this prehistoric ancestor of birds was already on the evolutionary path from cold-blooded reptile to warm-blooded avian, there wasn't a way to take T. rex's temperature—until now. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tyrannosaurus-rex-teeth-reveal-body.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:00:19 EDT news708777841 Scientists have discovered several 518-million-year-old fossils that reshape understanding of the origins of the animal group containing starfish. The fossils show that these animals ate using tentacles rather than passively using their gills, as previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-billion-year-fossils-rewrite-story.html Evolution Wed, 16 Sep 2026 11:00:01 EDT news708610261 Brigid Lynch was working along a wooded creek in a mountainous part of the San Francisco Bay Area when something that didn't look like the rocks she'd been studying caught her eye. It turned out to be the fossilized tooth of a Pacific mastodon. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tooth-pacific-mastodon-creek-san.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 16 Sep 2026 04:07:13 EDT news708750407 A new prehistoric animal species from Tanzania dating to around 240 million years ago, during the Triassic period, has been described by an international team of researchers. Led by the University of Bristol, the new species, named Dinodontosaurus isiyavamanda, could help scientists refine the age of one of the world's most significant fossil sites and reshape the timeline of early dinosaur evolution. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-species-million-year-prehistoric-animal.html Evolution Tue, 15 Sep 2026 19:10:01 EDT news708681481 In a discovery that challenges our understanding of dinosaur distribution during the Late Jurassic period, paleontologists have identified the first evidence of the iconic Diplodocus outside North America. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-diplodocus-north-america-reshapes-late.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:06:43 EDT news708620779 Woolly rhinoceroses (Coelodonta antiquitatis) were fascinating creatures: giant, lumbering Ice Age beasts with thick fur and massive horns that died out about 11,000 years ago. Previous genetic studies had left open the question of whether their genetic diversity emerged in high-latitude areas, like that of woolly mammoths, but a new analysis of ancient DNA and habitat models covering the past 500,000 years has revealed a different story. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-history-woolly-rhinos-werent-creatures.html Evolution Mon, 14 Sep 2026 11:30:01 EDT news708600903 Deep within an ancient sinkhole lie the remains of dozens of mammoths, prehistoric wanderers who waded into the warm springs to their deaths. These deaths had long been accepted as having occurred roughly 26,000 years ago, but new dates published in the journal Quaternary Research suggest these ice-age giants were more than 160,000 years old. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-luminescence-dating-age-south-dakota.html Plants & Animals Sun, 13 Sep 2026 12:40:02 EDT news708253643 Long before dinosaurs appeared on Earth, fierce predatory fish developed crushing jaws and sharp teeth to survive and diversify in ancient oceans. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ancient-armored-fish-evolved-distinct.html Paleontology & Fossils Sun, 13 Sep 2026 04:13:44 EDT news708491591 About 252 million years ago, at the end of the Permian Period, a large proportion of species on Earth rapidly became extinct. After this mass extinction, many groups of organisms began to recover, while reptiles known as archosauromorphs—the group that includes dinosaurs and crocodiles—proliferated. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-analysis-reconstructs-dawn-dinosaurs-reptiles.html Evolution Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:00:04 EDT news708176567 The Hammerschmiede clay pit near Pforzen in the eastern Allgäu is famous for its wealth of finds: Besides fossils of two early anthropoid apes, the remains of numerous vertebrate species have been uncovered in 11.6-million-year-old river sediments—but until now, very few birds. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-rare-bird-fossils-bavaria-reveal.html Ecology Thu, 10 Sep 2026 19:20:05 EDT news708270181 Tiny flowers trapped in amber around 15 million years ago are offering scientists a rare glimpse into the plant life of a tropical rainforest in what is now Southeast China. Researchers have studied two exceptionally well-preserved fossil flowers from the Zhangpu flora. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-fossil-ancient-lianas-amber-reveal.html Evolution Thu, 10 Sep 2026 11:20:08 EDT news708250085 About 66 million years ago, a dinosaur—maybe a T. rex or a Nanotyrannus—ate a bird. The record of that meal, in the form of fossilized poop, has survived to today, preserving the best example of a feather ever found from the age of dinosaurs. By studying this feather, scientists reported in a new study in the journal Current Biology, researchers have found clues that help explain why birds are the only group of dinosaurs that survived the mass extinction 66 million years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-fossil-feather-dinosaur-poop-birds.html Evolution Thu, 10 Sep 2026 11:00:04 EDT news708089942 Lots of animals use mimicry to survive. Some copy the appearance of threatening predators, and others have evolved to resemble plants or rocks so they can blend into the background and avoid being attacked. But a viper from Iran has found an even stranger strategy. The tip of this snake's tail looks like a spider, complete with a bulbous body and long dangling legs. And when a bird swoops in to try to eat this "spider," the snake springs into action and eats the bird. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-fake-spider-snake-tail-lure.html Plants & Animals Thu, 10 Sep 2026 10:00:01 EDT news708089822 A "peculiar" new species of Jurassic squid-like animal has been unearthed in Wyoming, U.S., following the discovery of two exceptionally rare fossils dating to around 160 million years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-peculiar-species-jurassic-squid-wyoming.html Evolution Thu, 10 Sep 2026 08:40:01 EDT news708248042 Ichthyosaurs ruled the oceans for 150 million years during the Mesozoic Era. Their fish-shaped bodies were built for high speeds. In that context, it is normally an advantage to be as light as possible. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-fossil-ribs-reveal-secrets-ichthyosaur.html Evolution Wed, 09 Sep 2026 16:20:01 EDT news708177575 Analysis of fossilized remains from dinosaurs known as troodontids reveals how one species' hip and leg bones may have developed over its lifespan, from embryo to adult—with potential implications for resolving longstanding taxonomic challenges. David Varricchio of Montana State University, U.S., and Heath Caldwell of North Carolina State University, U.S., present their findings in the journal PLOS One on Sept. 9, 2026. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-fossils-embryo-adult-enigmatic-bird.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 09 Sep 2026 14:00:20 EDT news708003961 Finding a fossilized dinosaur egg is exceptionally rare, but finding a stash of more than 250 shell fragments in the chilly southern reaches of the planet is even more surprising. The discoveries come from southernmost Patagonia in Argentina, where giant, long-necked titanosaurs roamed toward the end of the dinosaur era. Previous egg discoveries suggested that these massive beasts usually nested much farther north. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-giant-dinosaurs-incubated-eggs.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 09 Sep 2026 13:10:01 EDT news708176520