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# Geological Enterprises

The World's Largest Collection of Fossils For Sale

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## Posts

- [Researchers discover overlooked Jurassic Park of lizards](https://geologicalenterprises.com/researchers-discover-overlooked-jurassic-park-of-lizards/) - New research published today in eLife by researchers from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP) and the University of Bristol (UB) moves back the moment of the radiation of squamates -- the group of reptiles that includes lizards, snakes and worm lizards -- to the Jurassic, a long time before current estimates. The Squamata is
- [Pterosaur discovery solves ancient feather mystery](https://geologicalenterprises.com/pterosaur-discovery-solves-ancient-feather-mystery/) - An international team of palaeontologists has discovered remarkable new evidence that pterosaurs, the flying relatives of dinosaurs, were able to control the colour of their feathers using melanin pigments. The study, published in the journal Nature, was led by University College Cork (UCC) palaeontologists Dr Aude Cincotta and Prof. Maria McNamara and Dr Pascal Godefroit from
- [T. rex's short arms may have lowered risk of bites during feeding frenzies](https://geologicalenterprises.com/t-rexs-short-arms-may-have-lowered-risk-of-bites-during-feeding-frenzies/) - Over the two decades paleontologist Kevin Padian taught a freshman seminar called The Age of Dinosaurs, one question asked frequently by undergraduates stuck with him: Why are the arms of Tyrannosaurus rex so ridiculously short? He would usually list a range of paleontologists' proposed hypotheses -- for mating, for holding or stabbing prey, for tipping over a Triceratops --
- [Muscular study provides new information about how the largest dinosaurs moved and evolved](https://geologicalenterprises.com/muscular-study-provides-new-information-about-how-the-largest-dinosaurs-moved-and-evolved/) - New research led by the University of Bristol has revealed how giant 50-tonne sauropod dinosaurs, like Diplodocus, evolved from much smaller ancestors, like the wolf-sized Thecodontosaurus. In a new study published today in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers present a reconstruction of the limb muscles of Thecodontosaurus, detailing the anatomy of the most important muscles involved in
- [Millipedes ‘as big as cars’ once roamed Northern England, fossil find reveals](https://geologicalenterprises.com/millipedes-as-big-as-cars-once-roamed-northern-england-fossil-find-reveals/) - The largest-ever fossil of a giant millipede -- as big as a car -- has been found on a beach in the north of England. The fossil -- the remains of a creature called Arthropleura -- dates from the Carboniferous Period, about 326 million years ago, over 100 million years before the Age of Dinosaurs. The fossil
- [An ancient relative of Velociraptor is unearthed in Great Britain](https://geologicalenterprises.com/an-ancient-relative-of-velociraptor-is-unearthed-in-great-britain/) - A new bird-like dinosaur that used brute strength to overcome its prey has been found by paleontologists combing through fossils found on the Isle of Wight, on the South Coast of Great Britain. The new animal has been named Vectiraptor greeni after local collector Mick Green who discovered its bones after they became washed from the rocks
- [Sauropod dinosaurs were restricted to warmer regions of Earth](https://geologicalenterprises.com/sauropod-dinosaurs-were-restricted-to-warmer-regions-of-earth/) - Giant, long-necked sauropods, thought to include the largest land animals ever to have existed, preferred to live in warmer, more tropical regions on Earth, suggesting they may have had a different physiology from other dinosaurs, according to a new study Giant, long-necked sauropods, thought to include the largest land animals ever to have existed, preferred
- [Big-headed ancient fish had land on its mind](https://geologicalenterprises.com/big-headed-ancient-fish-had-land-on-its-mind/) - New insights into emergence of tetrapods Sophisticated CT scanning of the cranium of an Australian fish fossil has given new insights to explain how fish first left the water to invade land about 370 million years ago. Supported by the Australian Research Council and international experts, the new research led by Flinders University palaeontologists studied
- [Ammonite muscles revealed in 3D from Jurassic fossil](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ammonite-muscles-revealed-in-3d-from-jurassic-fossil/) - They found that the now-extinct molluscs sported hyponomes: tube-like syphons through which water is expelled to jet propel animals forward in water, as found in modern squid and octopuses. They also found strong muscles that ammonites used to retract into their shells to defend against predators. The team, including researchers from Cardiff University and Imperial
- [Fleshing out the bones of Quetzalcoatlus, Earth's largest flier ever](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fleshing-out-the-bones-of-quetzalcoatlus-earths-largest-flier-ever/) - 70 million-year-old fossils reveal unique walking behavior of this huge, heron-like pterosaur Look around any wetland today and you're likely to see 3-foot-tall egrets or 4-foot-tall herons wading in the shallows in stealthy search of fish, insects or crustaceans. But 70 million years ago, along the Rio Grande River in Texas, a more impressive and
- [Nibbling prehistoric herbivore sheds new light on Triassic diversity](https://geologicalenterprises.com/nibbling-prehistoric-herbivore-sheds-new-light-on-triassic-diversity/) - A Triassic herbivore, known for its supposed similarities to a modern-day ostrich, has been revealed to have entirely different approach to feeding from previously thought, according to research at the University of Birmingham. The new discovery reveals a much broader diversity of herbivore behaviour during the Triassic period than has been recognised to date. Called Effigia, the
- [Extinct swordfish-shaped marine reptile discovered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/extinct-swordfish-shaped-marine-reptile-discovered/) - A team of international researchers from Canada, Colombia, and Germany has discovered a new marine reptile. The specimen, a stunningly preserved metre-long skull, is one of the last surviving ichthyosaurs -- ancient animals that look eerily like living swordfish. "This animal evolved a unique dentition that allowed it to eat large prey," says Hans Larsson,
- [Tiny pterosaurs dominated Cretaceous skies](https://geologicalenterprises.com/tiny-pterosaurs-dominated-cretaceous-skies/) - The babies of giant pterosaurs - known as flaplings - overshadowed their small adult rivals. The newly hatched juveniles of large and gigantic pterosaurs likely outcompeted other smaller adult pterosaur species to dominate the Late Cretaceous period around 100 million years ago, a new study led by researchers from the University of Portsmouth has found.
- [‘Raptor-like’ dinosaur discovered in Australian mine, actually uncovered as a timid vegetarian](https://geologicalenterprises.com/raptor-like-dinosaur-discovered-in-australian-mine-actually-uncovered-as-a-timid-vegetarian/) - 50-year-old findings of the Triassic period’s 'largest meat-eating dinosaur' reanalysed as the long-necked herbivore Prosauropod Fossil footprints found in an Australian coal mine around 50 years ago have long been thought to be that of a large 'raptor-like' predatory dinosaur, but scientists have in fact discovered they were instead left by a timid long-necked herbivore.
- [Early dinosaurs may have lived in social herds as early as 193 million years ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/early-dinosaurs-may-have-lived-in-social-herds-as-early-as-193-million-years-ago/) - Fossils indicate a communal nesting ground and adults who foraged and took care of the young as a herd, scientists say To borrow a line from the movie "Jurassic Park:" Dinosaurs do move in herds. And a new study shows that the prehistoric creatures lived in herds much earlier than previously thought. In a paper
- [Who was king before Tyrannosaurus? Uzbek fossil reveals new top dino](https://geologicalenterprises.com/who-was-king-before-tyrannosaurus-uzbek-fossil-reveals-new-top-dino/) - Iconic tyrannosauroids like T. rex famously dominated the top of the food web at the end of the reign of the dinosaurs. But they didn't always hold that top spot. In a new study published in Royal Society Open Science, a research team led by the University of Tsukuba has described a new genus and species
- [500-million-year-old fossil represents rare discovery of ancient animal in North America](https://geologicalenterprises.com/500-million-year-old-fossil-represents-rare-discovery-of-ancient-animal-in-north-america/) - Many scientists consider the "Cambrian explosion" -- which occurred about 530-540 million years ago -- as the first major appearance of many of the world's animal groups in the fossil record. Like adding pieces to a giant jigsaw puzzle, each discovery dating from this time period has added another piece to the evolutionary map of
- [Massive new animal species discovered in half-billion-year-old Burgess Shale](https://geologicalenterprises.com/massive-new-animal-species-discovered-in-half-billion-year-old-burgess-shale/) - ROM palaeontologists unearth one of the largest radiodonts of the Cambrian explosion Palaeontologists at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) have uncovered the remains of a huge new fossil species belonging to an extinct animal group in half-a-billion-year-old Cambrian rocks from Kootenay National Park in the Canadian Rockies. The findings were announced on September 8, 2021,
- [Newly identified mosasaur was fish-hunting monster](https://geologicalenterprises.com/newly-identified-mosasaur-was-fish-hunting-monster/) - Researchers name species for husband-wife paleontologists in Kansas Researchers at the University of Cincinnati identified a new species of mosasaur -- an 18-foot-long fish-eating monster that lived 80 million years ago. UC assistant professor-educator Takuya Konishi and his student, UC graduate Alexander Willman, named the mosasaur Ectenosaurus everhartorum after paleontologists Mike and Pamela Everhart. The mosasaur inhabited
- [Tyrannosaurus rex’s jaw had sensors to make it an even more fearsome predator](https://geologicalenterprises.com/tyrannosaurus-rexs-jaw-had-sensors-to-make-it-an-even-more-fearsome-predator/) - Tyrannosaurus rex was not just a huge beast with a big bite, it had nerve sensors in the very tips of its jaw enabling it to better detect -- and eat -- its prey, a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Historical Biology today finds. "T. rex was an even more fearsome predator than previously believed," explains lead
- [Fossils illuminate dinosaur evolution in eastern North America](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossils-illuminate-dinosaur-evolution-in-eastern-north-america/) - Tyrannosaurus rex, the fearsome predator that once roamed what is now western North America, appears to have had an East Coast cousin. A new study by Yale undergraduate Chase Doran Brownstein describes two dinosaurs that inhabited Appalachia -- a once isolated land mass that today composes much of the eastern United States -- about 85
- [New fossils show what the ancestral brains of arthropods looked like](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-fossils-show-what-the-ancestral-brains-of-arthropods-looked-like/) - Exquisitely preserved fossils left behind by creatures living more than half a billion years ago reveal in great detail identical structures that researchers have long hypothesized must have contributed to the archetypal brain that has been inherited by all arthropods. Arthropods are the most diverse and species-rich taxonomic group of animals and include insects, crustaceans,
- [Study of tyrannosaur braincases shows more variation than previously thought](https://geologicalenterprises.com/study-of-tyrannosaur-braincases-shows-more-variation-than-previously-thought/) - Among the fierce carnivores that lived during the late Cretaceous was a predator named Daspletosaurus. The massive tyrannosaur, about nine metres long, lived in the coastal forest of what is now Alberta around 75 million years ago -- preceding the more famous T. rex by about 10 million years. For the first time, scientists in Canada and Argentina
- [Discovery of prehistoric mammals suggests rapid evolution of mammals after dinosaur extinction](https://geologicalenterprises.com/discovery-of-prehistoric-mammals-suggests-rapid-evolution-of-mammals-after-dinosaur-extinction/) - Research published today in the peer-reviewed Journal of Systematic Palaeontology describes the discovery of three new species of ancient creatures from the dawn of modern mammals, and hints at rapid evolution immediately after the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. These prehistoric mammals roamed North America during the earliest Paleocene Epoch, within just a few hundred thousand years
- [Researchers find a ‘fearsome dragon’ that soared over outback Queensland](https://geologicalenterprises.com/researchers-find-a-fearsome-dragon-that-soared-over-outback-queensland/) - Australia's largest flying reptile has been uncovered, a pterosaur with an estimated seven-metre wingspan that soared like a dragon above the ancient, vast inland sea once covering much of outback Queensland. University of Queensland PhD candidate Tim Richards, from the Dinosaur Lab in UQ's School of Biological Sciences, led a research team that analysed a
- [Sharp size reduction in dinosaurs that changed diet to termites](https://geologicalenterprises.com/sharp-size-reduction-in-dinosaurs-that-changed-diet-to-termites/) - Dinosaurs were generally huge, but a new study of the unusual alvarezsaurs show that they reduced in size about 100 million years ago when they became specialised ant-eaters. The new work is led by Zichuan Qin, a PhD student at the University of Bristol and Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing. He measured
- [New beetle species found pristinely preserved in fossilized dropping of dinosaur ancestor](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-beetle-species-found-pristinely-preserved-in-fossilized-dropping-of-dinosaur-ancestor/) - Fossilized feces are common finds at paleontological dig sites and might actually contain hidden treasures. By scanning fossilized dung assigned to a close dinosaur relative from the Triassic period, scientists discovered a 230-million-year-old beetle species, representing a new family of beetles, previously unknown to science. The beetles were preserved in a 3D state with their
- [Dinosaurs were in decline before the end](https://geologicalenterprises.com/dinosaurs-were-in-decline-before-the-end/) - The death of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago was caused by the impact of a huge asteroid on the Earth. However, palaeontologists have continued to debate whether they were already in decline or not before the impact. In a new study, published today in the journal Nature Communications, an international team of scientists, which includes
- [Research team discovers Arctic dinosaur nursery](https://geologicalenterprises.com/research-team-discovers-arctic-dinosaur-nursery/) - Images of dinosaurs as cold-blooded creatures needing tropical temperatures could be a relic of the past. University of Alaska Fairbanks and Florida State University scientists have found that nearly all types of Arctic dinosaurs, from small bird-like animals to giant tyrannosaurs, reproduced in the region and likely remained there year-round. Their findings are detailed in
- [Footprints discovered from the last dinosaurs to walk on UK soil](https://geologicalenterprises.com/footprints-discovered-from-the-last-dinosaurs-to-walk-on-uk-soil/) - Footprints from at least six different species of dinosaur -- the very last dinosaurs to walk on UK soil 110 million years ago -- have been found in Kent, a new report has announced. The discovery of dinosaur footprints by a curator from Hastings Museum and Art Gallery and a scientist from the University of
- [Diverse fossil flora from 400 million year ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/diverse-fossil-flora-from-400-million-year-ago/) - The analysis of very old plant fossils discovered in South Africa and dating from the Lower Devonian period documents the transition from barren continents to the green planet we know today. Cyrille Prestianni, a palaeobotanist at the EDDy Lab at the University of Liège (Belgium), participated in this study, the results of which have just
- [School lesson gone wrong leads to new, bigger megalodon size estimate](https://geologicalenterprises.com/school-lesson-gone-wrong-leads-to-new-bigger-megalodon-size-estimate/) - A more reliable way of estimating the size of megalodon shows the extinct shark may have been bigger than previously thought, measuring up to 65 feet, nearly the length of two school buses. Earlier studies had ball-parked the massive predator at about 50 to 60 feet long. The revised estimate is the result of new
- [New ancient shark discovered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-ancient-shark-discovered/) - This rare fossil find comes from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation in England, a series of sedimentary rocks that was formed in a shallow, tropical-subtropical sea during the Upper Jurassic, about 150 million years ago. The fossil shark skeleton was found more than 20 years ago on the southern coast of England and is now held
- [Newly described horned dinosaur from New Mexico was the earliest of its kind](https://geologicalenterprises.com/newly-described-horned-dinosaur-from-new-mexico-was-the-earliest-of-its-kind/) - A newly described horned dinosaur that lived in New Mexico 82 million years ago is one of the earliest known ceratopsid species, a group known as horned or frilled dinosaurs. Researchers reported their find in a publication in the journal PalZ (Paläontologische Zeitschrift). Menefeeceratops sealeyi adds important information to scientists' understanding of the evolution of ceratopsid dinosaurs,
- [18.5 million year old vine fossil identified as new species](https://geologicalenterprises.com/18-5-million-year-old-vine-fossil-identified-as-new-species/) - An 18.5 million-year-old fossil found in Panama provides evidence of a new species and is the oldest reliable example of a climbing woody vine known as a liana from the soapberry family. The discovery sheds light on the evolution of climbing plants. The new species, named Ampelorhiza heteroxylon, belongs to a diverse group of tropical
- [Fat-footed tyrannosaur parents could not keep up with their skinnier adolescent offspring](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fat-footed-tyrannosaur-parents-could-not-keep-up-with-their-skinnier-adolescent-offspring/) - New research by the University of New England's Palaeoscience Research Centre suggests juvenile tyrannosaurs were slenderer and relatively faster for their body size compared to their multi-tonne parents. The research, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, analysed a collection of fossilised tyrannosaur footprints to learn more about the way these animals aged and how they
- [New duckbilled dinosaur discovered in Japan](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-duckbilled-dinosaur-discovered-in-japan/) - Paleontologists find second hadrosaurid species An international team of paleontologists has identified a new genus and species of hadrosaur or duck-billed dinosaur, Yamatosaurus izanagii, on one of Japan's southern islands. The fossilized discovery yields new information about hadrosaur migration, suggesting that the herbivors migrated from Asia to North America instead of vice versa. The discovery
- [Fearsome tyrannosaurs were social animals](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fearsome-tyrannosaurs-were-social-animals/) - The fearsome tyrannosaur dinosaurs that ruled the northern hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous period (66-100 million years ago) may not have been solitary predators as popularly envisioned, but social carnivores similar to wolves, according to a new study. The finding, based on research at a unique fossil bone site inside Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
- [Tiny cat-sized stegosaur leaves its mark](https://geologicalenterprises.com/tiny-cat-sized-stegosaur-leaves-its-mark/) - A single footprint left by a cat-sized dinosaur around 100 million years ago has been discovered in China by an international team of palaeontologists. University of Queensland researcher Dr Anthony Romilio was part of the team that investigated the track, originally found by Associate Professor Lida Xing from the China University of Geosciences (Beijing). "This
- [How many T. rexes were there? Billions](https://geologicalenterprises.com/how-many-t-rexes-were-there-billions/) - Analysis of what's known about the dinosaur leads to conclusion there were 2.5 billion over time How many Tyrannosaurus rexes roamed North America during the Cretaceous period? That's a question Charles Marshall pestered his paleontologist colleagues with for years until he finally teamed up with his students to find an answer. What the team found, to be
- [450-million-year-old sea creatures had a leg up on breathing](https://geologicalenterprises.com/450-million-year-old-sea-creatures-had-a-leg-up-on-breathing/) - First evidence of trilobites' bizarre breathing organs uncovered A new study has found the first evidence of sophisticated breathing organs in 450-million-year-old sea creatures. Contrary to previous thought, trilobites were leg breathers, with structures resembling gills hanging off their thighs. Trilobites were a group of marine animals with half-moon-like heads that resembled horseshoe crabs, and
- [Ancient meteoritic impact over Antarctica 430,000 years ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-meteoritic-impact-over-antarctica-430000-years-ago/) - A research team of international space scientists, led by Dr Matthias van Ginneken from the University of Kent's School of Physical Sciences, has found new evidence of a low-altitude meteoritic touchdown event reaching the Antarctic ice sheet 430,000 years ago. Extra-terrestrial particles (condensation spherules) recovered on the summit of Walnumfjellet (WN) within the Sør Rondane
- [Rare fossilized algae, discovered unexpectedly, fill in evolutionary gaps](https://geologicalenterprises.com/rare-fossilized-algae-discovered-unexpectedly-fill-in-evolutionary-gaps/) - When geobiology graduate student Katie Maloney trekked into the mountains of Canada's remote Yukon territory, she was hoping to find microscopic fossils of early life. Even with detailed field plans, the odds of finding just the right rocks were low. Far from leaving empty-handed, though, she hiked back out with some of the most significant
- [Cephalopods: Older than was thought?](https://geologicalenterprises.com/cephalopods-older-than-was-thought/) - Fossil find from Canada could rewrite the evolutionary history of invertebrate organisms The possibly oldest cephalopods in the earth's history stem from the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland (Canada). They were discovered by earth scientists from Heidelberg University. The 522 million-year-old fossils could turn out to be the first known form of these highly evolved invertebrate
- [Younger Tyrannosaurus Rex bites were less ferocious than their adult counterparts](https://geologicalenterprises.com/younger-tyrannosaurus-rex-bites-were-less-ferocious-than-their-adult-counterparts/) - By closely examining the jaw mechanics of juvenile and adult tyrannosaurids, some of the fiercest dinosaurs to inhabit earth, scientists led by the University of Bristol have uncovered differences in how they bit into their prey. They found that younger tyrannosaurs were incapable of delivering the bone-crunching bite that is often synonymous with the Tyrannosaurus rex and
- [Prehistoric killing machine exposed](https://geologicalenterprises.com/prehistoric-killing-machine-exposed/) - Previously thought of as heavy, slow and sluggish, the 260-million-year-old predator, Anteosaurus, was a ferocious hunter-killer Judging by its massive, bone-crushing teeth, gigantic skull and powerful jaw, there is no doubt that the Anteosaurus, a premammalian reptile that roamed the African continent 265 to 260 million years ago -- during a period known as the
- [Carbon dioxide dip may have helped dinosaurs walk from South America to Greenland](https://geologicalenterprises.com/carbon-dioxide-dip-may-have-helped-dinosaurs-walk-from-south-america-to-greenland/) - A new paper refines estimates of when herbivorous dinosaurs must have traversed North America on a northerly trek to reach Greenland, and points out an intriguing climatic phenomenon that may have helped them along the journey. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is authored by Dennis Kent, adjunct research scientist
- [Pioneering prehistoric landscape reconstruction reveals early dinosaurs lived on tropical islands](https://geologicalenterprises.com/pioneering-prehistoric-landscape-reconstruction-reveals-early-dinosaurs-lived-on-tropical-islands/) - A new study using leading edge technology has shed surprising light on the ancient habitat where some of the first dinosaurs roamed in the UK around 200 million years ago. The research, led by the University of Bristol, examined hundreds of pieces of old and new data including historic literature vividly describing the landscape as
- [Enormous ancient fish discovered by accident](https://geologicalenterprises.com/enormous-ancient-fish-discovered-by-accident/) - A serendipitous discovery of a fossilized bony lung reveals a massive ancient fish Fossilised remains of a fish that grew as big as a great white shark and the largest of its type ever found have been discovered by accident. The new discovery by scientists from the University of Portsmouth is a species of the
- [New light shed on behavior of giant carnivorous dinosaur Spinosaurus](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-light-shed-on-behavior-of-giant-carnivorous-dinosaur-spinosaurus/) - New research from Queen Mary University of London and the University of Maryland, has reignited the debate around the behaviour of the giant dinosaur Spinosaurus. Since its discovery in 1915, the biology and behaviour of the enormous Spinosaurus has puzzled palaeontologists worldwide. It was recently argued that the dinosaur was largely an aquatic predator, using
- [New skull of tube-crested dinosaur reveals evolution of bizarre crest](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-skull-of-tube-crested-dinosaur-reveals-evolution-of-bizarre-crest/) - The first new skull discovered in nearly a century from a rare species of the iconic, tube-crested dinosaur Parasaurolophus was announced today in the journal PeerJ. The exquisite preservation of the skull, especially the bizarre tube-shaped nasal passage, finally revealed the structure of the crest after decades of disagreement. Despite its extreme morphology, details of the
- [Dinosaur embryo find helps crack baby tyrannosaur mystery](https://geologicalenterprises.com/dinosaur-embryo-find-helps-crack-baby-tyrannosaur-mystery/) - They are among the largest predators ever to walk the Earth, but experts have discovered that some baby tyrannosaurs were only the size of a Border Collie dog when they took their first steps. The first-known fossils of tyrannosaur embryos have shed light on the early development of the colossal animals, which could grow to
- [New starfish-like fossil reveals evolution in action](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-starfish-like-fossil-reveals-evolution-in-action/) - Researchers from the University of Cambridge have discovered a fossil of the earliest starfish-like animal, which helps us understand the origins of the nimble-armed creature. The prototype starfish, which has features in common with both sea lilies and modern-day starfish, is a missing link for scientists trying to piece together its early evolutionary history. The
- [All-purpose dinosaur opening reconstructed](https://geologicalenterprises.com/all-purpose-dinosaur-opening-reconstructed/) - For the first time ever, a team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, have described in detail a dinosaur's cloacal or vent -- the all-purpose opening used for defecation, urination and breeding. Although most mammals may have different openings for these functions, most vertebrate animals possess a cloaca. Although we know now much
- [A new archaeology for the Anthropocene era](https://geologicalenterprises.com/a-new-archaeology-for-the-anthropocene-era/) - ndiana Jones and Lara Croft have a lot to answer for. Public perceptions of archaeology are often thoroughly outdated, and these characterisations do little to help. Yet archaeology as practiced today bears virtually no resemblance to the tomb raiding portrayed in movies and video games. Indeed, it bears little resemblance to even more scholarly depictions
- [New flower from 100 million years ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-flower-from-100-million-years-ago/) - Oregon State University researchers have identified a spectacular new genus and species of flower from the mid-Cretaceous period, a male specimen whose sunburst-like reach for the heavens was frozen in time by Burmese amber. "This isn't quite a Christmas flower but it is a beauty, especially considering it was part of a forest that existed
- [Only dinosaurs found in Ireland described for the first time](https://geologicalenterprises.com/only-dinosaurs-found-in-ireland-described-for-the-first-time/) - The only dinosaur bones ever found on the island of Ireland have been formally confirmed for the first time by a team of experts from the University of Portsmouth and Queen's University Belfast, led by Dr Mike Simms, a curator and palaeontologist at National Museums NI. The two fossil bones were found by the late
- [Baby dinosaurs were 'little adults'](https://geologicalenterprises.com/baby-dinosaurs-were-little-adults/) - Long neck, small head and a live weight of several tons -- with this description you could have tracked down the Plateosaurus in Central Europe about 220 million years ago. Paleontologists at the University of Bonn (Germany) have now described for the first time an almost complete skeleton of a juvenile Plateosaurus and discovered that
- [Cracking the secrets of dinosaur eggshells](https://geologicalenterprises.com/cracking-the-secrets-of-dinosaur-eggshells/) - Since the famous discovery of dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert in the early 1920s, the fossilized remains have captured the imaginations of paleontologists and the public, alike. Although dinosaur eggs have now been found on every continent, it's not always clear to scientists which species laid them. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Omega have narrowed down
- [Antarctica yields oldest fossils of giant birds with 21-foot wingspans](https://geologicalenterprises.com/antarctica-yields-oldest-fossils-of-giant-birds-with-21-foot-wingspans/) - Fossils recovered from Antarctica in the 1980s represent the oldest giant members of an extinct group of birds that patrolled the southern oceans with wingspans of up to 21 feet that would dwarf the 11½-foot wingspan of today's largest bird, the wandering albatross. Called pelagornithids, the birds filled a niche much like that of today's
- [Dino teeth research prove giant predatory dinosaur lived in water](https://geologicalenterprises.com/dino-teeth-research-prove-giant-predatory-dinosaur-lived-in-water/) - A discovery of more than a thousand dinosaur teeth, by a team of researchers from the University of Portsmouth, proves beyond reasonable doubt that Spinosaurus, the giant predator made famous by the movie Jurassic Park III as well as the BBC documentary Planet Dinosaur was an enormous river-monster. Research published today in the journal Cretaceous Research proves
- [Graduate student names new trace fossil discovered during coursework](https://geologicalenterprises.com/graduate-student-names-new-trace-fossil-discovered-during-coursework/) - University of Alberta graduate student Scott Melnyk made an intriguing fossil find during a graduate level course -- and ended up identifying the fossilized tracks of a newly discovered wood-boring organism in a new study. "Apectoichnus lignummasticans is unique in that it is only the third wood-boring trace fossil associated with marine environments," explained Melnyk, graduate
- [First complete dinosaur skeleton ever found is ready for its closeup at last](https://geologicalenterprises.com/first-complete-dinosaur-skeleton-ever-found-is-ready-for-its-closeup-at-last/) - The first complete dinosaur skeleton ever identified has finally been studied in detail and found its place in the dinosaur family tree, completing a project that began more than a century and a half ago. The skeleton of this dinosaur, called Scelidosaurus, was collected more than 160 years ago on west Dorset's Jurassic Coast. The
- [Early Cambrian fossil: Bizarre half-billion-year-old worm with tentacles solves evolutionary mystery](https://geologicalenterprises.com/early-cambrian-fossil-bizarre-half-billion-year-old-worm-with-tentacles-solves-evolutionary-mystery/) - New research undertaken by scientists at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and University of Montreal, has uncovered fossils of a new species of marine animal, Gyaltsenglossus senis, (pronounced Gen-zay-gloss-us senis) that provides new evidence in the historical debate among zoologists: how the anatomies of the two main types of an
- [Fossils reveal diversity of animal life roaming Europe 2 million years ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossils-reveal-diversity-of-animal-life-roaming-europe-2-million-years-ago/) - A re-analysis of fossils from one of Europe's most significant paleontological sites reveals a wide diversity of animal species, including a large terrestrial monkey, short-necked giraffe, rhinos and saber-toothed cats. These and other species roamed the open grasslands of Eastern Europe during the early Pleistocene, approximately 2 million years ago. Ultimately, the researchers hope the
- [Cliff collapse reveals 313-million-year-old fossil footprints in Grand Canyon National Park](https://geologicalenterprises.com/cliff-collapse-reveals-313-million-year-old-fossil-footprints-in-grand-canyon-national-park/) - Paleontological research has confirmed a series of recently discovered fossils tracks are the oldest recorded tracks of their kind to date within Grand Canyon National Park. In 2016, Norwegian geology professor, Allan Krill, was hiking with his students when he made a surprising discovery. Lying next to the trail, in plain view of the many
- [New species of dinosaur discovered on Isle of Wight](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-species-of-dinosaur-discovered-on-isle-of-wight/) - A new study by Palaeontologists at the University of Southampton suggests four bones recently found on the Isle of Wight belong to new species of theropod dinosaur, the group that includes Tyrannosaurus rex and modern-day birds. The dinosaur lived in the Cretaceous period 115 million years ago and is estimated to have been up to
- [Study sheds light on the evolution of the earliest dinosaurs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/study-sheds-light-on-the-evolution-of-the-earliest-dinosaurs/) - The classic dinosaur family tree has two subdivisions of early dinosaurs at its base: the Ornithischians, or bird-hipped dinosaurs, which include the later Triceratops and Stegosaurus; and the Saurischians, or lizard-hipped dinosaurs, such as Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus. In 2017, however, this classical view of dinosaur evolution was thrown into question with evidence that perhaps the
- [What happens in Vegas, may come from the Arctic?](https://geologicalenterprises.com/what-happens-in-vegas-may-come-from-the-arctic/) - A cave deep in the wilderness of central Nevada is a repository of evidence supporting the urgent need for the Southwestern U.S. to adopt targets aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a new UNLV study finds. UNLV climate scientist Matthew Lachniet and colleagues have compiled a detailed, 13,000-year climate history from stalagmite specimens in Leviathan
- [Growth rate of common trilobites](https://geologicalenterprises.com/growth-rate-of-common-trilobites/) - If you've ever held a trilobite fossil, seen one in a classroom, or walked by one in a store, chances are it was Elrathia kingii, one of the most common and well-recognized trilobites, and collected by the hundreds of thousands in western Utah. But despite the popularity of this species, scientists had not determined how
- [Fossil jawbone from Alaska is a rare case of a juvenile Arctic dromaeosaurid dinosaur](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossil-jawbone-from-alaska-is-a-rare-case-of-a-juvenile-arctic-dromaeosaurid-dinosaur/) - A small piece of fossil jawbone from Alaska represents a rare example of juvenile dromaeosaurid dinosaur remains from the Arctic, according to a study published July 8, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza of the Imperial College London, UK, and co-authors Anthony R. Fiorillo, Ronald S. Tykoski, Paul J. McCarthy, Peter P.
- [Different tracks, same dinosaurs: Researchers dig deeper into dinosaur movements](https://geologicalenterprises.com/different-tracks-same-dinosaurs-researchers-dig-deeper-into-dinosaur-movements/) - When picturing dinosaur tracks, most people imagine a perfectly preserved mold of a foot on firm layer of earth. But what if that dinosaur was running through mud, sinking several inches -- or even up to their ankles -- into the ground as it moved? Using sophisticated X-ray-based technology, a team of Brown University researchers
- [Tiny Japanese dinosaur eggs help unscramble Cretaceous ecosystem](https://geologicalenterprises.com/tiny-japanese-dinosaur-eggs-help-unscramble-cretaceous-ecosystem/) - When most of us think of dinosaurs, we envision large, lumbering beasts, but these giants shared their ecosystems with much smaller dinosaurs, the smaller skeletons of which were generally less likely to be preserved. The fossilized egg shells of these small dinosaurs can shed light on this lost ecological diversity. Led by the University of
- [300-million-year-old fish resembles a sturgeon but took a different evolutionary path](https://geologicalenterprises.com/300-million-year-old-fish-resembles-a-sturgeon-but-took-a-different-evolutionary-path/) - Sturgeon, a long-lived, bottom-dwelling fish, are often described as "living fossils," owing to the fact that their form has remained relatively constant, despite hundreds of millions of years of evolution. In a new study in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, researchers led by Jack Stack, a 2019 University of Pennsylvania graduate, and paleobiologist Lauren
- [First egg from Antarctica is big and might belong to an extinct sea lizard](https://geologicalenterprises.com/first-egg-from-antarctica-is-big-and-might-belong-to-an-extinct-sea-lizard/) - In 2011, Chilean scientists discovered a mysterious fossil in Antarctica that looked like a deflated football. For nearly a decade, the specimen sat unlabeled and unstudied in the collections of Chile's National Museum of Natural History, with scientists identifying it only by its sci-fi movie-inspired nickname -- "The Thing." An analysis led by researchers at
- [Tracking Australia's gigantic carnivorous dinosaurs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/tracking-australias-gigantic-carnivorous-dinosaurs/) - North America had the T. rex, South America had the Giganotosaurus and Africa the Spinosaurus -- now evidence shows Australia had gigantic predatory dinosaurs. The discovery came in University of Queensland research, led by palaeontologist Dr Anthony Romilio, which analysed southern Queensland dinosaur footprint fossils dated to the latter part of the Jurassic Period, between
- [Ancient crocodiles walked on two legs like dinosaurs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-crocodiles-walked-on-two-legs-like-dinosaurs/) - An international research team has been stunned to discover that some species of ancient crocodiles walked on their two hind legs like dinosaurs and measured over three metres in length. University of Queensland palaeontologist Dr Anthony Romilio said the researchers first thought the similar-shaped fossilised footprints were from another ancient animal known as the pterosaurs.
- [Scientists discover what an armored dinosaur ate for its last meal](https://geologicalenterprises.com/scientists-discover-what-an-armored-dinosaur-ate-for-its-last-meal/) - More than 110 million years ago, a lumbering 1,300-kilogram, armour-plated dinosaur ate its last meal, died, and was washed out to sea in what is now northern Alberta. This ancient beast then sank onto its thorny back, churning up mud in the seabed that entombed it -- until its fossilized body was discovered in a
- [The movie 'Jurassic Park' got it wrong: Raptors don't hunt in packs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/the-movie-jurassic-park-got-it-wrong-raptors-dont-hunt-in-packs/) - A new University of Wisconsin Oshkosh analysis of raptor teeth published in the peer-reviewed journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology shows that Velociraptors and their kin likely did not hunt in big, coordinated packs like dogs. The raptors (Deinonychus antirrhopus) with their sickle-shaped talons were made famous in the 1993 blockbuster movie Jurassic Park, which portrayed them as highly
- [Marooned on Mesozoic Madagascar](https://geologicalenterprises.com/marooned-on-mesozoic-madagascar/) - In evolutionary terms, islands are the stuff of weirdness. It is on islands where animals evolve in isolation, often for millions of years, with different food sources, competitors, predators, and parasites...indeed, different everything compared to mainland species. As a result, they develop into different shapes and sizes and evolve into new species that, given enough
- [Fourth new pterosaur discovery in matter of weeks](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fourth-new-pterosaur-discovery-in-matter-of-weeks/) - You wait ages for a pterosaur and then four come along at once. Hot on the heels of a recent paper discovering three new species of pterosaur, University of Portsmouth palaeobiologists have identified another new species -- the first of its kind to be found on African soil. Pterosaurs are the less well-known cousins of
- [New feathered dinosaur was one of the last surviving raptors](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-feathered-dinosaur-was-one-of-the-last-surviving-raptors/) - A new feathered dinosaur that lived in New Mexico 67 million years ago is one of the last known surviving raptor species, according to a new publication in the journal Scientific Reports. Dineobellator notohesperus adds to scientists' understanding of the paleo-biodiversity of the American Southwest, offering a clearer picture of what life was like in this
- [Fossil finds give clues about flying reptiles in the Sahara 100 million years ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossil-finds-give-clues-about-flying-reptiles-in-the-sahara-100-million-years-ago/) - Three new species of toothed pterosaurs -- flying reptiles of the Cretaceous period, some 100 million years ago -- have been identified in Africa by an international team of scientists led by Baylor University. The pterosaurs, which soared above a world dominated by predators, formed part of an ancient river ecosystem in Africa that teemed
- [Ancestor of all animals identified in Australian fossils](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancestor-of-all-animals-identified-in-australian-fossils/) - A team led by UC Riverside geologists has discovered the first ancestor on the family tree that contains most familiar animals today, including humans. The tiny, wormlike creature, named Ikaria wariootia, is the earliest bilaterian, or organism with a front and back, two symmetrical sides, and openings at either end connected by a gut. The paper
- [Beetles changed their diet during the Cretaceous period International team decodes 99 million-year-old amber fossils](https://geologicalenterprises.com/beetles-changed-their-diet-during-the-cretaceous-period-international-team-decodes-99-million-year-old-amber-fossils/) - Like a snapshot, amber preserves bygone worlds. An international team of paleontologists from the University of Bonn has now described four new beetle species in fossilized tree resin from Myanmar, which belong to the Kateretidae family. They still exist today, with only a few species. As well as the about 99 million years old insects,
- ['Wonderchicken' fossil from the age of dinosaurs reveals origin of modern birds](https://geologicalenterprises.com/wonderchicken-fossil-from-the-age-of-dinosaurs-reveals-origin-of-modern-birds/) - The oldest fossil of a modern bird yet found, dating from the age of dinosaurs, has been identified by an international team of palaeontologists. The spectacular fossil, affectionately nicknamed the 'Wonderchicken', includes a nearly complete skull, hidden inside nondescript pieces of rock, and dates from less than one million years before the asteroid impact which
- [Dinosaur stomping ground in Scotland reveals thriving middle Jurassic ecosystem](https://geologicalenterprises.com/dinosaur-stomping-ground-in-scotland-reveals-thriving-middle-jurassic-ecosystem/) - During the Middle Jurassic Period, the Isle of Skye in Scotland was home to a thriving community of dinosaurs that stomped across the ancient coastline, according to a study published March 11, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Paige dePolo and Stephen Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and colleagues. The Middle Jurassic Period
- [Mystery surrounding dinosaur footprints on a cave ceiling in Central Queensland solved](https://geologicalenterprises.com/mystery-surrounding-dinosaur-footprints-on-a-cave-ceiling-in-central-queensland-solved/) - The mystery surrounding dinosaur footprints on a cave ceiling in Central Queensland has been solved, in article published in Historical Biology, after more than a half a century. University of Queensland palaeontologist Dr Anthony Romilio discovered pieces to a decades-old puzzle in an unusual place -- a cupboard under the stairs of a suburban Sydney home.
- [Rare lizard fossil preserved in amber](https://geologicalenterprises.com/rare-lizard-fossil-preserved-in-amber/) - The tiny forefoot of a lizard of the genus Anolis was trapped in amber about 15 to 20 million years ago. Every detail of this rare fossil is visible under the microscope. But the seemingly very good condition is deceptive: The bone is largely decomposed and chemically transformed, very little of the original structure remains.
- [New thalattosaur species discovered in Southeast Alaska](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-thalattosaur-species-discovered-in-southeast-alaska/) - Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have identified a new species of thalattosaur, a marine reptile that lived more than 200 million years ago. The new species, Gunakadeit joseeae, is the most complete thalattosaur ever found in North America and has given paleontologists new insights about the thalattosaurs' family tree, according to a paper
- [New species of Allosaurus discovered in Utah](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-species-of-allosaurus-discovered-in-utah/) - A remarkable new species of meat-eating dinosaur has been unveiled at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Paleontologists unearthed the first specimen in early 1990s in Dinosaur National Monument in northeastern Utah. The huge carnivore inhabited the flood plains of western North America during the Late Jurassic Period, between 157-152 million years ago, making it
- [New feathered dinosaur shows dinosaurs grew up differently from birds](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-feathered-dinosaur-shows-dinosaurs-grew-up-differently-from-birds/) - A new species of feathered dinosaur has been discovered in China, and described by American and Chinese authors and published today in the journal, The Anatomical Record. The one-of-a-kind specimen offers a window into what the earth was like 120 million years ago. The fossil preserves feathers and bones that provide new information about how dinosaurs
- [100 million years in amber: Researchers discover oldest fossilized slime mold](https://geologicalenterprises.com/100-million-years-in-amber-researchers-discover-oldest-fossilized-slime-mold/) - Most people associate the idea of creatures trapped in amber with insects or spiders, which are preserved lifelike in fossil tree resin. An international research team of palaeontologists and biologists from the Universities of Göttingen and Helsinki, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York has now discovered the oldest slime mould identified
- [Huge dinosaurs evolved different cooling systems to combat heat stroke](https://geologicalenterprises.com/huge-dinosaurs-evolved-different-cooling-systems-to-combat-heat-stroke/) - Different dinosaur groups independently evolved gigantic body sizes, but they all faced the same problems of overheating and damaging their brains. Researchers from Ohio University's Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine show in a new article in the Anatomical Record that different giant dinosaurs solved the problem in different ways, evolving different cooling systems in different parts of
- [Arthropods formed orderly lines 480 million years ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/arthropods-formed-orderly-lines-480-million-years-ago/) - Researchers studied fossilized Moroccan Ampyx trilobites, which lived 480 million years ago and showed that the trilobites had probably been buried in their positions -- all oriented in the same direction. Scientists deduced that these Ampyx processions may illustrate a kind of collective behavior adopted in response to cyclic environmental disturbances. Though our understanding of
- [Paleontologists discover complete Saurornitholestes langstoni specimen](https://geologicalenterprises.com/paleontologists-discover-complete-saurornitholestes-langstoni-specimen/) - The discovery of a nearly complete dromaeosaurid Saurornitholestes langstoni specimen is providing critical information for the evolution of theropod dinosaurs, according to new research by a University of Alberta paleontologist. The 76-million-year-old species was long thought to be so closely related to Velociraptor from Mongolia that some researchers even called it Velociraptor langstoni -- until now. The
- [T. rex used a stiff skull to eat its prey](https://geologicalenterprises.com/t-rex-used-a-stiff-skull-to-eat-its-prey/) - A Tyrannosaurus rex could bite hard enough to shatter the bones of its prey. But how it accomplished this feat without breaking its own skull bones has baffled paleontologists. That's why scientists at the University of Missouri are arguing that the T. rex's skull was stiff much like the skulls of hyenas and crocodiles, and
- [Dinosaur brains from baby to adult](https://geologicalenterprises.com/dinosaur-brains-from-baby-to-adult/) - New research by a University of Bristol palaeontology post-graduate student has revealed fresh insights into how the braincase of the dinosaur Psittacosaurus developed and how this tells us about its posture. Psittacosaurus was a very common dinosaur in the Early Cretaceous period -- 125 million years ago -- that lived in eastern Asia, especially north-east China. Hundreds of
- [Extinct Caribbean bird yields DNA after 2,500 years in watery grave](https://geologicalenterprises.com/extinct-caribbean-bird-yields-dna-after-2500-years-in-watery-grave/) - Scientists have recovered the first genetic data from an extinct bird in the Caribbean, thanks to the remarkably preserved bones of a Creighton's caracara from a flooded sinkhole on Great Abaco Island. Studies of ancient DNA from tropical birds have faced two formidable obstacles. Organic material quickly degrades when exposed to heat, light and oxygen.
- [Researchers discover oldest fossil forest in Asia](https://geologicalenterprises.com/researchers-discover-oldest-fossil-forest-in-asia/) - The Devonian period, which was 419 million to 359 million years ago, is best known for Tiktaalik, the lobe-finned fish that is often portrayed pulling itself onto land. However, the "age of the fishes," as the period is called, also saw evolutionary progress in plants. Researchers reporting August 8 in the journal Current Biology describe the largest
- [NZ big bird a whopping 'squawkzilla'](https://geologicalenterprises.com/nz-big-bird-a-whopping-squawkzilla/) - Australasian palaeontologists have discovered the world's largest parrot, standing up to 1m tall with a massive beak able to crack most food sources. The new bird has been named Heracles inexpectatus to reflect its Herculean myth-like size and strength -- and the unexpected nature of the discovery. "New Zealand is well known for its giant birds," says
- [New species of dinosaur discovered after lying misidentified in fossil vaults for 30 years](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-species-of-dinosaur-discovered-after-lying-misidentified-in-fossil-vaults-for-30-years/) - A PhD student of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, has discovered a new dinosaur species in the University's vaults, after it has been laying misidentified in a collection for 30 years. The team of scientists, led by PhD Student Kimberley Chapelle, recognised that the dinosaur was not only a new species of sauropodomorph,
- [A voracious Cambrian predator, Cambroraster, is a new species from the Burgess Shale](https://geologicalenterprises.com/a-voracious-cambrian-predator-cambroraster-is-a-new-species-from-the-burgess-shale/) - Palaeontologists at the Royal Ontario Museum and University of Toronto have uncovered fossils of a large new predatory species in half-a-billion-year-old rocks from Kootenay National Park in the Canadian Rockies. This new species has rake-like claws and a pineapple-slice-shaped mouth at the front of an enormous head, and it sheds light on the diversity of
- [Paleontology: New light on cichlid evolution in Africa](https://geologicalenterprises.com/paleontology-new-light-on-cichlid-evolution-in-africa/) - Cichlids (Cichlidae) are a group of small to medium-sized fish that are ubiquitous in freshwater habitats in the tropics. They are particularly notable in exhibiting a wide range of morphological and behavioral specializations, such as various modes of parental care, including mouthbrooding. Some species (mainly members of the genus Tilapia) have achieved fame as culinary delicacies
- [World's smallest fossil monkey found in Amazon jungle](https://geologicalenterprises.com/worlds-smallest-fossil-monkey-found-in-amazon-jungle/) - A team of Peruvian and American scientists have uncovered the 18-million-year-old remains of the smallest fossil monkey ever found. A fossilized tooth found in Peru's Amazon jungle has been identified as belonging to a new species of tiny monkey no heavier than a hamster. The specimen is important because it helps bridge a 15-million-year gap
- [Oldest completely preserved lily discovered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/oldest-completely-preserved-lily-discovered/) - Botanist Dr. Clement Coiffard of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin discovered the oldest, completely preserved lily in the research collection: Cratolirion bognerianum was found in calcareous sediments of a former freshwater lake in Crato in northeastern Brazil. With an age of about 115 million years, Cratolirion is one of the oldest known monocotyledonous plants. These
- [Bird with unusually long toes found fossilized in amber](https://geologicalenterprises.com/bird-with-unusually-long-toes-found-fossilized-in-amber/) - Meet the ancient bird that had toes longer than its lower legs. Researchers have discovered a bird foot from 99 million years ago preserved in amber that had a hyper-elongated third toe. The study, published in the journal Current Biology on July 11, suggests that this bird might have used its toes to hook food out of
- [Bird three times larger than ostrich discovered in Crimean cave](https://geologicalenterprises.com/bird-three-times-larger-than-ostrich-discovered-in-crimean-cave/) - A surprise discovery in a Crimean cave suggests that early Europeans lived alongside some of the largest ever known birds, according to new research published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. It was previously thought that such gigantism in birds only ever existed on the islands of Madagascar and New Zealand as well as Australia. The
- [Antarctic marine life recovery following the dinosaurs' extinction](https://geologicalenterprises.com/antarctic-marine-life-recovery-following-the-dinosaurs-extinction/) - A new study shows how marine life around Antarctica returned after the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. A team led by British Antarctic Survey studied just under 3000 marine fossils collected from Antarctica to understand how life on the sea floor recovered after the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction 66 million years ago. They
- [Plate tectonics may have driven 'Cambrian Explosion'](https://geologicalenterprises.com/plate-tectonics-may-have-driven-cambrian-explosion/) - The quest to discover what drove one of the most important evolutionary events in the history of life on Earth has taken a new, fascinating twist. A team of scientists have given a fresh insight into what may have driven the "Cambrian Explosion" -- a period of rapid expansion of different forms of animal life
- [Neanderthals and modern humans diverged at least 800,000 years ago, research on teeth shows](https://geologicalenterprises.com/neanderthals-and-modern-humans-diverged-at-least-800000-years-ago-research-on-teeth-shows/) - Neanderthals and modern humans diverged at least 800,000 years ago, substantially earlier than indicated by most DNA-based estimates, according to new research by a UCL academic. The research, published in Science Advances, analysed dental evolutionary rates across different hominin species, focusing on early Neanderthals. It shows that the teeth of hominins from Sima de los Huesos,
- [Chewing gums reveal the oldest Scandinavian human DNA](https://geologicalenterprises.com/chewing-gums-reveal-the-oldest-scandinavian-human-dna/) - The first humans who settled in Scandinavia more than 10,000 years ago left their DNA behind in ancient chewing gums, which are masticated lumps made from birch bark pitch. This is shown in a new study conducted at Stockholm University and published in Communications Biology. There are few human bones of this age, close to 10,000
- [These beetles have successfully freeloaded for 100 million years](https://geologicalenterprises.com/these-beetles-have-successfully-freeloaded-for-100-million-years/) - Almost 100 million years ago, a tiny and misfortunate beetle died after wandering into a sticky glob of resin leaking from a tree in a region near present-day Southeast Asia. Fossilized in amber, this beetle eventually made its way to the desk of entomologist Joe Parker, assistant professor of biology and biological engineering at Caltech.
- [Fossils found in museum drawer in Kenya belong to gigantic carnivore](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossils-found-in-museum-drawer-in-kenya-belong-to-gigantic-carnivore/) - Paleontologists at Ohio University have discovered a new species of meat-eating mammal larger than any big cat stalking the world today. Larger than a polar bear, with a skull as large as that of a rhinoceros and enormous piercing canine teeth, this massive carnivore would have been an intimidating part of the eastern African ecosystems
- [Ancient 'Texas Serengeti' had elephant-like animals, rhinos, alligators and more](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-texas-serengeti-had-elephant-like-animals-rhinos-alligators-and-more/) - During the Great Depression, some unemployed Texans were put to work as fossil hunters. The workers retrieved tens of thousands of specimens that have been studied in small bits and pieces while stored in the state collections of The University of Texas at Austin for the past 80 years. Now, decades after they were first
- ['Cthulhu' fossil reconstruction reveals monstrous relative of modern sea cucumbers](https://geologicalenterprises.com/cthulhu-fossil-reconstruction-reveals-monstrous-relative-of-modern-sea-cucumbers/) - An exceptionally-preserved fossil from Herefordshire in the UK has given new insights into the early evolution of sea cucumbers, the group that includes the sea pig and its relatives, according to a new article published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Palaeontologists from the UK and USA created an accurate 3D computer
- [First-confirmed occurrence of a lambeosaurine dinosaur found on Alaska's North Slope](https://geologicalenterprises.com/first-confirmed-occurrence-of-a-lambeosaurine-dinosaur-found-on-alaskas-north-slope/) - Paleontologists from Hokkaido University in Japan, in cooperation with paleontologists from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Texas, have discovered the first-confirmed occurrence of a lambeosaurine (crested 'duck-billed' dinosaur) from the Arctic -- part of the skull of a lambeosaurine dinosaur from the Liscomb Bonebed (71-68 Ma) found on Alaska's North Slope.
- [Mystery shrouding oldest animal fossils solved](https://geologicalenterprises.com/mystery-shrouding-oldest-animal-fossils-solved/) - Scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) have discovered that 558 million-year-old Dickinsonia fossils do not reveal all of the features of the earliest known animals, which potentially had mouths and guts. ANU PhD scholar Ilya Bobrovskiy, lead author of the study, said the study shows that simple physical properties of sediments can explain Dickinsonia's
- [Paleontologists report world's biggest Tyrannosaurus rex](https://geologicalenterprises.com/paleontologists-report-worlds-biggest-tyrannosaurus-rex/) - University of Alberta paleontologists have just reported the world's biggest Tyrannosaurus rex and the largest dinosaur skeleton ever found in Canada. The 13-metre-long T. rex, nicknamed "Scotty," lived in prehistoric Saskatchewan 66 million years ago. "This is the rex of rexes," said Scott Persons, lead author of the study and postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biological Sciences.
- [Dinosaurs were thriving before asteroid strike that wiped them out](https://geologicalenterprises.com/dinosaurs-were-thriving-before-asteroid-strike-that-wiped-them-out/) - Dinosaurs were unaffected by long-term climate changes and flourished before their sudden demise by asteroid strike. Scientists largely agree that an asteroid impact, possibly coupled with intense volcanic activity, wiped out the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago. However, there is debate about whether dinosaurs were flourishing before this,
- [500-million-year old worm 'superhighway' discovered in Canada](https://geologicalenterprises.com/500-million-year-old-worm-superhighway-discovered-in-canada/) - Prehistoric worms populated the sea bed 500 million years ago -- evidence that life was active in an environment thought uninhabitable until now, research by the University of Saskatchewan (USask) shows. The sea bed in the deep ocean during the Cambrian period was thought to have been inhospitable to animal life because it lacked enough
- [Amoebae diversified at least 750 million years ago, far earlier than expected](https://geologicalenterprises.com/amoebae-diversified-at-least-750-million-years-ago-far-earlier-than-expected/) - Brazilian researchers have reconstructed the evolutionary history of amoebae and demonstrated that at the end of the Precambrian period, at least 750 million years ago, life on Earth was much more diverse than suggested by classic theory. The study, which was supported by São Paulo Research Foundation -- FAPESP, revealed eight new ancestral lineages of
- [New species of tiny tyrannosaur foreshadows rise of T. rex](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-species-of-tiny-tyrannosaur-foreshadows-rise-of-t-rex/) - A newly discovered, diminutive -- by T. rexstandards -- relative of the tyrant king of dinosaurs reveals crucial new information about when and how T. rex came to rule the North American roost. Meet Moros intrepidus, a small tyrannosaur who lived about 96 million years ago in the lush, deltaic environment of what is now Utah during the Cretaceous
- [Half-a-billion-year-old weird wonder worm finally gets its place in the tree of life](https://geologicalenterprises.com/half-a-billion-year-old-weird-wonder-worm-finally-gets-its-place-in-the-tree-of-life/) - Amiskwia was originally described by the famous palaeontologist Charles Doolittle Walcott (1850-1927) in 1911 who compared it to the modern arrow worms (chaetognaths) -- a group of ocean-dwelling worms that are fierce predators, equipped with an array of spines on their head for grasping small prey. Such organisms are found world-wide at sites like the famous
- [Marsupial lived among Arctic dinosaurs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/marsupial-lived-among-arctic-dinosaurs/) - A research team has discovered a previously unknown species of marsupial that lived in Alaska's Arctic during the era of dinosaurs, adding a vivid new detail to a complex ancient landscape. The thumb-sized animal, named Unnuakomys hutchisoni, lived in the Arctic about 69 million years ago during the late Cretaceous Period. Its discovery, led by scientists
- [Neanderthal footprints found in Gibraltar](https://geologicalenterprises.com/neanderthal-footprints-found-in-gibraltar/) - The international journal Quaternary Science Reviews has just published a paper which has involved the participation of Gibraltarian scientists from The Gibraltar National Museum alongside colleagues from Spain, Portugal and Japan. The results which have been published come from an area of the Catalan Bay Sand Dune. This work started ten years ago, when the first dates
- [New dinosaur with heart-shaped tail provides evolutionary clues for African continent](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-dinosaur-with-heart-shaped-tail-provides-evolutionary-clues-for-african-continent/) - A new dinosaur that wears its "heart" on its tail provides new clues to how ecosystems evolved on the African continent during the Cretaceous period according to researchers at Ohio University. The OHIO team identified and named the new species of dinosaur in an article published this week in PLOS ONE. The new dinosaur, the third
- [Science Newsfrom research organizations Earliest known seed-eating perching bird discovered in Fossil Lake, Wyoming](https://geologicalenterprises.com/science-newsfrom-research-organizations-earliest-known-seed-eating-perching-bird-discovered-in-fossil-lake-wyoming/) - Most of the birds you've ever seen -- sparrows, finches, robins, crows -- have one crucial thing in common: they're all what scientists refer to as perching birds, or "passerines." The passerines make up about 6,500 of the 10,000 bird species alive today. But while they're everywhere now, they were once rare, and scientists are
- [Ancient Mongolian skull is the earliest modern human yet found in the region](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-mongolian-skull-is-the-earliest-modern-human-yet-found-in-the-region/) - A much debated ancient human skull from Mongolia has been dated and genetically analysed, showing that it is the earliest modern human yet found in the region, according to new research from the University of Oxford. Radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis have revealed that the only Pleistocene hominin fossil discovered in Mongolia, initially called Mongolanthropus, is
- [The 210-million-year-old Smok was crushing bones like a hyena](https://geologicalenterprises.com/the-210-million-year-old-smok-was-crushing-bones-like-a-hyena/) - Coprolites, or fossil droppings, of the dinosaur-like archosaur Smok wawelski contain lots of chewed-up bone fragments. This led researchers at Uppsala University to conclude that this top predator was exploiting bones for salt and marrow, a behavior often linked to mammals but seldom to archosaurs. Most predatory dinosaurs used their blade-like teeth to feed on the flesh
- [Reconstruction of trilobite ancestral range in the southern hemisphere](https://geologicalenterprises.com/reconstruction-of-trilobite-ancestral-range-in-the-southern-hemisphere/) - The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record dates to 521 million years ago in the oceans of the Cambrian Period, when the continents were still inhospitable to most life forms. Few groups of animals adapted as successfully as trilobites, which were arthropods that lived on the seabed for 270 million years until the
- [Fossils suggest flowers originated 50 million years earlier than thought](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossils-suggest-flowers-originated-50-million-years-earlier-than-thought/) - Scientists have described a fossil plant species that suggests flowers bloomed in the Early Jurassic, more than 174 million years ago, according to new research in the open-access journal eLife. Before now, angiosperms (flowering plants) were thought to have a history of no more than 130 million years. The discovery of the novel flower species, which
- [New discovery pushes origin of feathers back by 70 million years](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-discovery-pushes-origin-of-feathers-back-by-70-million-years/) - An international team of palaeontologists, which includes the University of Bristol, has discovered that the flying reptiles, pterosaurs, actually had four kinds of feathers, and these are shared with dinosaurs -- pushing back the origin of feathers by some 70 million years. Pterosaurs are the flying reptiles that lived side by side with dinosaurs, 230
- ['Treasure trove' of dinosaur footprints found in southern England](https://geologicalenterprises.com/treasure-trove-of-dinosaur-footprints-found-in-southern-england/) - More than 85 well-preserved dinosaur footprints -- made by at least seven different species -- have been uncovered in East Sussex, representing the most diverse and detailed collection of these trace fossils from the Cretaceous Period found in the UK to date. The footprints were identified by University of Cambridge researchers between 2014 and 2018,
- [Biggest mass extinction caused by global warming leaving ocean animals gasping for breath](https://geologicalenterprises.com/biggest-mass-extinction-caused-by-global-warming-leaving-ocean-animals-gasping-for-breath/) - The largest extinction in Earth's history marked the end of the Permian period, some 252 million years ago. Long before dinosaurs, our planet was populated with plants and animals that were mostly obliterated after a series of massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia. Fossils in ancient seafloor rocks display a thriving and diverse marine ecosystem, then
- [The whole of Africa was the cradle of humankind](https://geologicalenterprises.com/the-whole-of-africa-was-the-cradle-of-humankind/) - A team of scientists led by Mohamed Sahnouni, archaeologist at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), has just published a paper in the journal Science which breaks with the paradigm that the cradle of Humankind lies in East Africa, based on the archaeological remains found at sites in the region of
- [Oldest-known ancestor of modern primates may have come from North America, not Asia](https://geologicalenterprises.com/oldest-known-ancestor-of-modern-primates-may-have-come-from-north-america-not-asia/) - About 56 million years ago, on an Earth so warm that palm trees graced the Arctic Circle, a mouse-sized primate known as Teilhardina first curled its fingers around a branch. The earliest-known ancestor of modern primates, Teilhardina's close relatives would eventually give rise to today's monkeys, apes and humans. But one of the persistent mysteries
- [Fossil algae reveal 500 million years of climate change](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossil-algae-reveal-500-million-years-of-climate-change/) - Earth scientists are able to travel far back in time to reconstruct the geological past and paleoclimate to make better predictions about future climate conditions. Scientists at the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University succeeded in developing a new indicator (proxy) of ancient CO2-levels, using the organic molecule phytane, a debris product
- [Gigantic mammal 'cousin' discovered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/gigantic-mammal-cousin-discovered/) - During the Triassic period (252-201 million years ago) mammal-like reptiles called therapsids co-existed with ancestors to dinosaurs, crocodiles, mammals, pterosaurs, turtles, frogs, and lizards. One group of therapsids are the dicynodonts. Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden, together with colleagues in Poland, have discovered fossils from a new genus of gigantic dicynodont. The new species
- [Rare fossil bird deepens mystery of avian extinctions](https://geologicalenterprises.com/rare-fossil-bird-deepens-mystery-of-avian-extinctions/) - During the late Cretaceous period, more than 65 million years ago, birds belonging to hundreds of different species flitted around the dinosaurs and through the forests as abundantly as they flit about our woods and fields today. But after the cataclysm that wiped out most of the dinosaurs, only one group of birds remained: the
- [Tiny footprints, big discovery: Reptile tracks oldest ever found in Grand Canyon](https://geologicalenterprises.com/tiny-footprints-big-discovery-reptile-tracks-oldest-ever-found-in-grand-canyon/) - A geology professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has discovered that a set of 28 footprints left behind by a reptile-like creature 310 million years ago, are the oldest ever to be found in Grand Canyon National Park. The fossil trackway covers a fallen boulder that now rests along the Bright Angel Trail
- [The teeth of Changchunsaurus: Rare insight into ornithopod dinosaur tooth evolution](https://geologicalenterprises.com/the-teeth-of-changchunsaurus-rare-insight-into-ornithopod-dinosaur-tooth-evolution/) - The teeth of Changchunsaurus parvus, a small herbivorous dinosaur from the Cretaceous of China, represent an important and poorly-known stage in the evolution of ornithopod dentition, according to a study released November 7, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jun Chen of Jilin University in China and colleagues. Ornithischian ("bird-hipped") dinosaurs developed an
- [New species of ‘missing link’ between dinosaurs and birds identified](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-species-of-missing-link-between-dinosaurs-and-birds-identified/) - Known as the 'Icon of Evolution' and 'the missing link' between dinosaurs and birds, Archaeopteryx has become one of the most famous fossil discoveries in Palaeontology. Now, as part of an international team of scientists, researchers at The University of Manchester have identified a new species of Archaeopteryx that is closer to modern birds in
- [Newly described fossils could help reveal why some dinos got so big](https://geologicalenterprises.com/newly-described-fossils-could-help-reveal-why-some-dinos-got-so-big/) - By the time non-avian dinosaurs went extinct, plant-eating sauropods like the Brontosaurus had grown to gargantuan proportions. Weighing in as much as 100 tons, the long-neck behemoths are the largest land animals to ever walk the earth. How they grew so large from ancestors that were small enough to be found in a modern-day petting
- [Marine fish won an evolutionary lottery 66 million years ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/marine-fish-won-an-evolutionary-lottery-66-million-years-ago/) - Why do our oceans contain such a staggering diversity of fish of so many different sizes, shapes and colors? A UCLA-led team of biologists reports that the answer dates back 66 million years, when a six-mile-wide asteroid crashed to Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs and approximately 75 percent of the world's animal and plant species.
- [First an alga, then a squid, enigmatic fossil is actually a fish](https://geologicalenterprises.com/first-an-alga-then-a-squid-enigmatic-fossil-is-actually-a-fish/) - A fossil slab discovered in Kansas 70 years ago and twice misidentified -- first as a green alga and then as a cephalopod -- has been reinterpreted as the preserved remains of a large cartilaginous fish, the group that includes sharks and rays. In a study published in the Journal of Paleontology, American Museum of
- [Most primitive kangaroo ancestor rediscovered after 30 years in obscurity](https://geologicalenterprises.com/most-primitive-kangaroo-ancestor-rediscovered-after-30-years-in-obscurity/) - A handful of tiny teeth have led scientists to identify the most distant ancestor of today's kangaroos. The fossils were found in the desert heart of Australia, and then hidden away, and almost forgotten in a museum collection for over three decades. The findings are published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Kangaroos are icons
- [The dinosaur menu, as revealed by calcium](https://geologicalenterprises.com/the-dinosaur-menu-as-revealed-by-calcium/) - By studying calcium in fossil remains in deposits in Morocco and Niger, researchers have been able to reconstruct the food chains of the past, thus explaining how so many predators could coexist in the dinosaurs' time. This study, conducted by the Laboratoire de géologie de Lyon: Terre, planètes et environnement (CNRS/ENS de Lyon/Claude Bernard Lyon
- [Rare Scottish dinosaur prints give key insight into era lost in time](https://geologicalenterprises.com/rare-scottish-dinosaur-prints-give-key-insight-into-era-lost-in-time/) - Dozens of giant footprints discovered on a Scottish island are helping shed light on an important period in dinosaur evolution. The tracks were made some 170 million years ago, in a muddy, shallow lagoon in what is now the north-east coast of the Isle of Skye. Most of the prints were made by long-necked sauropods
- [127-million-year-old baby bird fossil sheds light on avian evolution](https://geologicalenterprises.com/127-million-year-old-baby-bird-fossil-sheds-light-on-avian-evolution/) - The tiny fossil of a prehistoric baby bird is helping scientists understand how early avians came into the world in the Age of Dinosaurs. The fossil, which dates back to the Mesozoic Era (250-65 million years ago), is a chick from a group of prehistoric birds called, Enantiornithes. Made up of a nearly complete skeleton,
- ['Rainbow' dinosaur had iridescent feathers like a hummingbird](https://geologicalenterprises.com/rainbow-dinosaur-had-iridescent-feathers-like-a-hummingbird/) - Scientists discovered a dinosaur fossil with feathers so well-preserved that they were able to see the feathers' microscopic color-bearing structures. By comparing the shapes of those feather structures with the structures in modern bird feathers, they're able to infer that the new dino, Caihong juji ('rainbow with the big crest') had iridescent rainbow feathers like
- [Origins of photosynthesis in plants dated to 1.25 billion years ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/origins-of-photosynthesis-in-plants-dated-to-1-25-billion-years-ago/) - The world's oldest algae fossils are a billion years old, according to a new analysis by earth scientists at McGill University. Based on this finding, the researchers also estimate that the basis for photosynthesis in today's plants was set in place 1.25 billion years ago. The study, published in the journal Geology, could resolve a
- [Synchrotron sheds light on the amphibious lifestyle of a new raptorial dinosaur](https://geologicalenterprises.com/synchrotron-sheds-light-on-the-amphibious-lifestyle-of-a-new-raptorial-dinosaur/) - An exceptionally well-preserved dinosaur skeleton from Mongolia unites an unexpected combination of features that defines a new group of semi-aquatic predators related to Velociraptor. Detailed 3D synchrotron analysis allowed an international team of researchers to present the bizarre 75 million-year-old predator, named Halszkaraptor escuilliei, in Nature. The study not only describes a new genus and
- [Early avian evolution: The Archaeopteryx that wasn‘t](https://geologicalenterprises.com/early-avian-evolution-the-archaeopteryx-that-wasnt/) - Paleontologists at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich correct a case of misinterpretation: The first fossil "Archaeopteryx" to be discovered is actually a predatory dinosaur belonging to the anchiornithid family, which was previously known only from finds made in China. Even 150 million years after its first appearance on our planet, Archaeopteryx is still good for surprises.
- [Feathered dinosaurs were even fluffier than we thought](https://geologicalenterprises.com/feathered-dinosaurs-were-even-fluffier-than-we-thought/) - A University of Bristol-led study has revealed new details about dinosaur feathers and enabled scientists to further refine what is potentially the most accurate depiction of any dinosaur species to date. Birds are the direct descendants of a group of feathered, carnivorous dinosaurs that, along with true birds, are referred to as paravians -- examples
- [Bryozoans: Fossil fills missing evolutionary link](https://geologicalenterprises.com/bryozoans-fossil-fills-missing-evolutionary-link/) - Lurking in oceans, rivers and lakes around the world are tiny, ancient animals known to few people. Bryozoans, tiny marine creatures that live in colonies, are "living fossils" -- their lineage goes back to the time when multi-celled life was a newfangled concept. But until now, scientists were missing evidence of one important breakthrough that
- [Colorado River's connection with the ocean was a punctuated affair](https://geologicalenterprises.com/colorado-rivers-connection-with-the-ocean-was-a-punctuated-affair/) - The Colorado River's initial trip to the ocean didn't come easy, but its story has emerged from layers of sediment preserved within tectonically active stretches of the waterway's lower reaches. A scientific team, led by geologist Rebecca Dorsey of the University of Oregon, theorizes that the river's route off the Colorado Plateau was influenced by
- [World’s longest sauropod dinosaur trackway brought to light](https://geologicalenterprises.com/worlds-longest-sauropod-dinosaur-trackway-brought-to-light/) - In 2009, the world's largest dinosaur tracks were discovered in the French village of Plagne, in the Jura Mountains. Since then, a series of excavations at the site has uncovered other tracks, sprawling over more than 150 meters. They form the longest sauropod trackway ever to be found. Having compiled and analyzed the collected data,
- [Finger and toe fossils belonged to tiny primates 45 million years ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/finger-and-toe-fossils-belonged-to-tiny-primates-45-million-years-ago/) - At Northern Illinois University, Dan Gebo opens a cabinet and pulls out a drawer full of thin plastic cases filled with clear gelatin capsules. Inside each numbered capsule is a tiny fossil -- some are so small they rival the diminutive size of a mustard seed. It's hard to imagine that anyone would be able
- [Humankind's earliest ancestors discovered in southern England](https://geologicalenterprises.com/humankinds-earliest-ancestors-discovered-in-southern-england/) - Fossils of the oldest mammals related to humankind have been discovered on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset. The two teeth are from small, rat-like creatures that lived 145 million years ago in the shadow of the dinosaurs. They are the earliest undisputed fossils of mammals belonging to the line that led to human beings. They
- [New species of dinosaur increases the already unexpected diversity of 'whiplash dinosaurs'](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-species-of-dinosaur-increases-the-already-unexpected-diversity-of-whiplash-dinosaurs/) - Researchers from Italy and Portugal describe yet another new sauropod species from 150 million years ago, from Wyoming, USA. The new species, Galeamopus pabsti, is the most recent dinosaur to be described by paleontologists from the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Turin, Italy; the Faculty of Science and Technology, Universidade Nova de
- [Earliest relative of Brachiosaurus dinosaur found in France](https://geologicalenterprises.com/earliest-relative-of-brachiosaurus-dinosaur-found-in-france/) - Scientists have re-examined an overlooked museum fossil and discovered that it is the earliest known member of the titanosauriform family of dinosaurs. The fossil, which the researchers from Imperial College London and their colleagues in Europe have named Vouivria damparisensis, has been identified as a brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur. The researchers suggest the age of Vouivria
- [Australia's Jurassic Park' the world's most diverse](https://geologicalenterprises.com/australias-jurassic-park-the-worlds-most-diverse/) - An unprecedented 21 different types of dinosaur tracks have been identified on a 25-kilometre stretch of the Dampier Peninsula coastline dubbed "Australia's Jurassic Park." A team of palaeontologists from The University of Queensland's School of Biological Sciences and James Cook University's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences braved sharks, crocodiles, massive tides and the threat
- [Scientists make new discovery about bird evolution](https://geologicalenterprises.com/scientists-make-new-discovery-about-bird-evolution/) - In a new paper published in National Science Review, a team of scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology (all in China) described the most exceptionally preserved fossil bird discovered to date. The new specimen from the rich Early
- [Exceptionally preserved Jurassic sea life found in new fossil site](https://geologicalenterprises.com/exceptionally-preserved-jurassic-sea-life-found-in-new-fossil-site/) - A trove of exceptionally preserved Jurassic marine fossils discovered in Canada, rare for recording soft-bodied species that normally don't fossilize, is expanding scientists' view of the rich marine life of the period. The preservation of the fossils -- which include soft body parts as well as shells and bones -- ranks the site among the
- [Ancient, scary and alien-looking specimen forms a rarity in the insect world -- a new order](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-scary-and-alien-looking-specimen-forms-a-rarity-in-the-insect-world-a-new-order/) - Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a 100-million-year-old insect preserved in amber with a triangular head, almost-alien and "E.T.-like" appearance and features so unusual that it has been placed in its own scientific "order" -- an incredibly rare event. There are about 1 million described species of insects, and millions more still to be
- [South American fossil tomatillos show nightshades evolved earlier than thought](https://geologicalenterprises.com/south-american-fossil-tomatillos-show-nightshades-evolved-earlier-than-thoughtsouth-american-fossil-tomatillos-show-nightshades-evolved-earlier-than-thought/) - Delicate fossil remains of tomatillos found in Patagonia, Argentina, show that this branch of the economically important family that also includes potatoes, peppers, tobacco, petunias and tomatoes existed 52 million years ago, long before the dates previously ascribed to these species, according to an international team of scientists. Tomatillos, ground cherries and husk tomatoes --
- [280 million-year-old fossil reveals origins of chimaeroid fishes](https://geologicalenterprises.com/280-million-year-old-fossil-reveals-origins-of-chimaeroid-fishes/) - High-definition CT scans of the fossilized skull of a 280 million-year-old fish reveal the origin of chimaeras, a group of cartilaginous fish related to sharks. Analysis of the brain case of Dwykaselachus oosthuizeni, a shark-like fossil from South Africa, shows telltale structures of the brain, major cranial nerves, nostrils and inner ear belonging to modern-day
- [How long did it take to hatch a dinosaur egg? 3-6 months](https://geologicalenterprises.com/how-long-did-it-take-to-hatch-a-dinosaur-egg-3-6-months/) - A human typically gives birth after nine months. An ostrich hatchling emerges from its egg after 42 days. But how long did it take for a baby dinosaur to incubate? Groundbreaking research led by a Florida State University professor establishes a timeline of anywhere from three to six months depending on the dinosaur. In an
- [No teeth? No problem: Dinosaur species had teeth as babies, lost them as they grew](https://geologicalenterprises.com/no-teeth-no-problem-dinosaur-species-had-teeth-as-babies-lost-them-as-they-grew/) - Researchers have discovered that a species of dinosaur, Limusaurus inextricabilis, lost its teeth in adolescence and did not grow another set as adults. The finding, published today in Current Biology, is a radical change in anatomy during a lifespan and may help to explain why birds have beaks but no teeth. The research team studied
- [New prehistoric bird species discovered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-prehistoric-bird-species-discovered/) - A team of geologists at the University of Rochester has discovered a new species of bird in the Canadian Arctic. At approximately 90 million years old, the bird fossils are among the oldest avian records found in the northernmost latitude, and offer further evidence of an intense warming event during the late Cretaceous period. "The
- [Fossilized water fleas: Evolution of the micro-crustacean group Cladocera](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossilized-water-fleas-evolution-of-the-micro-crustacean-group-cladocera/) - Scientists of the Senckenberg Institute have studied the evolutionary history of the so-called "water fleas." These tiny crustaceans from the order Cladocera form the basis of the trophic pyramid and therefore play an important role in modern ecosystems. Due to the fact that they are rarely preserved as fossils, little is known about the water
- [Mammals in age of dinosaurs packed powerful bite](https://geologicalenterprises.com/mammals-in-age-of-dinosaurs-packed-powerful-bite/) - Move over, hyenas and saber-toothed cats; there's a mammal with an even stronger bite. A new study by Burke Museum and University of Washington paleontologists describes an early marsupial relative called Didelphodon vorax that lived alongside ferocious dinosaurs and had, pound-for-pound, the strongest bite force of any mammal ever recorded. Published in the journal Nature
- [Amber specimen offers rare glimpse of feathered dinosaur tail](https://geologicalenterprises.com/amber-specimen-offers-rare-glimpse-of-feathered-dinosaur-tail/) - Researchers from China, Canada, and the University of Bristol have discovered a dinosaur tail complete with its feathers trapped in a piece of amber. The finding reported today in Current Biology helps to fill in details of the dinosaurs' feather structure and evolution, which can't be surmised from fossil evidence. While the feathers aren't the
- [Paleontology: A monster put in its place](https://geologicalenterprises.com/paleontology-a-monster-put-in-its-place/) - An analysis of the fossil known as the Minden Monster has enabled paleontologists to assign the largest predatory dinosaur ever found in Germany to a previously unknown genus, among a group that underwent rapid diversification in the Middle Jurassic. This huge dinosaur dates to about 163 million years ago, in the Middle Jurassic. And it
- [Fossil pollen 'sneeze' caught by research team](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossil-pollen-sneeze-caught-by-research-team/) - Like capturing a sneeze, researchers including a University of Guelph scientist have recorded the only known example of prehistoric pollen caught in explosive mid-discharge from a fossil flower. The team describes this "freeze-frame" fossilized pollen release -- preserved in amber more than 20 million years ago -- in a paper describing a new genus of
- [A rare small specimen discovered from the age of flying giants](https://geologicalenterprises.com/a-rare-small-specimen-discovered-from-the-age-of-flying-giants/) - A rare small-bodied pterosaur, a flying reptile from the Late Cretaceous period approximately 77 million years ago, is the first of its kind to have been discovered on the west coast of North America. Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. The specimen is unusual as most pterosaurs from the Late
- [The benefits of commercial fossil sales to 21st-century paleontology](https://geologicalenterprises.com/the-benefits-of-commercial-fossil-sales-to-21st-century-paleontology/) - Authors: Peter L. Larson and Donna Russell Article number: 17.1.2E Published April 2014 The luckiest people on this planet are the ones that have also made their passion their career. This is equally true for vertebrate paleontologists and commercial fossil dealers. We have other things in common as well. We all agree that fossils are
- [Whale fossil, 17 million years old, provides first exact date for East Africa's puzzling uplift](https://geologicalenterprises.com/whale-fossil-17-million-years-old-provides-first-exact-date-for-east-africas-puzzling-uplift/) - Uplift associated with the Great Rift Valley of East Africa and the environmental changes it produced have puzzled scientists for decades because the timing and starting elevation have been poorly constrained. Now paleontologists have tapped a fossil from the most precisely dated beaked whale in the world -- and the only stranded whale ever found
- [When age matters: precise dating of ancient charcoal found near skull is helping reveal unique period in prehistory](https://geologicalenterprises.com/when-age-matters-precise-dating-of-ancient-charcoal-found-near-skull-is-helping-reveal-unique-period-in-prehistory/) - A partial human skull unearthed in 2008 in northern Israel may hold some clues as to when and where humans and Neanderthals might have interbred. The key to addressing this, as well as other important issues, is precisely determining the age of the skull. A combination of dating methods, one of them performed by Dr.
- [International team of scientists launches fossil database](https://geologicalenterprises.com/international-team-of-scientists-launches-fossil-database/) - Have you ever wondered exactly when a certain group of plants or animals first evolved? This week a groundbreaking new resource for scientists will go live, and it is designed to help answer just those kinds of questions. The Fossil Calibration Database, a free, open-access resource that stores carefully vetted fossil data, is the result
- [Plants survive better through mass extinctions than animals](https://geologicalenterprises.com/plants-survive-better-through-mass-extinctions-than-animals/) - At least 5 mass extinction events have profoundly changed the history of life on Earth. But a new study led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg shows that plants have been very resilient to those events. For over 400 million years, plants have played an essential role in almost all terrestrial environments and covered
- [Ancient rocks show life could have flourished on Earth 3.2 billion years ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-rocks-show-life-could-have-flourished-on-earth-3-2-billion-years-ago/) - A spark from a lightning bolt, interstellar dust, or a subsea volcano could have triggered the very first life on Earth. But what happened next? Life can exist without oxygen, but without plentiful nitrogen to build genes -- essential to viruses, bacteria and all other organisms -- life on the early Earth would have been
- [Swimming reptiles make their mark in the Early Triassic](https://geologicalenterprises.com/swimming-reptiles-make-their-mark-in-the-early-triassic/) - Vertebrate tracks provide valuable information about animal behavior and environments. Swim tracks are a unique type of vertebrate track because they are produced underwater by buoyant trackmakers, and specific factors are required for their production and subsequent preservation. Early Triassic deposits contain the highest number of fossil swim track occurrences worldwide compared to other epochs,
- [Amber fossil links earliest grasses, dinosaurs and fungus used to produce LSD](https://geologicalenterprises.com/amber-fossil-links-earliest-grasses-dinosaurs-and-fungus-used-to-produce-lsd/) - A perfectly preserved amber fossil from Myanmar has been found that provides evidence of the earliest grass specimen ever discovered -- about 100 million years old -- and even then it was topped by a fungus similar to ergot, which for eons has been intertwined with animals and humans. Ergot has played roles as a
- [Giant rodent used incisors like tusks](https://geologicalenterprises.com/giant-rodent-used-incisors-like-tusks/) - The largest rodent ever to have lived may have used its front teeth just like an elephant uses its tusks, a new study led by scientists at the University of York and The Hull York Medical School (HYMS) has found. Josephoartigasia monesi, a rodent closely related to guinea pigs, lived in South America approximately 3
- [Fossils from heart of Amazon provide evidence that South American monkeys came from Africa](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossils-from-heart-of-amazon-provide-evidence-that-south-american-monkeys-came-from-africa/) - For millions of years, South America was an island continent. Geographically isolated from Africa as a result of plate tectonics more than 65 million years ago, this continent witnessed the evolution of many unfamiliar groups of animals and plants. From time to time, animals more familiar to us today -- monkeys and rodents among others
- [Paleontologist names a carnivorous reptile that preceded dinosaurs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/paleontologist-names-a-carnivorous-reptile-that-preceded-dinosaurs/) - Finding a new species of dinosaur is pretty rare. Getting a hand in the discovery and naming of one -- that's rarer still. Or it would be for anyone other than 32-year-old Sterling Nesbitt, an assistant professor of geological sciences in the College of Science and the newest addition to Virginia Tech's paleontology team. Nesbitt
- [Preserved fossil represents oldest record of parental care in group of prehistoric reptiles](https://geologicalenterprises.com/preserved-fossil-represents-oldest-record-of-parental-care-in-group-of-prehistoric-reptiles/) - New research details how a preserved fossil found in China could be the oldest record of post-natal parental care from the Middle Jurassic. The specimen, found by a farmer in China, is of an apparent family group with an adult, surrounded by six juveniles of the same species. Given that the smaller individuals are of
- [Did the Anthropocene begin with the nuclear age?](https://geologicalenterprises.com/did-the-anthropocene-begin-with-the-nuclear-age/) - Scientists identify July 16 1945 as key time boundary in Earth history. An international group of scientists has proposed a start date for the dawn of the Anthropocene -- a new chapter in the Earth's geological history. Humans are having such a marked impact on the Earth that they are changing its geology, creating new
- [Two-faced fish clue that our ancestors 'weren't shark-like'](https://geologicalenterprises.com/two-faced-fish-clue-that-our-ancestors-werent-shark-like/) - An investigation of a 415 million year-old fish skull strongly suggests that the last common ancestor of all jawed vertebrates, including humans, was not very shark-like. It adds further weight to the growing idea that sharks are not 'primitive'. The fossil skull's external features meant it had always been thought to belong to the bony
- [Ancient fossils reveal rise in parasitic infections due to climate change](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-fossils-reveal-rise-in-parasitic-infections-due-to-climate-change/) - When seeking clues about the future effects of possible climate change, sometimes scientists look to the past. Now, a paleobiologist from the University of Missouri has found indications of a greater risk of parasitic infection due to climate change in ancient mollusk fossils. His study of clams from the Holocene Epoch (that began 11,700 years
- [Study casts doubt on mammoth-killing cosmic impact](https://geologicalenterprises.com/study-casts-doubt-on-mammoth-killing-cosmic-impact/) - Rock soil droplets formed by heating most likely came from Stone Age house fires and not from a disastrous cosmic impact 12,900 years ago, according to new research from the University of California, Davis. The study, of soil from Syria, is the latest to discredit the controversial theory that a cosmic impact triggered the Younger
- [First herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur fossil from Malaysia](https://geologicalenterprises.com/first-herbivorous-ornithischian-dinosaur-fossil-from-malaysia/) - UMs palaeontologists, Masatoshi Sone and Teng Yu He, reveal that the dinosaur remain is identified to be a tooth of an ornithischian dinosaur, known herbivorous. The new dinosaur tooth (UM10580) is about 13 mm long and 10.5 mm wide in preserved dimension. It is medium to large size for an herbivorous ornithischian tooth. The tooth
- [Oldest stone tool ever found in Turkey discovered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/oldest-stone-tool-ever-found-in-turkey-discovered/) - Scientists have discovered the oldest recorded stone tool ever to be found in Turkey, revealing that humans passed through the gateway from Asia to Europe much earlier than previously thought, approximately 1.2 million years ago. According to research published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews, the chance find of a humanly-worked quartzite flake, in ancient
- [550-million-year-old fossils provide new clues about fossil formation](https://geologicalenterprises.com/550-million-year-old-fossils-provide-new-clues-about-fossil-formation/) - A new study from University of Missouri and Virginia Tech researchers is challenging accepted ideas about how ancient soft-bodied organisms become part of the fossil record. Findings suggest that bacteria involved in the decay of those organisms play an active role in how fossils are formed -- often in a matter of just a few
- [Asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs may have nearly knocked off mammals, too](https://geologicalenterprises.com/asteroid-that-wiped-out-dinosaurs-may-have-nearly-knocked-off-mammals-too/) - The extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago is thought to have paved the way for mammals to dominate, but a new study shows that many mammals died off alongside the dinosaurs. Metatherian mammals -- the extinct relatives of living marsupials ("mammals with pouches," such as opossums) -- thrived in the shadow of the
- [Fossils found in Siberia suggest all dinosaurs could have been feathered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossils-found-in-siberia-suggest-all-dinosaurs-could-have-been-feathered/) - The first ever example of a plant-eating dinosaur with feathers and scales has been discovered in Russia. Previously only flesh-eating dinosaurs were known to have had feathers, so this new find raises the possibility that all dinosaurs could have been feathered. The new dinosaur, named Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus as it comes from a site called Kulinda
- [Decades-old amber collection offers new views of a lost world: Tiny grasshopper encased in amber](https://geologicalenterprises.com/decades-old-amber-collection-offers-new-views-of-a-lost-world-tiny-grasshopper-encased-in-amber/) - Scientists are searching through a massive collection of 20-million-year-old amber found in the Dominican Republic more than 50 years ago, and the effort is yielding fresh insights into ancient tropical insects and the world they inhabited. When the collection is fully curated, a task that will take many years, it will be the largest unbiased
- [Unique images bring fossil insects back to life](https://geologicalenterprises.com/unique-images-bring-fossil-insects-back-to-life/) - A groundbreaking new book that brings together two of the major disciplines behind Jurassic Park is aiming to raise the profile of insect fossils through stunning photographs and unique illustrations. Fossil Insects, by Dr David Penney and James E Jepson, details the incredible preservation and diversity of fossilised insects from around the world, setting the
- [Dinosaurs fell victim to perfect storm of events, study shows](https://geologicalenterprises.com/dinosaurs-fell-victim-to-perfect-storm-of-events-study-shows/) - Dinosaurs might have survived the asteroid strike that wiped them out if it had taken place slightly earlier or later in history, scientists say. A fresh study using up-to-date fossil records and improved analytical tools has helped palaeontologists to build a new narrative of the prehistoric creatures' demise, some 66 million years ago. They found
- [Striking lack of diversity in prehistoric birds](https://geologicalenterprises.com/striking-lack-of-diversity-in-prehistoric-birds/) - Birds come in astounding variety -- from hummingbirds to emus -- and behave in myriad ways: they soar the skies, swim the waters, and forage the forests. But this wasn't always the case, according to research by scientists at the University of Chicago and the Field Museum. The researchers found a striking lack of diversity
- [Age-old relationship between birds and flowers: World’s oldest fossil of a nectarivorous bird](https://geologicalenterprises.com/age-old-relationship-between-birds-and-flowers-worlds-oldest-fossil-of-a-nectarivorous-bird/) - Scientists of the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt have described the oldest known fossil of a pollinating bird. The well-preserved stomach contents contained pollen from various flowering plants. This indicates that the relationship between birds and flowers dates back at least 47 million years. The fossil comes from the well-known fossil site "Messel Pit." The
- [Computer rendering: Graduate student brings extinct plants 'back to life'](https://geologicalenterprises.com/computer-rendering-graduate-student-brings-extinct-plants-back-to-life/) - Jeff Benca is an admitted über-geek when it comes to prehistoric plants, so it was no surprise that, when he submitted a paper describing a new species of long-extinct lycopod for publication, he ditched the standard line drawing and insisted on a detailed and beautifully rendered color reconstruction of the plant. This piece earned the
- [Rare leafcutter bee fossils reveal Ice Age environment at the La Brea Tar Pits](https://geologicalenterprises.com/rare-leafcutter-bee-fossils-reveal-ice-age-environment-at-the-la-brea-tar-pits/) - Concerns about climate change and its impact on the world around us are growing daily. New scientific studies at the La Brea Tar Pits are probing the link between climate warming and the evolution of Ice Age predators, attempting to predict how animals will respond to climate change today. The La Brea Tar Pits are
- [Rare fossilized embryos more than 500 million years old found](https://geologicalenterprises.com/rare-fossilized-embryos-more-than-500-million-years-old-found/) - The Cambrian Period is a time when most phyla of marine invertebrates first appeared in the fossil record. Also dubbed the "Cambrian explosion," fossilized records from this time provide glimpses into evolutionary biology when the world's ecosystems rapidly changed and diversified. Most fossils show the organisms' skeletal structure, which may or may not give researchers
- [Ancient whodunit may be solved: Methane-producing microbes did it!](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-whodunit-may-be-solved-methane-producing-microbes-did-it/) - Evidence left at the crime scene is abundant and global: Fossil remains show that sometime around 252 million years ago, about 90 percent of all species on Earth were suddenly wiped out -- by far the largest of this planet's five known mass extinctions. But pinpointing the culprit has been difficult, and controversial. Now, a
- [Fossils of earliest stick insect to mimic plants discovered: Ancient stick insect species mimicked plant leaves](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossils-of-earliest-stick-insect-to-mimic-plants-discovered-ancient-stick-insect-species-mimicked-plant-leaves/) - An ancient stick insect species may have mimicked plant leaves for defense, according to a paper published in the open-access journalPLOS ONE on March 19, 2014 by Maomin Wang, from Capital Normal University, China and colleagues. Many insects have developed defense mechanisms, including the ability to mimic the surrounding environment. Stick and leaf insects mimic plants
- [Nearly complete 'chicken from hell,' from mysterious dinosaur group](https://geologicalenterprises.com/nearly-complete-chicken-from-hell-from-mysterious-dinosaur-group/) - A Team of researchers has announced the discovery of a bizarre, bird-like dinosaur, named Anzu wyliei, that provides paleontologists with their first good look at a dinosaur group that has been shrouded in mystery for almost a century. Anzu was described from three specimens that collectively preserve almost the entire skeleton, giving scientists a remarkable opportunity to study
- [Bighead carp: From 5 to 150 centimeters in 37 million years](https://geologicalenterprises.com/bighead-carp-from-5-to-150-centimeters-in-37-million-years/) - During excavations in the open lignite-mining pit Na Duong in Vietnam, a joint team from the University of Tübingen and the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment Tübingen discovered the world's oldest bighead carp. With a length of only 5 centimeters, Planktophaga minuta is also the smallest known fossil representative of this East Asian group. Modern
- [Dinosaur skull may reveal T. rex's smaller cousin from the north](https://geologicalenterprises.com/dinosaur-skull-may-reveal-t-rexs-smaller-cousin-from-the-north/) - A 70 million year old fossil found in the Late Cretaceous sediments of Alaska reveals a new small tyrannosaur, according to a paper published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on March 12, 2014 by co-authors Anthony Fiorillo and Ronald S. Tykoski from Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Texas, and colleagues. Tyrannosaurs, the lineage of carnivorous
- [Mass strandings of marine mammals blamed on toxic algae: Clues unearthed in ancient whale graveyard](https://geologicalenterprises.com/mass-strandings-of-marine-mammals-blamed-on-toxic-algae-clues-unearthed-in-ancient-whale-graveyard/) - Mass strandings of whales have puzzled people since Aristotle. Modern-day strandings can be investigated and their causes, often human-related, identified. Events that happened millions of years ago, however, are far harder to analyze -- frequently leaving their cause a mystery. A team of Smithsonian and Chilean scientists examined a large fossil site of ancient marine
- [First discovery of dinosaur fossils in Malaysia](https://geologicalenterprises.com/first-discovery-of-dinosaur-fossils-in-malaysia/) - A team of palaeontology researchers from the Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya and Japanese universities (Waseda University and Kumamoto University) has found dinosaur fossil teeth in the rural interiors of Pahang -- the first known discovery of dinosaur remains in Malaysia. We have started our collaboration and carried out field expeditions
- [Chronology of geological events prior to the great extinction 66 million years ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/chronology-of-geological-events-prior-to-the-great-extinction-66-million-years-ago/) - Research at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), entitled 'Detailed Correlation and Orbital Control of succession during the Upper Maastrichtian in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin' and focusing on the last 3 million years of the Cretaceous period, managed to detail exactly the chronology of the climatic, magnetic and
- [Ancient reptile birth preserved in fossil: Ichthyosaur fossil may show oldest live reptilian birth](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-reptile-birth-preserved-in-fossil-ichthyosaur-fossil-may-show-oldest-live-reptilian-birth/) - An ichthyosaur fossil may show the earliest live birth from an ancient Mesozoic marine reptile, according to a study published February 12, 2014 in PLOS ONE by Ryosuke Motani from the University of California, Davis, and colleagues. Ichthyosaurs were giant marine reptiles that evolved from land reptiles and moved to the water. Scientists report a
- [Revision to rules for color in dinosaurs suggests connection between color and physiology](https://geologicalenterprises.com/revision-to-rules-for-color-in-dinosaurs-suggests-connection-between-color-and-physiology/) - New research that revises the rules allowing scientists to decipher color in dinosaurs may also provide a tool for understanding the evolutionary emergence of flight and changes in dinosaur physiology prior to its origin. In a survey comparing the hair, skin, fuzz and feathers of living terrestrial vertebrates and fossil specimens, a research team from
- [Fossils abound: 'Epic' new Burgess Shale site in Canada's Kootenay National Park](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossils-abound-epic-new-burgess-shale-site-in-canadas-kootenay-national-park/) - Yoho National Park's 505-million-year-old Burgess Shale -- home to some of the planet's earliest animals, including a very primitive human relative -- is one of the world's most important fossil sites. Now, more than a century after its discovery, a compelling sequel has been unearthed: 42 kilometres away in Kootenay National Park, a new Burgess
- [Giant mass extinction quicker than previously thought: End-Permian extinction happened in 60,000 years](https://geologicalenterprises.com/giant-mass-extinction-quicker-than-previously-thought-end-permian-extinction-happened-in-60000-years/) - The largest mass extinction in the history of animal life occurred some 252 million years ago, wiping out more than 96 percent of marine species and 70 percent of life on land -- including the largest insects known to have inhabited Earth. Multiple theories have aimed to explain the cause of what's now known as
- ['Steak-knife' teeth reveal ecology of oldest land predators](https://geologicalenterprises.com/steak-knife-teeth-reveal-ecology-of-oldest-land-predators/) - The first top predators to walk on land were not afraid to bite off more than they could chew, a University of Toronto Mississauga study has found. Graduate student and lead author Kirstin Brink along with Professor Robert Reisz from U of T Mississauga's Department of Biology suggest that Dimetrodon, a carnivore that walked on
- [Meet Xenoceratops: Canada's Newest Horned Dinosaur](https://geologicalenterprises.com/meet-xenoceratops-canadas-newest-horned-dinosaur/) - Nov. 8, 2012 — Scientists have named a new species of horned dinosaur (ceratopsian) from Alberta, Canada. Xenoceratops foremostensis (Zee-NO-Sare-ah-tops) was identified from fossils originally collected in 1958. Approximately 20 feet long and weighing more than 2 tons, the newly identified plant-eating dinosaur represents the oldest known large-bodied horned dinosaur from Canada Research describing the
- [How Could Dinosaurs Weigh Up to 80 Tons? New Research On Sauropod Gigantism](https://geologicalenterprises.com/how-could-dinosaurs-weigh-up-to-80-tons-new-research-on-sauropod-gigantism/) - Jan. 14, 2014 — Sauropods, the largest land animals in Earth's history, are still mightily puzzling the scientists. These plant-eating dinosaurs with their long necks and small heads could reach a height of 10 meters or more and dominated all other land vertebrates in terms of size. They could weigh up to 80 tons, more
- [Iconic Australasian Trees Found as Fossils in South America](https://geologicalenterprises.com/iconic-australasian-trees-found-as-fossils-in-south-america/) - Jan. 9, 2014 — Today in Australia they call it Kauri, in Asia they call it Dammar, and in South America it does not exist at all unless planted there. But 52 million years ago the giant coniferous evergreen tree known to botanists as Agathis thrived in the Patagonian region of Argentina, according to an
- [First Dinosaurs Identified from Saudi Arabia](https://geologicalenterprises.com/first-dinosaurs-identified-from-saudi-arabia/) - Jan. 7, 2014 — Dinosaur fossils are exceptionally rare in the Arabian Peninsula. An international team of scientists from Uppsala University, Museum Victoria, Monash University, and the Saudi Geological Survey have now uncovered the first record of dinosaurs from Saudi Arabia. What is now dry desert was once a beach littered with the bones and
- [Fossil Pigments Reveal the Colors of Ancient Sea Monsters](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossil-pigments-reveal-the-colors-of-ancient-sea-monsters/) - Jan. 8, 2014 — During the Age of the dinosaurs, huge reptiles, such as mosasaurs and ichthyosaurs, ruled the seas. Previously, scientists could only guess what colours these spectacular animals had; however, pigment preserved in fossilised skin has now been analysed at SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden and MAX IV Laboratory, Lund University, Sweden.
- [Supervolcanoes Discovered in Utah: Evidence of Some of the Largest Eruptions in Earth's History](https://geologicalenterprises.com/supervolcanoes-discovered-in-utah-evidence-of-some-of-the-largest-eruptions-in-earths-history/) - Dec. 11, 2013 — Brigham Young University geologists found evidence of some of the largest volcanic eruptions in earth's history right in their own backyard. These supervolcanoes aren't active today, but 30 million years ago more than 5,500 cubic kilometers of magma erupted during a one-week period near a place called Wah Wah Springs. By
- [Mapping the Demise of the Dinosaurs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/mapping-the-demise-of-the-dinosaurs/) - Dec. 9, 2013 — About 65 million years ago, an asteroid or comet crashed into a shallow sea near what is now the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. The resulting firestorm and global dust cloud caused the extinction of many land plants and large animals, including most of the dinosaurs. At this week's meeting of the
- [Functional Importance of Dinosaur Beaks Illuminated](https://geologicalenterprises.com/functional-importance-of-dinosaur-beaks-illuminated/) - Dec. 2, 2013 — Why beaks evolved in some theropod dinosaurs and what their function might have been is the subject of new research by an international team of palaeontologists published this week in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). Beaks are a typical hallmark of modern birds and can be found in
- [Iron Preserves, Hides Ancient Tissues in Fossilized Remains](https://geologicalenterprises.com/iron-preserves-hides-ancient-tissues-in-fossilized-remains/) - Nov. 26, 2013 — New research from North Carolina State University shows that iron may play a role in preserving ancient tissues within dinosaur fossils, but also may hide them from detection. The finding could open the door to the recovery of more ancient tissues from within fossils. Mary Schweitzer, an NC State paleontologist with
- [CT and 3-D Printers Used to Recreate Dinosaur Fossils](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ct-and-3-d-printers-used-to-recreate-dinosaur-fossils/) - Nov. 20, 2013 — Data from computed tomography (CT) scans can be used with three-dimensional (3-D) printers to make accurate copies of fossilized bones, according to new research published online in the journal Radiology. Fossils are often stored in plaster casts, or jackets, to protect them from damage. Getting information about a fossil typically requires
- [Rising Mountains Dried out Central Asia](https://geologicalenterprises.com/rising-mountains-dried-out-central-asia/) - Dec. 11, 2013 — The uplift of two mountain ranges in Central Asia beginning 30 million years ago expanded the Gobi Desert and set Central Asia on its path to extreme aridity, a Stanford study suggests. Stanford researchers visited the Nemegt Basin in Mongolia's Gobi Desert in search of clues to Central Asia's extreme aridity.
- [Clues to How Plants Evolved to Cope With Cold](https://geologicalenterprises.com/clues-to-how-plants-evolved-to-cope-with-cold/) - Dec. 22, 2013 — Researchers have found new clues to how plants evolved to withstand wintry weather. In a study to appear in the December 22 issue of the journal Nature, the team constructed an evolutionary tree of more than 32,000 species of flowering plants -- the largest time-scaled evolutionary tree to date. By combining
- [New Evidence for Warm-Blooded Dinosaurs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-evidence-for-warm-blooded-dinosaurs/) - July 17, 2013 — University of Adelaide research has shown new evidence that dinosaurs were warm-blooded like birds and mammals, not cold-blooded like reptiles as commonly believed. In a paper published in PLoS ONE, Professor Roger Seymour of the University's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, argues that cold-blooded dinosaurs would not have had the
- [Big-Nosed, Long-Horned Dinosaur Discovered in Utah: Dinosaur in Same Family as Triceratops](https://geologicalenterprises.com/big-nosed-long-horned-dinosaur-discovered-in-utah-dinosaur-in-same-family-as-triceratops/) - July 17, 2013 — A remarkable new species of horned dinosaur has been unearthed in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah. The huge plant-eater inhabited Laramidia, a landmass formed when a shallow sea flooded the central region of North America, isolating western and eastern portions for millions of years during the Late Cretaceous Period. The
- [Tooth Is 'Smoking Gun' Evidence That Tyrannosaurus Rex Was Hunter, Killer](https://geologicalenterprises.com/tooth-is-smoking-gun-evidence-that-tyrannosaurus-rex-was-hunter-killer/) - July 16, 2013 — Tyrannosaurus rex has long been popular with kids and moviemakers as the most notorious, vicious killing machine to roam the planet during the age of the dinosaurs. 73 So, it may come as a shock that for more than a century some paleontologists have argued that T. rex was a scavenger,
- [High Diversity of Flying Reptiles in England 110 Million Years Ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/high-diversity-of-flying-reptiles-in-england-110-million-years-ago/) - June 12, 2013 — Brazilian paleontologists Taissa Rodrigues, of the Federal University of Espirito Santo, and Alexander W. A. Kellner, of the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, have just presented the most extensive review yet available of toothed pterosaurs from the Cretaceous of England. The study features detailed taxonomic information,
- [X-Rays Reveal New Picture of 'Dinobird' Plumage Patterns](https://geologicalenterprises.com/x-rays-reveal-new-picture-of-dinobird-plumage-patterns/) - June 11, 2013 — The first complete chemical analysis of feathers from Archaeopteryx, a famous fossil linking dinosaurs and birds, reveals that the feathers of this early bird were patterned - light in colour, with a dark edge and tip to the feather ­­- rather than all black, as previously thought. 31 The findings came
- [Fossil Saved from Mule Track Revolutionizes Understanding of Ancient Dolphin-Like Marine Reptile](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossil-saved-from-mule-track-revolutionizes-understanding-of-ancient-dolphin-like-marine-reptile/) - May 14, 2013 — An international team of scientists have revealed a new species of ichthyosaur (a dolphin-like marine reptile from the age of dinosaurs) from Iraq, which revolutionises our understanding of the evolution and extinction of these ancient marine reptiles. The results, produced by a collaboration of researchers from universities and museums in Belgium
- [Mum and Dad Dinosaurs Shared the Work](https://geologicalenterprises.com/mum-and-dad-dinosaurs-shared-the-work/) - May 15, 2013 — A study into the brooding behaviour of birds has revealed their dinosaur ancestors shared the load when it came to incubation of eggs. 23 Research into the incubation behaviour of birds suggests the type of parental care carried out by their long extinct ancestors. The study aimed to test the hypothesis
- [Earliest Archaeological Evidence of Human Ancestors Hunting and Scavenging](https://geologicalenterprises.com/earliest-archaeological-evidence-of-human-ancestors-hunting-and-scavenging/) - May 10, 2013 — A recent Baylor University research study has shed new light on the diet and food acquisition strategies of some the earliest human ancestors in Africa. Beginning around two million years ago, early stone tool-making humans, known scientifically as Oldowan hominin, started to exhibit a number of physiological and ecological adaptations that
- [Four New Dinosaur Species Identified](https://geologicalenterprises.com/four-new-dinosaur-species-identified/) - May 8, 2013 — Just when dinosaur researchers thought they had a thorough knowledge of ankylosaurs, a family of squat, armour plated, plant eaters, along comes University of Alberta graduate student, Victoria Arbour. Arbour visited dinosaur fossil collections from Alberta to the U.K. examining skull armour and comparing those head details with other features of
- [Oldest? New 'Bone-Head' Dinosaur Hints at Higher Diversity of Small Dinosaurs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/oldest-new-bone-head-dinosaur-hints-at-higher-diversity-of-small-dinosaurs/) - May 7, 2013 — Scientists have named a new species of bone-headed dinosaur (pachycephalosaur) from Alberta, Canada. Acrotholus audeti (Ack-RHO-tho-LUS) was identified from both recently discovered and historically collected fossils. Approximately six feet long and weighing about 40 kilograms in life, the newly identified plant-eating dinosaur represents the oldest bone-headed dinosaur in North America, and
- [Bird Fossil Sheds Light On How Swift and Hummingbird Flight Came to Be](https://geologicalenterprises.com/bird-fossil-sheds-light-on-how-swift-and-hummingbird-flight-came-to-be/) - May 1, 2013 — A tiny bird fossil discovered in Wyoming offers clues to the precursors of swift and hummingbird wings. The fossil is unusual in having exceptionally well-preserved feathers, which allowed the researchers to reconstruct the size and shape of the bird's wings in ways not possible with bones alone. Researchers spotted the specimen
- [What Happened to Dinosaurs' Predecessors After Earth's Largest Extinction 252 Million Years Ago?](https://geologicalenterprises.com/what-happened-to-dinosaurs-predecessors-after-earths-largest-extinction-252-million-years-ago/) - Predecessors to dinosaurs missed the race to fill habitats emptied when nine out of 10 species disappeared during Earth's largest mass extinction 252 million years ago. Or did they? That thinking was based on fossil records from sites in South Africa and southwest Russia. It turns out, however, that scientists may have been looking in
- [First Snapshot of Organisms Eating Each Other: Feast Clue to Smell of Ancient Earth](https://geologicalenterprises.com/first-snapshot-of-organisms-eating-each-other-feast-clue-to-smell-of-ancient-earth/) - Apr. 29, 2013 — Tiny 1,900 million-year-old fossils from rocks around Lake Superior, Canada, give the first ever snapshot of organisms eating each other and suggest what the ancient Earth would have smelled like. The fossils, preserved in Gunflint chert, capture ancient microbes in the act of feasting on a cyanobacterium-like fossil called Gunflintia --
- [Fish Was On the Menu for Early Flying Dinosaur](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fish-was-on-the-menu-for-early-flying-dinosaur/) - Apr. 22, 2013 — University of Alberta-led research reveals that Microraptor, a small flying dinosaur was a complete hunter, able to swoop down and pickup fish as well as its previously known prey of birds and tree dwelling mammals. U of A paleontology graduate student Scott Persons says new evidence of Microrpator's hunting ability came
- [Dinosaur Egg Study Supports Evolutionary Link Between Birds and Dinosaurs: How Troodon Likely Hatched Its Young](https://geologicalenterprises.com/dinosaur-egg-study-supports-evolutionary-link-between-birds-and-dinosaurs-how-troodon-likely-hatched-its-young/) - A small, bird-like North American dinosaur incubated its eggs in a similar way to brooding birds -- bolstering the evolutionary link between birds and dinosaurs, researchers at the University of Calgary and Montana State University study have found. Among the many mysteries paleontologists have tried to uncover is how dinosaurs hatched their young. Was it
- [New Carnivorous Dinosaur from Madagascar Raises More Questions Than It Answers](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-carnivorous-dinosaur-from-madagascar-raises-more-questions-than-it-answers/) - The first new species of dinosaur from Madagascar in nearly a decade was announced today, filling an important gap in the island's fossil record. Dahalokely tokana (pronounced "dah-HAH-loo-KAY-lee too-KAH-nah") is estimated to have been between nine and 14 feet long, and it lived around 90 million years ago. Dahalokely belongs to a group called abelisauroids,
- [Coelacanth Genome Surfaces: Unexpected Insights from a Fish With a 300-Million-Year-Old Fossil Record](https://geologicalenterprises.com/coelacanth-genome-surfaces-unexpected-insights-from-a-fish-with-a-300-million-year-old-fossil-record/) - Apr. 17, 2013 — An international team of researchers has decoded the genome of a creature whose evolutionary history is both enigmatic and illuminating: the African coelacanth. A sea-cave dwelling, five-foot long fish with limb-like fins, the coelacanth was once thought to be extinct. A living coelacanth was discovered off the African coast in 1938,
- [World's Oldest Dinosaur Embryo Bonebed Yields Organic Remains](https://geologicalenterprises.com/worlds-oldest-dinosaur-embryo-bonebed-yields-organic-remains/) - Apr. 10, 2013 — The great age of the embryos is unusual because almost all known dinosaur embryos are from the Cretaceous Period. The Cretaceous ended some 125 million years after the bones at the Lufeng site were buried and fossilized. Led by University of Toronto Mississauga paleontologist Robert Reisz, an international team of scientists
- [New Evidence Dinosaurs Were Strong Swimmers](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-evidence-dinosaurs-were-strong-swimmers/) - Apr. 8, 2013 — A University of Alberta researcher has identified some of the strongest evidence ever found that dinosaurs could paddle long distances. Working together with an international research team, U of A graduate student Scott Persons examined unusual claw marks left on a river bottom in China that is known to have been
- [Diversification in Ancient Tadpole Shrimps Challenges the Term 'Living Fossil'](https://geologicalenterprises.com/diversification-in-ancient-tadpole-shrimps-challenges-the-term-living-fossil/) - Apr. 2, 2013 — The term 'living fossil' has a controversial history. For decades, scientists have argued about its usefulness as it appears to suggest that some organisms have stopped evolving. New research has now investigated the origin of tadpole shrimps, a group commonly regarded as 'living fossils' which includes the familiar Triops. The research
- [What a Bunch of Dodos! Catastrophic Mass Extinction of Birds in Pacific Islands Followed Arrival of First People](https://geologicalenterprises.com/what-a-bunch-of-dodos-catastrophic-mass-extinction-of-birds-in-pacific-islands-followed-arrival-of-first-people/) - Mar. 25, 2013 — Research carried out by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and collaborators reveals that the last region on earth to be colonised by humans was home to more than 1,000 species of birds that went extinct soon after people reached their island homes. Almost 4,000 years ago, tropical Pacific Islands were
- [Strange Spaghetti-Shaped Creature Is Missing Link: Discovery Pushes Fossil Record Back 200 Million Years](https://geologicalenterprises.com/strange-spaghetti-shaped-creature-is-missing-link-discovery-pushes-fossil-record-back-200-million-years/) - Mar. 13, 2013 — Canada's 505 million year-old Burgess Shale fossil beds, located in Yoho National Park, have yielded yet another major scientific discovery -- this time with the unearthing of a strange spaghetti-shaped creature. It's a discovery that pushes back the fossil record of a group of creatures known as enteropneusts by 200 million
- [Four Dinosaur Egg Species Identified in Lleida, Spain](https://geologicalenterprises.com/four-dinosaur-egg-species-identified-in-lleida-spain/) - Mar. 12, 2013 — A study headed by the Miquel Crusafont Catalan Palaeontology Institute has for the first time documented detailed records of dinosaur egg fossils in the Coll de Nargó archaeological site in Lleida, Spain. Up until now, only one type of dinosaur egg had been documented in the region The archaeological site in
- [Light Shed on Ancient Origin of Life](https://geologicalenterprises.com/light-shed-on-ancient-origin-of-life/) - Mar. 6, 2013 — University of Georgia researchers discovered important genetic clues about the history of microorganisms called archaea and the origins of life itself in the first ever study of its kind. Results of their study shed light on one of Earth's oldest life forms. "Archaea are an ancient form of microorganisms, so everything
- [Remains of Extinct Giant Camel Discovered in High Arctic](https://geologicalenterprises.com/remains-of-extinct-giant-camel-discovered-in-high-arctic/) - Mar. 5, 2013 — A research team led by the Canadian Museum of Nature has identified the first evidence for an extinct giant camel in Canada's High Arctic. The discovery is based on 30 fossil fragments of a leg bone found on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut and represents the most northerly record for early camels, whose
- [New Fossils of Crocodilian, Hippo-Like Species from Panama](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-fossils-of-crocodilian-hippo-like-species-from-panama/) - Mar. 5, 2013 — University of Florida paleontologists have discovered remarkably well-preserved fossils of two crocodilians and a mammal previously unknown to science during recent Panama Canal excavations that began in 2009. The two new ancient extinct alligator-like animals and an extinct hippo-like species inhabited Central America during the Miocene about 20 million years ago.
- [New Dinosaur Species: First Fossil Evidence Shows Small Crocs Fed On Baby Dinosaurs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-dinosaur-species-first-fossil-evidence-shows-small-crocs-fed-on-baby-dinosaurs/) - Feb. 28, 2013 — A South Dakota School of Mines & Technology assistant professor and his team have discovered a new species of herbivorous dinosaur and today published the first fossil evidence of prehistoric crocodyliforms feeding on small dinosaurs. Research by Clint Boyd, Ph.D., provides the first definitive evidence that plant-eating baby ornithopod dinosaurs were
- [Feeding Limbs and Nervous System of One of Earth's Earliest Animals Discovered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/feeding-limbs-and-nervous-system-of-one-of-earths-earliest-animals-discovered/) - Feb. 27, 2013 — An extraordinary find allowing scientists to see through the head of the 'fuxianhuiid' arthropod has revealed one of the earliest evolutionary examples of limbs used for feeding, along with the oldest nervous system to stretch beyond the head in fossil record. Until now, all fossils found of this extremely early soft-bodied
- [Evolution and the Ice Age](https://geologicalenterprises.com/evolution-and-the-ice-age/) - Feb. 26, 2013 — Dr John Stewart has made important contributions to a growing body of work that shows how the evolution of ecosystems has to be taken into account when speculating between different geological eras. Go back to the time of the dinosaurs or to the single-celled organisms at the origins of life, and
- [Ancient Fossilized Sea Creatures Yield Oldest Biomolecules Isolated Directly from a Fossil](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-fossilized-sea-creatures-yield-oldest-biomolecules-isolated-directly-from-a-fossil/) - Feb. 18, 2013 — Though scientists have long believed that complex organic molecules couldn't survive fossilization, some 350-million-year-old remains of aquatic sea creatures uncovered in Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa have challenged that assumption. The spindly animals with feathery arms -- called crinoids, but better known today by the plant-like name "sea lily" -- appear to
- [Jurassic Records Warn of Risk to Marine Life from Global Warming](https://geologicalenterprises.com/jurassic-records-warn-of-risk-to-marine-life-from-global-warming/) - Feb. 19, 2013 — The risk posed by global warming and rising ocean temperatures to the future health of the world's marine ecosystem has been highlighted by scientists studying fossil records. Researchers at Plymouth University believe that findings from fieldwork along the North Yorkshire coast reveal strong parallels between the Early Jurassic era of 180
- [Ice Age Extinction Shaped Australian Plant Diversity](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ice-age-extinction-shaped-australian-plant-diversity/) - Feb. 12, 2013 — Researchers have shown that part of Australia's rich plant diversity was wiped out by the ice ages, demonstrating that extinction, probably more than evolution, influences biodiversity. The research led by the University of Melbourne and University of Tasmania has shown that plant diversity in South East Australia was as rich as
- [Ancient Insects Shed Light On Biodiversity](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-insects-shed-light-on-biodiversity/) - Simon Fraser University evolutionary biologists Bruce Archibald and Rolf Mathewes, and Brandon University biologist David Greenwood, have discovered that modern tropical mountains' diversity patterns extended up into Canada about 50 million years ago. Their findings confirm an influential theory about change in modern species diversity across mountains, and provide evidence that global biodiversity was greater
- [New Kind of Extinct Flying Reptile Discovered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-kind-of-extinct-flying-reptile-discovered/) - Feb. 4, 2013 — A new kind of pterosaur, a flying reptile from the time of the dinosaurs, has been identified by scientists from the Transylvanian Museum Society in Romania, the University of Southampton in the UK and the Museau Nacional in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The fossilised bones come from the Late Cretaceous rocks
- [Features of Southeast European Human Ancestors Influenced by Lack of Episodic Glaciations](https://geologicalenterprises.com/features-of-southeast-european-human-ancestors-influenced-by-lack-of-episodic-glaciations/) - Feb. 6, 2013 — A fragment of human lower jaw recovered from a Serbian cave is the oldest human ancestor found in this part of Europe, who probably evolved under different conditions than populations that inhabited more western parts of the continent at the same time, according to research published Feb. 6 in the open
- [Previous Unknown Fossilized Fox Species Found](https://geologicalenterprises.com/previous-unknown-fossilized-fox-species-found/) - Jan. 23, 2013 — Researchers from Wits University, the University of Johannesburg and international scientists have announced the discovery of a 2-million-year-old fossil fox at Malapa, South Africa, in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. In an article published in the journal Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, the researchers describe the
- [Brain of Ampelosaur from Cuenca (Spain) Revealed](https://geologicalenterprises.com/brain-of-ampelosaur-from-cuenca-spain-revealed/) - Jan. 23, 2013 — Scientists have made a 3D reconstruction of the remains of ampelosaur, found in 2007 in the site of Lo Hueco (Cuenca). The fossils are about 70 million years old (Late Cretaceous). Up to now, only one species of the genus was known, Ampelosaurus atacis, which was discovered in France. The differences
- [A Relative from the Tianyuan Cave: Humans Living 40,000 Years Ago Likely Related to Many Present-Day Asians and Native Americans](https://geologicalenterprises.com/a-relative-from-the-tianyuan-cave-humans-living-40000-years-ago-likely-related-to-many-present-day-asians-and-native-americans/) - Jan. 21, 2013 — Ancient DNA has revealed that humans living some 40,000 years ago in the area near Beijing were likely related to many present-day Asians and Native Americans. An international team of researchers including Svante Pääbo and Qiaomei Fu of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, sequenced nuclear and
- [Earliest Sea Cow Ancestors Originated in Africa, Lived in Fresh Water](https://geologicalenterprises.com/earliest-sea-cow-ancestors-originated-in-africa-lived-in-fresh-water/) - Jan. 16, 2013 — A new fossil discovered in Tunisia represents the oldest known ancestor of modern-day sea cows, supporting the African origins of these marine mammals. The find is described in research published January 16 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Julien Benoit and colleagues from the University of Science and Technology
- [Australia's Stampeding Dinosaurs Take a Dip: Largely Tracks of Swimming Rather Than Running Animals](https://geologicalenterprises.com/australias-stampeding-dinosaurs-take-a-dip-largely-tracks-of-swimming-rather-than-running-animals/) - Jan. 8, 2013 — Queensland paleontologists have discovered that the world's only recorded dinosaur stampede is largely made up of the tracks of swimming rather than running animals. The University of Queensland's (UQ) PhD candidate Anthony Romilio led the study of thousands of small dinosaur tracks at Lark Quarry Conservation Park, central-western Queensland. Mr Romilio
- [Dinosaur Shook Tail Feathers for Mating Show](https://geologicalenterprises.com/dinosaur-shook-tail-feathers-for-mating-show/) - Jan. 4, 2013 — A University of Alberta researcher's examination of fossilized dinosaur tail bones has led to a breakthrough finding: some feathered dinosaurs used tail plumage to attract mates, much like modern-day peacocks and turkeys. U of A Paleontology researcher Scott Persons followed a chain of fossil evidence that started with a peculiar fusing
- [Giant Fossil Predator Provides Insights Into the Rise of Modern Marine Ecosystem Structures](https://geologicalenterprises.com/giant-fossil-predator-provides-insights-into-the-rise-of-modern-marine-ecosystem-structures/) - Jan. 7, 2013 — An international team of scientists has described a fossil marine predator measuring 8.6 meters in length (about 28 feet) recovered from the Nevada desert in 2010 as representing the first top predator in marine food chains feeding on prey similar to its own size. A paper with their description will appear
- [New Study Sheds Light On Dinosaur Size](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-study-sheds-light-on-dinosaur-size/) - Dec. 19, 2012 — Dinosaurs were not only the largest animals to roam the Earth -- they also had a greater number of larger species compared to all other back-boned animals -- scientists suggest in a new paper published in the journal PLOS ONE. The researchers, from Queen Mary, University of London, compared the size
- [New Dinosaur: First Freshwater Mosasaur Discovered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-dinosaur-first-freshwater-mosasaur-discovered/) - Dec. 19, 2012 — A new mosasaur species discovered in Hungary is the first known example of this group of scaled reptiles to have lived in freshwater river environments similar to modern freshwater dolphins. The research is published Dec. 19 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Laszlo Makadi from the Hungarian Natural History Museum,
- [Paleo-Ocean Chemistry: New Data Challenge Old Views About Evolution of Early Life](https://geologicalenterprises.com/paleo-ocean-chemistry-new-data-challenge-old-views-about-evolution-of-early-life/) - Dec. 23, 2012 — A research team led by biogeochemists at the University of California, Riverside has tested a popular hypothesis in paleo-ocean chemistry, and proved it false. The fossil record indicates that eukaryotes -- single-celled and multicellular organisms with more complex cellular structures compared to prokaryotes, such as bacteria -- show limited morphological and
- [Evidence Contradicts Idea That Starvation Caused Saber-Tooth Cat Extinction](https://geologicalenterprises.com/evidence-contradicts-idea-that-starvation-caused-saber-tooth-cat-extinction/) - Dec. 26, 2012 — In the period just before they went extinct, the American lions and saber-toothed cats that roamed North America in the late Pleistocene were living well off the fat of the land. That is the conclusion of the latest study of the microscopic wear patterns on the teeth of these great cats
- [Researchers Find First Evidence of Ice Age Wolves in Nevada](https://geologicalenterprises.com/researchers-find-first-evidence-of-ice-age-wolves-in-nevada/) - Dec. 13, 2012 — A University of Nevada, Las Vegas research team recently unearthed fossil remains from an extinct wolf species in a wash northwest of Las Vegas, revealing the first evidence that the Ice Age mammal once lived in Nevada. The metapodial, or foot bone, was uncovered late last year by UNLV geologist Josh
- [Rare Fossil Related to Crabs, Lobsters, Shrimp: Exceptionally Well Preserved, Including Shell and Soft Parts](https://geologicalenterprises.com/rare-fossil-related-to-crabs-lobsters-shrimp-exceptionally-well-preserved-including-shell-and-soft-parts/) - Dec. 12, 2012 — An international team of researchers have made an extremely rare discovery of a species of animal -- related to crabs, lobsters and shrimps -- that is new to science. Scientists from the universities of Leicester, Oxford, Imperial and Yale have announced their discovery of a new and scientifically important fossil species
- [Emergence of Flowering Plants: New Light Shed On Darwin's 'Abominable Mystery'](https://geologicalenterprises.com/emergence-of-flowering-plants-new-light-shed-on-darwins-abominable-mystery/) - Dec. 6, 2012 — Research by Indiana University paleobotanist David L. Dilcher and colleagues in Europe sheds new light on what Charles Darwin famously called "an abominable mystery": the apparently sudden appearance and rapid spread of flowering plants in the fossil record. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers present
- [Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs Also Wiped out the 'Obamadon'](https://geologicalenterprises.com/science-news-from-universities-journals-and-other-research-organizations-save-email-print-share-asteroid-that-killed-the-dinosaurs-also-wiped-out-the-obamadon/) - Dec. 10, 2012 — The asteroid collision widely thought to have killed the dinosaurs also led to extreme devastation among snake and lizard species, according to new research -- including the extinction of a newly identified lizard Yale and Harvard scientists have named Obamadon gracilis. "The asteroid event is typically thought of as affecting the
- [Scientists Find Oldest Dinosaur -- Or Closest Relative Yet](https://geologicalenterprises.com/scientists-find-oldest-dinosaur-or-closest-relative-yet/) - ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2012) — Researchers have discovered what may be the earliest dinosaur, a creature the size of a Labrador retriever, but with a five foot-long tail, that walked the Earth about 10 million years before more familiar dinosaurs like the small, swift-footed Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus. The findings mean that the dinosaur lineage appeared
- [America's Ancient Hurricane Belt and the U.S.-Canada Equator](https://geologicalenterprises.com/americas-ancient-hurricane-belt-and-the-u-s-canada-equator/) - ScienceDaily (Nov. 15, 2012) — The recent storms that have battered settlements on the east coast of America may have been much more frequent in the region 450 million years ago, according to scientists. New research pinpointing the positions of the Equator and the landmasses of the USA, Canada and Greenland, during the Ordovician Period
- [Oldest Fossil of Giant Panda Family Discovered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/dest-fossil-of-giant-panda-family-discovered/) - ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2012) — New fossils found in Spain are thought to be of the oldest recorded ancestor of the giant panda. The fossils reveal the origins of this unique bear, as described in a paper published Nov. 14 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Juan Abella and colleagues from the National
- [New Ancient Shark Species Gives Insight Into Origin of Great White](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-ancient-shark-species-gives-insight-into-origin-of-great-white/) - ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2012) — The great white shark is one of the largest living predatory animals and a magnet for media sensationalism, yet its evolutionary history is as misunderstood as its role as a menace. 77Related Ads: •Fish Species •Science News •Shark Fishing •Evolution See Also: Plants & Animals •Fish •Sea Life •New Species
- [Date of Earliest Animal Life Reset by 30 Million Years](https://geologicalenterprises.com/date-of-earliest-animal-life-reset-by-30-million-years/) - ScienceDaily (June 28, 2012) — University of Alberta researchers have uncovered physical proof that animals existed 585 million years ago -- 30 million years earlier than previous records show. The discovery was made by U of A geologists Ernesto Pecoits and Natalie Aubet in Uruguay. They found fossilized tracks a centimeter-long, slug-like animal left behind
- [Newly Discovered Dinosaur Implies Greater Prevalence of Feathers; Megalosaur Fossil Represents First Feathered Dinosaur Not Closely Related to Birds](https://geologicalenterprises.com/newly-discovered-dinosaur-implies-greater-prevalence-of-feathers-megalosaur-fossil-represents-first-feathered-dinosaur-not-closely-related-to-birds/) - ScienceDaily (July 2, 2012) — A new species of feathered dinosaur discovered in southern Germany is further changing the perception of how predatory dinosaurs looked. The fossil of Sciurumimus albersdoerferi,which lived about 150 million years ago, provides the first evidence of feathered theropod dinosaurs that are not closely related to birds. The fossil is described
- [Feathered Saurians: Downy Dinosaur Discovered](https://geologicalenterprises.com/feathered-saurians-downy-dinosaur-discovered/) - ScienceDaily (July 3, 2012) — The new fossil find from the chalk beds of the Franconian Jura evokes associations with a pet cemetery, for the young predatory dinosaur reveals clear traces of fluffy plumage. It also poses an intriguing question: Were all dinosaurs dressed in down? The fossil of the fledgling saurian, probably newly hatched
- [Earliest Record of Mating Fossil Vertebrates: Nine Pairs of Fossilized Turtles Died While Mating 47 Million Years Ago](https://geologicalenterprises.com/earliest-record-of-mating-fossil-vertebrates-nine-pairs-of-fossilized-turtles-died-while-mating-47-million-years-ago/) - ScienceDaily (June 20, 2012) — The fossil record consists mostly of the fragmentary remains of ancient animals and plants. But some finds can provide spectacular insights into the life and environment of ancient organisms. The Messel Fossil Pit, a UNESCO world heritage site south of Frankfurt in western Germany, is well known for yielding fossils
- [Ancient Giant Turtle Fossil Was Size of Smart Car](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-giant-turtle-fossil-was-size-of-smart-car/) - ScienceDaily (May 17, 2012) — Picture a turtle the size of a Smart car, with a shell large enough to double as a kiddie pool. Paleontologists from North Carolina State University have found just such a specimen -- the fossilized remains of a 60-million-year-old South American giant that lived in what is now Colombia. he
- [Were Dinosaurs Undergoing Long-Term Decline Before Mass Extinction?](https://geologicalenterprises.com/were-dinosaurs-undergoing-long-term-decline-before-mass-extinction/) - ScienceDaily (May 1, 2012) — Despite years of intensive research about the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs about 65.5 million years ago, a fundamental question remains: were dinosaurs already undergoing a long-term decline before an asteroid hit at the end of the Cretaceous? A study led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History gives
- [Old Fish Makes New Splash: Coelacanth Find Rewrites History of the Ancient Fish](https://geologicalenterprises.com/old-fish-makes-new-splash-coelacanth-find-rewrites-history-of-the-ancient-fish/) - ScienceDaily (May 2, 2012) — Coelacanths, an ancient group of fishes that were once thought to exist only in fossils, made headlines in 1938 when one of their modern relatives was pulled alive from the ocean. Now coelacanths are making another splash -- and University of Alberta researchers are responsible for the discovery. Lead U
- [Mysterious 'Monster' Discovered by Amateur Paleontologist](https://geologicalenterprises.com/mysterious-monster-discovered-by-amateur-paleontologist/) - ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2012) — For 70 years, academic paleontologists have been assisted by a dedicated corps of amateurs known as the Dry Dredgers. Recently, one amateur found a very large and very mysterious fossil that has the professionals puzzled.Around 450 million years ago, shallow seas covered the Cincinnati region and harbored one very large
- [Egg-Laying Beginning of the End for Dinosaurs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/egg-laying-beginning-of-the-end-for-dinosaurs/) - ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2012) — Their reproductive strategy spelled the beginning of the end: The fact that dinosaurs laid eggs put them at a considerable disadvantage compared to viviparous mammals. Together with colleagues from the Zoological Society of London, Daryl Codron and Marcus Clauss from the University of Zurich investigated and published why and how
- [Evidence for a Geologic Trigger of the Cambrian Explosion](https://geologicalenterprises.com/evidence-for-a-geologic-trigger-of-the-cambrian-explosion/) - ScienceDaily (Apr. 18, 2012) — The oceans teemed with life 600 million years ago, but the simple, soft-bodied creatures would have been hardly recognizable as the ancestors of nearly all animals on Earth today. Then something happened. Over several tens of millions of years -- a relative blink of an eye in geologic terms --
- [Duck-Billed Dinosaurs Endured Long, Dark Polar Winters](https://geologicalenterprises.com/duck-billed-dinosaurs-endured-long-dark-polar-winters/) - ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2012) — Duck-billed dinosaurs that lived within Arctic latitudes approximately 70 million years ago likely endured long, dark polar winters instead of migrating to more southern latitudes, a recent study by researchers from the University of Cape Town, Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas and Temple University has found. The researchers
- [The Viking journey of mice and men](https://geologicalenterprises.com/the-viking-journey-of-mice-and-men/) - ScienceDaily (Mar. 19, 2012) — House mice (Mus musculus) happily live wherever there are humans. When populations of humans migrate the mice often travel with them. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology has used evolutionary techniques on modern day and ancestral mouse mitochondrial DNA to show that the timeline
- [T. Rex's Killer Smile Revealed](https://geologicalenterprises.com/t-rexs-killer-smile-revealed/) - ScienceDaily (Mar. 18, 2012) — One of the most prominent features of life-size models of Tyrannosaurus rex is its fearsome array of flesh-ripping, bone-crushing teeth. Until recently, most researchers who studied the carnivore's smile only noted the varying sizes of its teeth. But University of Alberta paleontologist Miriam Reichel discovered that beyond the obvious size
- [Mystery Human Fossils Put Spotlight On China](https://geologicalenterprises.com/mystery-human-fossils-put-spotlight-on-china/) - ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2012) — Fossils from two caves in south-west China have revealed a previously unknown Stone Age people and give a rare glimpse of a recent stage of human evolution with startling implications for the early peopling of Asia. The fossils are of a people with a highly unusual mix of archaic and
- [Two New Species of Horned Dinosaur Named](https://geologicalenterprises.com/two-new-species-of-horned-dinosaur-named/) - ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2012) — Two new horned dinosaurs have been named based on fossils collected from Alberta, Canada. The new species, Unescopceratops koppelhusae and Gryphoceratops morrisoni, are from the Leptoceratopsidae family of horned dinosaurs. The herbivores lived during the Late Cretaceous period between 75 to 83 million years ago. The specimens are described in
- [Ancestor of Biggest Dinosaurs: First Dinosaur Discovered in Spain Dates Back 15 Million Years Earlier Than Thought](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancestor-of-biggest-dinosaurs-first-dinosaur-discovered-in-spain-dates-back-15-million-years-earlier-than-thought/) - ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2012) — A research group from Aragon, that has the same name as the first Aragosaurus ischiaticus dinosaur discovered 25 years ago in Teruel, reveals that it lived 15 million years earlier than originally believed. Its new dating means that it was the ancestor of the Titanosauriforms, which includes the biggest dinosaurs.
- [Two New Extinct Camel Species Discovered at Panama Canal Excavation](https://geologicalenterprises.com/two-new-extinct-camel-species-discovered-at-panama-canal-excavation/) - ScienceDaily (Feb. 29, 2012) — The discovery of two new extinct camel species by University of Florida scientists sheds new light on the history of the tropics, a region containing more than half the world's biodiversity and some of its most important ecosystems. Plants & Animals New Species Nature Mammals Fossils & Ruins Fossils Early
- [Floor of Oldest Fossilized Forest Discovered: 385 Million Years Old](https://geologicalenterprises.com/floor-of-oldest-fossilized-forest-discovered-385-million-years-old/) - ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) — Scientists from Binghamton University and Cardiff University, and New York State Museum researchers, and have reported the discovery of the floor of the world's oldest forest in a cover article in the March 1 issue of Nature. "It was like discovering the botanical equivalent of dinosaur footprints," said Dr. William
- [T. Rex Has Most Powerful Bite of Any Terrestrial Animal Ever](https://geologicalenterprises.com/t-rex-has-most-powerful-bite-of-any-terrestrial-animal-ever/) - ScienceDaily (Feb. 28, 2012) — Research at the University of Liverpool, using computer models to reconstruct the jaw muscle of Tyrannosaurus rex, has suggested that the dinosaur had the most powerful bite of any living or extinct terrestrial animal. The team artificially scaled up the skulls of a human, alligator, a juvenile T. rex, and
- [Polysternon Isonae, a New Species of Turtle That Lived With Dinosaurs in Isona (Spanish Pyrenees)](https://geologicalenterprises.com/polysternon-isonae-a-new-species-of-turtle-that-lived-with-dinosaurs-in-isona-spanish-pyrenees/) - ScienceDaily (Feb. 27, 2012) — Researchers* have recently published in the online edition of the journal Cretaceous Research the discovery and description of a turtle from the end of the age of dinosaurs.They have named this new species as Polysternon isonae, in recognition of the municipality of Isona I Conca Dellà (Catalonia, Spain), where the
- [300-Million-Year-Old Forest Discovered Preserved in Volanic Ash](https://geologicalenterprises.com/300-million-year-old-forest-discovered-preserved-in-volanic-ash/) - ScienceDaily (Feb. 20, 2012) — Pompeii-like, a 300-million-year-old tropical forest was preserved in ash when a volcano erupted in what is today northern China. A new study by University of Pennsylvania paleobotanist Hermann Pfefferkorn and colleagues presents a reconstruction of this fossilized forest, lending insight into the ecology and climate of its time. Pfefferkorn, a
- [Why Do Dinosaur Skeletons Look So Weird?](https://geologicalenterprises.com/why-do-dinosaur-skeletons-look-so-weird/) - ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2012) — Many fossilized dinosaurs have been found in a twisted posture. Scientists have long interpreted this as a sign of death spasms. Two researchers from Basel and Mainz now come to the conclusion that this bizarre deformations occurred only during the decomposition of dead dinosaurs. More or less complete and articulated
- [Entire Genome of Extinct Human Decoded from Fossil](https://geologicalenterprises.com/entire-genome-of-extinct-human-decoded-from-fossil/) - ScienceDaily (Feb. 7, 2012) — The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, Germany, has completed the genome sequence of a Denisovan, a representative of an Asian group of extinct humans related to Neandertals. In 2010, Svante Pääbo and his colleagues presented a draft version of the genome from a small fragment of a
- [Fossils in South Africa Reveal Dinosaur Nesting Site: 190 Million Years Old](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossils-in-south-africa-reveal-dinosaur-nesting-site-190-million-years-old/) - ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2012) — An excavation at a site in South Africa has unearthed the 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus -- revealing significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behaviour in early dinosaurs. A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), was led
- [Ancient domesticated dog skull found in Siberian cave: 33,000 years old ](https://geologicalenterprises.com/ancient-domesticated-dog-skull-found-in-siberian-cave-33000-years-old/) - ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2012) — A 33,000-year-old dog skull unearthed in a Siberian mountain cave presents some of the oldest known evidence of dog domestication and, together with an equally ancient find in a cave in Belgium, indicates that modern dogs may be descended from multiple ancestors. If you think a Chihuahua doesn't have much
- [Plant Eating Dinosaur Discovered in Antarctica](https://geologicalenterprises.com/plant-eating-dinosaur-discovered-in-antarctica/) - ScienceDaily (Dec. 19, 2011) — For the first time, the presence of large bodied herbivorous dinosaurs in Antarctica has been recorded. Until now, remains of sauropoda -- one of the most diverse and geographically widespread species of herbivorous dinosaurs -- had been recovered from all continental landmasses, except Antarctica. Dr. Ignacio Alejandro Cerda, from CONICET
- [North America's Biggest Dinosaur Revealed](https://geologicalenterprises.com/north-americas-biggest-dinosaur-revealed/) - ScienceDaily (Dec. 7, 2011) — New research from Montana State University's Museum of the Rockies and the State Museum of Pennsylvania has unveiled enormous bones from North America's biggest dinosaur. In a paper published Dec. 6 in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, MSU researcher Denver W. Fowler and coauthor Robert M. Sullivan from Harrisburg, Pa., describe two
- [Fossil Bulletin #61 Available for Download](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossil-bulletin-61-available-for-download/) - Just released is our new Fossil Bulletin #61. Click below to download! Fossil Bulletin #61 (Best Quality - Big File, Slower Download) Fossil Bulletin #61 (Lower Resolution - Faster Download)
- ['Skin Bones' Helped Large Dinosaurs Survive, New Study Says](https://geologicalenterprises.com/skin-bones-helped-large-dinosaurs-survive-new-study-says/) - ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2011) — Bones contained entirely within the skin of some of the largest dinosaurs on Earth might have stored vital minerals to help the massive creatures survive and bear their young in tough times, according to new research by a team including a University of Guelph scientist. Guelph biomedical scientist Matthew Vickaryous
- [We are on Facebook](https://geologicalenterprises.com/we-are-on-facebook/) - You can now find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Geological-Enterprises-Inc/275198302499741
- [LARGE NEST OF JUVENILE DINOSAURS, FIRST OF THEIR GENUS EVER FOUND](https://geologicalenterprises.com/large-nest-of-juvenile-dinosaurs-first-of-their-genus-ever-found/) - ScienceDaily (Nov. 21, 2011) — A nest containing the fossilized remains of 15 juvenile Protoceratops andrewsi dinosaurs from Mongolia has been described by a University of Rhode Island paleontologist, revealing new information about postnatal development and parental care. It is the first nest of this genus ever found and the first indication that Protoceratops juveniles
- [Volcanoes and Meteorites deliver one-two punch to Dinosaurs](https://geologicalenterprises.com/volcanoes-and-meteorites-deliver-one-two-punch-to-dinosaurs/) - Princeton University researchers found that massive, prolonged eruptions of the Deccan Traps in India gradually eliminated species and resulted in the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Marine sediment trapped between Deccan lava flows revealed that a species known as planktonic foraminifera — widely used to gauge the severity
- [New Fossil Bulletin #61](https://geologicalenterprises.com/new-fossil-bulletin-61/) - Our new fossil bulletin #61 is back from the printer. We hope to have them ready for mailing next week, and they should be up on the web site in a downloadable form by next week. If you would like a printed version, they will be available for $10. Order one today and we will
- [Oldest Fossils Found](https://geologicalenterprises.com/73/) - Team Claims It Has Found Oldest Fossils By NICHOLAS WADE Published: August 21, 2011 A team of Australian and British geologists have discovered fossilized, single-cell organisms that are 3.4 billion years old and that the scientists say are the oldest known fossils on earth. David Wacey Their assertion, if sustained, confirms the view that life evolved
- [Check out our new Fossil Catalogs for 2010](https://geologicalenterprises.com/2010-fossil-catalogs/) - Just released is our new 2010 Bulletin and Catalog. Click below to download the Fossil catalogs! 2010 Fossil Bulletin 2010 Fossil Catalog
- [Amusing Paleontologist Music Video](https://geologicalenterprises.com/paleontologist-music-video/) - They Might Be Giants - I Am a Paleontologist w/Danny Weinkauf from They Might Be Giants on Vimeo.
- [Fossils of dinosaur-era crocodiles found in Sahara](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossils-of-dinosaur-era-crocodiles-found-in-sahara/) - Five exotic crocodiles that lived alongside the dinosaurs 100 million years ago, including one sporting boar-like tusks and another with a duckbill snout, have been discovered in the Sahara. Unlike their modern cousins, the ancient crocodilians were as agile on land as they were in the water. They were reptiles like the dinosaurs, but belonged
- [Central Africa's Tropical Congo Basin Was Arid, Treeless In Late Jurassic](https://geologicalenterprises.com/central-africas-tropical-congo-basin-was-arid-treeless-in-late-jurassic/) - The Congo Basin -- with its massive, lush tropical rain forest -- was far different 150 million to 200 million years ago. At that time Africa and South America were part of the single continent Gondwana. The Congo Basin was arid, with a small amount of seasonal rainfall, and few bushes or trees populated the
- [What are Fossils](https://geologicalenterprises.com/what-are-fossils/) - Fossils (from Latin fossus, literally "having been dug up") are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous (fossil-containing) rock formations and sedimentary layers (strata) is known as the fossil record. The study of fossils

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- [Testimonials](https://geologicalenterprises.com/testimonials/) - It is a pleasure working with Donna at Geological Enterprises. Very professional service and takes the time and effort to make sure everything is done correctly and as efficiently as possible. Donna is highly motivated to satisfy customer requests and goes the extra yard to make sure the transaction or service is performed at the
- [Contact](https://geologicalenterprises.com/contact-us/) - We'd love to hear from you, here are our contact details: Geological Enterprises PO Box 996 Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402 USA e-Mail: admin@geologicalenterprises.com phone: 580-223-8537
- [About](https://geologicalenterprises.com/about-us/) - Hello, Thanks for visiting our website. A little about us…. The very first mail order retail fossil business was started by Geological Enterprises. In 1956, we began supplying fossils to Museum, Universities and private individuals on all continents. . Long before the Internet and email, we were marketing fossils to the public and institutions that were
- [Fossils For Sale](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossils-for-sale/) - Bulletin#64 Fossil Catalog #29 Our bulletin and catalog have the largest inventory of fossils in the world today. They are available for download free of charge by clicking the links above, or, you can request a print copy for a nominal fee. The Bulletin is $10 and contains a more complete listing of fossils for sale. The Fossil
- [FAQ](https://geologicalenterprises.com/fossil-faq/) - Frequently Asked Questions WHO IS GEOLOGICAL ENTERPRISES, INC.? Geological Enterprises has been in the business of excavating, preparing and selling fossils for over 50 years. We are a major supplier of museum and educational quality specimens worldwide. We have donated thousands of specimens for scientific research and continue to do so. For the last 50

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