fossils
September 2, 2026 via Phys.org

Rare dinosaur tracks from the Coniacian age near Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia

Imagine the Western Plains of North America, from Texas to Alaska, submerged under a broad, shallow seaway. To the west lay the ancestral Rocky Mountains. To the east were low-lying plains traversed by large, sluggish rivers.
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evolution
August 25, 2026 via SciTechDaily

Archaeopteryx may have needed a running start

New work argues the first bird reached takeoff speed with two or three leaps rather than a standing launch.
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fossils
April 17, 2019 by Kristin Hugo

Duck-billed dinosaur skeleton from Gobi Desert is “virtually complete”

The first thing that the expedition team found in peeking from the rocks and sands of the Gobi Desert was a tiny tip of a large pelvis. The international team descended on the exposed fossil, and chipped and brushed away to reveal more and more bones. Eventually, they exposed an exceptionally rare find: the virtually complete skeleton of a new dinosaur species.
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fossils
February 18, 2019 by Pete Buchholz

Extinct marine reptile had the face of a platypus

Nearly a quarter billion years ago an otter-sized, armored, platypus-faced, marine reptile paddled in tropical lagoons on the shores of islands that would become southern China. This weird species is part of a diverse lineage that was restricted to a few million years and those tropical lagoons.
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fossils
January 9, 2019 by Pete Buchholz

Giant early whale Basilosaurus hunted the calves of other whales

Wadi Al Hitan, the Valley of the Whales, is a site that’s yielded dozens of skeletons of the early predatory whales Basilosaurus and Dorudon over the last hundred years. Newly uncovered specimens support the idea that it was a calving ground for the dolphin-sized Dorudon, and that those calves were hunted by the much larger Basilosaurus.
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fossils
December 17, 2018 by Pete Buchholz

Exquisitely preserved fossils prove pterosaurs grew bird-like feathers

Extraordinarily well-preserved fossils discovered from the 1970s to the present day show that all pterosaurs were covered in hair-like fibers known as pycnofibers. Two new pterosaur specimens described by Zixiao Yang and colleagues show that some pycnofibers were actually brush- or tuft-shaped and probably share an evolutionary origin with feathers.
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fossils
December 7, 2018 by Pete Buchholz

Dolphin-like marine reptiles were more dolphin-like than previously thought

An incredible new specimen of the Early Jurassic genus Stenopterygius found in Germany was studied by Johan Lindgren and colleagues. It preserves skin in detail not previously seen in other ichthyosaur fossils. The team of researchers have learned new details of how ichthyosaurs looked in life, as well as details of their physiology.
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fossils
September 17, 2018 by Tristan Stock

Plesiosaurs and their absurdly long necks

Since their discovery and subsequent naming almost 200 years ago plesiosaurs have captured the imagination of people around the world with their dramatic appearance and incredible anatomy. An extremely successful group, plesiosaurs ruled the Mesozoic oceans for millions of years, exploring a wide range of habitats and niches. Despite their iconic nature we still lack a solid understanding about many aspects of their lifestyle. At the center of this discussion is the lingering question of what exactly they used their necks for.
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From the Archive
Duck-billed dinosaur skeleton from Gobi Desert is “virtually complete”
Extinct marine reptile had the face of a platypus
Giant early whale Basilosaurus hunted the calves of other whales
Exquisitely preserved fossils prove pterosaurs grew bird-like feathers
Dolphin-like marine reptiles were more dolphin-like than previously thought
Plesiosaurs and their absurdly long necks
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