paleontology news stories on Newser

Couple Finds Prehistoric Bison in Basement

Rob Quinn — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:06:44 CDT

A Yukon couple digging up their basement to install a power line made a find that has excited paleontologists. What the couple initially believed was a dinosaur bone turned out to be the intact skeleton of a bison that had lain there undisturbed for 10,000 years, reports the Globe...

Chechnya Claims to Have Found Giant Dinosaur Eggs

Rob Quinn — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:49:57 CDT

Scientists in Chechnya are claiming to have stumbled upon the biggest dinosaur eggs ever found—but their colleagues elsewhere are more than a little skeptical. A geologist at the volatile Russian republic's state university says that after a highway crew blasted through a hillside, geologists found some 40 huge fossilized...

Dinosaurs May Have Lived in Water: Scientist

Kevin Spak — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:10:38 CDT

Was T-Rex some kind of gigantic, stubby-armed shark? Cambridge University professor Brian J. Ford thinks so. In a recent paper, Ford argues that dinosaurs were just too large to exist on dry land. "Every time you see these images, they are always the same. You have these huge dinosaurs crunching...

Whale Graveyard Puzzles Experts

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:50:35 CST

A newly discovered graveyard of ancient whales in Peru has scientists wondering how on Earth the bus-sized mammals all ended up dying in the same place. "That's the top question," says the director of a nearby museum. Their current location—the middle of a highway under construction on a desert...

In Nevada, Proof of the Kraken?

Kate Schwartz — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:40:00 CDT

Sasquatch should be really nervous right now... First, Siberian officials announced they had proof that Yeti exists . Now a Massachusetts paleontologist says he has indirect evidence that the fearsome kraken once roamed the seas. At the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Mark McMenamin yesterday posited that the...

High Tech Paints 3D Image of Ancient Beast of the Deep

Nick McMaster — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:47:10 CST

The 50-foot monster was the terror of the Earth's oceans some 150 million years ago, with its giant head packing a crocodile-esque jaw and razor sharp teeth that savaged anything in its way. Or at least that's the picture that's emerging of the pliosaur, as imaging scientists and paleontologists use...

Dino Birth Pushed Back 9M Years

Rob Quinn — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 03:40:24 CDT

Researchers analyzing footprints in 250 million-year-old Polish rock say they've identified the oldest dinosaur-like species ever discovered. Prorodatcylus walked on four legs, was about the size of a house cat, and lived in the shadow of its "more diverse, successful, and abundant crocodile-like cousins" for millions of years, according to...

Utah's 'Lost World' Yields 15-Horned Dino

Rob Quinn — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 06:28:00 CDT

A pair of dinosaur species discovered in Utah rank among the horniest beasts ever to walk the Earth, researchers say. One, Kosmoceratops, had 15 full-sized horns on its head, which was roughly 6.5 feet long. Researchers believe the impressive display helped the dinosaur compete for mates, much like peacock...

Utility Crew Stumbles on 1.4M-Year-Old Fossils

Kevin Spak — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:57:21 CDT

It didn’t take an archaeological expedition to unearth California’s oldest saber-toothed cat skeleton—it took a crew of construction workers, who were trying to break ground on a new substation for Riverside County. And that’s not all they found. The workers had stumbled upon a “treasure trove” of fossils that...