A new study suggests that Apteribis, an extinct ibis from the Hawaiian Islands, had an ecological niche similar to that of the modern kiwi. They used advanced imaging technologies to create 3D reconstructions of the bird's brain and compared them with fossil species. The authors noted a reduction in areas related to vision, suggesting a nocturnal lifestyle never before seen in ibises. » Continue Reading
Tyrannoroter heberti , a new species of pantylid ‘microsaur’ from the Carboniferous period, shows that some of Earth’s earliest land vertebrates had already evolved complex teeth for grinding plants , suggesti » Continue Reading
Haolong dongi : A new genus of ornithopod dinosaur has been described by Huang and colleagues from a 98% complete, articulated specimen from China dating to the Early Cretaceous (Barremian). In addition to the skin impressions, similar to those of other hadrosaurs, the authors note in Haolong dongi the presence of numerous hollow keratinous structures, similar to spines . These structures are pres... » Continue Reading
Rests of a new genus of bird from Germany. Aenigmatorhyncus rarus is the name given to the new avian of uncertain classification, from the early Eocene phases of the Messel Formation, Germany. The remains include part and counterpart of a complete, articulated skull discovered in 2022. Although the anatomy of the long beak suggests similarities with oystercatchers and stilts, the conformation of ... » Continue Reading
Evidence of oral papillae, tongue bones, and bill-tip organs in Archaeopteryx. Analysis of the recent Chicago fossil indicates the presence of structures evolved from early birds for greater efficiency in identifying and digesting food, closely linked to the great effort required to develop flight. Jingm » Continue Reading
Fossils Shorebirds help the knowledgment about Austrla's climate change. The ecology of shorebirds is closely linked to coastal environments. In the new study, Karl M. Lenser et al. reconstruct the development of the shoreline, based on Pleistocene deposits from the Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Area, South Australia, which contain remains from 60,000 years ago. They found a significant phase of... » Continue Reading
Sauropia macrorhinus - a new triassic para-reptile from South America Müller and colleagues describe a new procolophonid from the Santa Maria Super Sequence, Brazil, in Middle Triassic levels. S. macrorhinus appears basal within the group and represents a gap in the fossil record from this area. The new taxa is currently the smallest tetrapod discovered in South America, but precise phylogenetic... » Continue Reading
Yaneen houssayi - a new sauropod from Patagonia A new titanosaur from the rich Patagonia region is described by Leonardo S. Filippi and colleagues. In their new paper, they reanalyze the phylogeny of titanosaurs from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation (including Yeneen). The study also highlights two other sauropod specimens that show affinities with Y. houssayi. The first, an isolated ilium, has been... » Continue Reading
A new troodontid dinosaur from Cerro del Pueblo Formation, Mexico. Xenovenator has been described by Rivera-Sylva et al. from rests from remains discovered in the early 2000s. A distinctive feature of this new dinosaur is its extremely thick skull structure, suggesting the presence of a horny sheath, or something similar, used in intraspecific combat. » Continue Reading
A new taxa described by Atuchin and collegues at the Christmas Eve Manipulonyx reshetovi is the new genus of alvarezsauridae theropods described by the Nemget Formation. The holotype consist, furthermore, in the almost complete rests of the forelimbs that carachterize the aspect and ecology of this genus. Averianov, Alexander O.; Lopatin, Alexey V.; Atuchin » Continue Reading
A new species from the genus Ptilorrhoa, of the family Cinclosomantidae. Ptilorrhoa urissia has been described from the data obtained from the photograph sequences of a camera trap between 2017 and 2024. The importance of this discovery is the endemism of these birds, commonly known as jewel-babblers, tipical of the Papua New Guinea . The individuals, estimated by camera trapping, amount to 10 . » Continue Reading
Has been discovered a new coastal ecosystem from the Early Miocene of Qatar. An assembly of 172 sites with an enormous assemblage of marine species in less than 1 km2 come from the location of Al Maszhabiyae, in the Dam Formation. The authors describe, furthermore, the rests of a new genus of dugongid named Salwasirens quatarensis. » Continue Reading