All articles tagged with #fossils
As Pokémon marks its 30th anniversary, researchers say the franchise has influenced real science—from taxonomy and fossil research to classroom learning and public engagement—shaping how scientists think about biodiversity, evolution and research integrity.
Paleontologists report the earliest fossil imprint of reptile skin with belly scales and a cloacal vent dating to about 290 million years ago, pushing back the origin of the cloaca in amniotes and beating the previous 120-million-year record.
Scientists describe a 298–299 million-year-old fossil imprint from a bolosaurian reptile in Germany, preserving belly scales and a cloaca—the oldest known soft-tissue imprint of its kind and the earliest reptile skin details—offering new insights into early reptile evolution. Named Cabarzichnus pulchrus, the 3.5-inch trace extends the fossil record of back-end anatomy by more than 150 million years and suggests anatomical similarities to modern turtles, lizards, and snakes.
A newly described mosasaur from Morocco, Khinjaria acuta, had dagger-like teeth and a powerful jaw, signaling a highly specialized top predator in a Late Cretaceous sea rich with diverse mosasaurs around 66 million years ago.
Paleontologists in Niger describe Spinosaurus mirabilis, a new species with a nearly half-meter tall, keratin-covered scimitar-shaped crest found in an inland river system, suggesting the predator waded in shallow waters rather than swam; the discovery challenges the idea of Spinosaurus as primarily aquatic and hints the crest served in social signaling.
Paleontologists in Niger announce a new Spinosaurus species, Spinosaurus mirabilis, featuring a 20-inch sword-like horn and a unique jaw arrangement, discovered inland far from the coast. The fossil suggests this fish-eating predator lived in forested river systems and grew to roughly the size of a Tyrannosaurus rex, with a sail-like back, challenging the view that Spinosaurus hunted exclusively in marine environments.
A 215-million-year-old crocodylomorph fossil discovered in southwestern England in 1969 has been reexamined and identified as a new species, Galahadosuchus jonesi, revealing a land-dwelling predator of the Late Triassic and underscoring the long-hidden value of museum collections.
Researchers re-examined five large vertebrae found near Darwin, Australia, and concluded they belong to a previously unknown giant shark from the early Cretaceous Cardabiodontidae, about 115 million years old, reaching up to 26 feet (8 m) and weighing around 3,000 kg. This finding, published in Communications Biology in 2025, pushes back the emergence of giant sharks by ~15 million years and provides rare insight into cartilage-preserving fossils that reveal the anatomy of these prehistoric predators.
Two rare dinosaur fossils with preserved voice boxes (Pinacosaurus grangeri in Mongolia and Pulaosaurus qinglong in China) show these animals likely produced birdlike, closed‑mouth sounds rather than mammalian roars, challenging decades of Jurassic Park‑era depictions. The anatomy suggests avian‑type vocalization without a syrinx, while living archosaurs and prior studies point to potentially widespread but varied vocal strategies across dinosaur groups. Hadrosaurs used resonant crests for distinctive calls, highlighting a spectrum of sound production. Despite this breakthrough, preserved vocal anatomy is rare, so researchers caution against a single narrative about dinosaur sounds until more fossils are found.
New analyses of Prototaxites fossils from Scotland’s Rhynie chert show the 400-million-year-old giant—up to about 9 meters tall—likely wasn’t a plant, animal, or fungus, but an as-yet unknown form of multicellular life, with biomarkers unlike fungi and other features not matching any modern group, leaving its biology unresolved and warranting further study.
Columbus-area backyard rocks are spherical concretions—millions of years old, formed when minerals precipitated around organic material in Ohio’s Devonian seas about 360 million years ago; these concretions are found across Ohio in yards and parks (notably Shale Hollow Park) in sizes from centimeters to large, up to nine feet, with fossils inside being possible but rare, offering a window into ancient ocean chemistry.
CT scans and 3D simulations of the 250‑million‑year‑old cynodont Thrinaxodon liorhinus indicate ear structures capable of tympanic (ear‑based) hearing emerged earlier than previously thought, suggesting the mammalian middle ear began evolving before dinosaurs; the model estimates a hearing range of about 38–1,243 Hz with peak sensitivity near 1,000 Hz at ~28 dB, aiding prey detection and predator avoidance.
Researchers reexamined two humeri measuring 70 and 74 cm plus radius, ulna, and partial foot bones from Utah’s Morrison Formation that had long been on display. They’re confirmed to be stegosaurid, making them the largest forelimb elements known for the group and suggesting a dinosaur approaching sauropod size, though the exact genus cannot be identified from these remains alone.
Scientists in Peru's Pisco Basin unearthed a remarkably well-preserved near-complete skeleton of Cosmopolitodus hastalis, an ancient relative of the great white shark. Dated to about 9 million years ago, the specimen includes a full jaw with serrated teeth and even preserved stomach contents—sardines—offering rare insight into late Miocene marine ecosystems and early apex-predator lifestyles.
A Chinese team in Hunan uncovered over 50,000 fossils from a small quarry dating to about 512 million years ago, capturing more than 150 species (91 new to science) with soft tissues preserved. The Huayuan biota, from just after the Sinsk mass extinction, offers new insights into early animal life and shows surprising connections to the Burgess Shale, implying early larval dispersal and rapid post-extinction recovery during the Cambrian explosion.