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385-Million-Year-Old Amber Found in China

The Middle Devonian Hujiersite amber. Image credit: Lu et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aeh1266.

Paleontologists in China have discovered what they say is the earliest confirmed pieces of amber ever found, a fossilized resin roughly 385 million years old (Middle Devonian epoch) that predates the previous record-holder by about 65 million years.

The post 385-Million-Year-Old Amber Found in China appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Crested Dinosaur Species Identified in Canada

Life reconstruction of Plesiolophus warnerensis. Image credit: Connor Ashbridge / CC BY 4.0.

A new genus and species of lambeosaurine hadrosaurid dinosaur has been identified in southern Alberta, Canada, dating back 77 million years to the Campanian age of the Cretaceous period.

The post New Crested Dinosaur Species Identified in Canada appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Paleontologists Discover New Species of Titanosaur in Uruguay

Mesetasaurus protector. Image credit: Merlina Ramírez.

Paleontologists in Uruguay have identified a new species of aeolosaurine titanosaur from a pair of remarkably well-preserved tailbones unearthed in the 1980s near the Uruguay River.

The post Paleontologists Discover New Species of Titanosaur in Uruguay appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Tiny Triassic Reptile Sheds Light on Early Lizard Evolution

A landscape from the Late Triassic of southern Brazil showing Cargninia enigmatica being observed by the sauropodomorph dinosaur Macrocollum itaquii. Image credit: Marcio L. Castro.

Today, lepidosaurs -- the reptile group that includes lizards, snakes and New Zealand’s tuatara -- are among the most diverse vertebrates on Earth, but their earliest evolutionary history remains poorly understood.

The post Tiny Triassic Reptile Sheds Light on Early Lizard Evolution appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Ediacaran Sea Creature May Hold Earliest Evidence of Right-Handedness

Fossils of Spriggina floundersi from South Australia; white arrows highlight lifted areas, white triangle indicates divergent bend angle of adjacent modules. Scale bars - 10 cm. Image credit: Evans et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-53857-x.

Spriggina floundersi, a marine species that lived during the Ediacaran period 550 million years ago, is one of Earth’s earliest bilaterally symmetrical animals.

The post Ediacaran Sea Creature May Hold Earliest Evidence of Right-Handedness appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Identified in Thailand

Life reconstruction of a herd of five individuals of Uragasaurus kalasinensis inhabiting a Late Jurassic forest in Thailand, accompanied by a pair of rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs and a metriacanthosaurid theropod. Image credit: Pakorn Chotchaiyaporn.

Paleontologists working in northeastern Thailand have identified a new species of mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaur, offering fresh evidence that a group of giant sauropods once thought to be almost exclusively East Asian also roamed mainland Southeast Asia.

The post New Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Identified in Thailand appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Feathered Dinosaur from China Had Peacock-Like Tail

Changzhousaurus sinensis. Image credit: Connor Ashbridge / CC BY 4.0.

A new genus and species of four-winged pennaraptoran dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of northern China is adding another twist to the story of how birds evolved from their dinosaur ancestors.

The post New Feathered Dinosaur from China Had Peacock-Like Tail appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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113-Million-Year-Old Pterosaur Fossil Reveals What Flying Reptiles Ate

Grice et al. integrate organic geochemical analyses with high-resolution micro-mineral imaging of a three-dimensionally preserved Cretaceous pterosaur wing phalanx from Brazil to reveal steroid biomarkers and multi-stage mineralization pathways underlying its preservation. Image credit: Grice et al., doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.116199.

A 113-million-year-old pterosaur fossil from northeastern Brazil has yielded rare evidence of soft tissues, organic molecules and chemical traces of a diet heavy in fish and cephalopods such as squid or nautilus relatives.

The post 113-Million-Year-Old Pterosaur Fossil Reveals What Flying Reptiles Ate appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Earth’s First Land Animals May Never Have Been Amphibian-Like After All

New fossil evidence suggests that embolomeres did not undergo a metamorphosis the way that modern amphibians do when growing up, which challenges a long-standing scientific belief that amphibians, reptiles, and mammals evolved from animals that had a tadpole stage. Image credit: Berit Godring.

Paleontologists from the Field Museum of Natural History have described the fossilized remains of baby embolomeres, crocodile-like predators that prowled ancient rivers and swamps between 350 and 280 million years ago.

The post Earth’s First Land Animals May Never Have Been Amphibian-Like After All appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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125-Million-Year-Old Crocodile Relative Reveals Its True Colors

The holotype specimen of Montsecosuchus depereti. Image credit: Castillo-Visa et al., doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlag076.

Exceptionally preserved skin of Montsecosuchus depereti, an extinct crocodylomorph no larger than a house cat that prowled the tropical wetlands of Early Cretaceous Spain, has allowed paleontologists to reconstruct details of its scales, sensory organs and even possible banded markings along its tail.

The post 125-Million-Year-Old Crocodile Relative Reveals Its True Colors appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Duck-Billed Dinosaur Unearthed in Romania

Kryptohadros kallaiae. Image credit: Tibor Pecsics.

An international team of paleontologists from Romania, Hungary and Italy has identified a new genus and species of herbivorous, duck-billed dinosaur from an incomplete skeleton unearthed in the Hațeg Basin, a bowl-shaped depression in the Carpathians of present-day Romania.

The post New Duck-Billed Dinosaur Unearthed in Romania appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Fossils from Chinese Cave Fill Crucial Gap in History of Gigantopithecus blacki

An artist’s impression of a group of Gigantopithecus blacki within a forest in southern China. Image credit: Garcia / Joannes-Boyau, Southern Cross University.

Deep inside a limestone cave in southern China, paleontologists have uncovered an assemblage of thirteen fossilized teeth belonging to Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest primate species ever known to have lived.

The post Fossils from Chinese Cave Fill Crucial Gap in History of Gigantopithecus blacki appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Marsupial Lineage Emerges from Australian Fossils

Reconstruction of Phantasmodon travouilloni in the Early Miocene rainforests of northwestern Queensland. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Paleontologists have described a new genus and three new species of small, insect-eating marsupials from the Early Miocene deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in northwestern Queensland, one of Australia’s richest fossil sites.

The post New Marsupial Lineage Emerges from Australian Fossils appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Species of Ancient Bear-Dog Identified in Spain

Paludocyon moyasolai. Image credit: Jesús Gamarra.

Paleontologists have identified a previously unknown species of amphicyonid -- the extinct family of carnivorous mammals popularly known as bear-dogs -- from two specimens unearthed at a rich fossil site in the Vallès-Penedès Basin near Barcelona, Spain.

The post New Species of Ancient Bear-Dog Identified in Spain appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Fossil Discovery in Patagonia Reveals New Species of Horned Turtle

An artist’s impression of Patagoniaemys aeschyli. Image credit: Nawel Vazquez / Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’ / CONICET.

Paleontologists have identified a new species of meiolaniform turtle from northern Patagonia, Argentina, that lived during the Maastrichtian age, just before the asteroid-triggered mass extinction that wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs.

The post Fossil Discovery in Patagonia Reveals New Species of Horned Turtle appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Fish Fossils from Early Paleocene Fill 10-Million-Year Gap after Dinosaur Extinction

Marine fishes from the Early Paleocene site of Qreiya 3 in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Image credit: Ian Baylatry.

Paleontologists have described an assemblage of marine fish fossils from the 62.2-million-year-old site of Qreiya 3 in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, providing a window into this transition.

The post Fish Fossils from Early Paleocene Fill 10-Million-Year Gap after Dinosaur Extinction appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Half-Ton Cattle Relatives Roamed Europe 4 Million Years Ago

Paleoartistic reconstruction of the environment in the surrounding of Camp dels Ninots maar lake during the Early Pliocene. Image credit: Mauricio Antón.

Near-complete bovine skeletons unearthed the Early Pliocene site of Camp dels Ninots in northeastern Spain reveal that the ancestors of today’s buffalo and cattle were already growing to impressive sizes long before humans arrived on the continent.

The post Half-Ton Cattle Relatives Roamed Europe 4 Million Years Ago appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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New Microraptorine Dinosaur Discovered in China

Jian changmaensis (left) attacks the early bird Gansus yumenensis (right) in what is now the Changma Basin of northwestern China approximately 120 million years ago. Image credit: Lewis LaRosa / Jão Canola.

Jian changmaensis is the first non-avian dinosaur found at a paleontological site that has yielded more than 100 specimens of Early Cretaceous birds.

The post New Microraptorine Dinosaur Discovered in China appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Giant Scorpions Ruled Ancient Britain during Devonian Period

Praearcturus gigas. Image credit: Franz Anthony.

Paleontologists have confirmed that Praearcturus gigas, a creature that prowled shallow waters during the Devonian period, 415 million years ago, is the largest scorpion ever found.

The post Giant Scorpions Ruled Ancient Britain during Devonian Period appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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