Scienceblogtwo

Just over 250 million years ago, at the conclusion of the Permian and the beginning of the Triassic, reptiles enjoyed a huge coming-out party. Their rates of evolution and diversity started to soar, resulting in an absurdly wide range of skills, body types, and features. This contributed to their being recognized as one of the most prosperous and diverse animal groupings the world has ever seen, including both their extinct lineages and those that still live today. For a long time, scientists believed that this bloom was the result of reptile competitors being wiped out by two of the most devastating mass extinctions in earth history. Around 261 and 252 million years ago, these things happened. A recent study conducted by Harvard that rebuilt how the bodies of prehistoric reptiles developed and matched it to the results of millions of years of climate change has altered this theory. The research of Harvard paleontologist Stephanie Pierce demonstrates that early reptiles began to divers...

A strange and extremely small species of crocodile lived in north-west Queensland about 13.5 million years ago; scientists are just now learning more about it. Modern technology has enabled University of Queensland researchers to uncover previously hidden anatomical information about the prehistoric Trilophosuchus rackhami. Jorgo Ristevski, a PhD candidate at the faculty of science, claimed it was the most in-depth analysis of the skull anatomy of an ancient Australian crocodile ever done. We were able to digitally isolate each bone by micro-CT scanning the well preserved cranium, according to Mr. Ristevski. "Trilophosuchus rackhami would have grown to be between 70 and 90 centimeters long and weigh one to two kilos, which is quite small compared to the majority of modern crocodiles. This crocodile had a small snout and three distinct ridges on the top of its skull, giving it a genuinely unusual appearance. The 1993 name Trilophosuchus rackhami, which translates to "Rackham...

(UCC) paleontologists have discovered the reason that hundreds of ancient frogs died 45 million years ago while attempting to mate. The underwater death trap in the Geiseltal region of central Germany claimed the lives of over 50,000 prehistoric species, including hundreds of frogs, horses, birds, and bats. Because of its unusual geological features and abundance of fossils, the former coalfield of Geiseltal in Saxony-Anhalt is considered as a scientific treasure trove because it provides a unique perspective on how the Earth's plants and animals developed over millions of years. The Geiseltal region was a swampy subtropical forest over 50 million years ago, during the middle Eocene, when Earth was significantly warmer. Anurans, or frogs and toads, as well as giant crocodiles, enormous snakes, lizards, ground-dwelling birds, and ancestors of the horse lived there                                    ...

Researchers can examine the effects of environmental crises on organismal evolution by looking at major extinctions brought on by climate change that occurred in the distant past. The Permian-Triassic climatic crises, a sequence of climatic changes brought on by global warming that took place between the Middle Permian (265 million years ago) and Middle Triassic, serve as one prominent example (230 million years ago). At the conclusion of the Permian, these climatic changes led to two of the worst mass extinctions in the history of life, the first occurring at 261 million years ago and the second at 252 million years ago, the latter wiping out 86% of all animal species worldwide. The end-Permian extinctions were significant not only because of their size but also because they signaled the beginning of a new period in Earth's history, one in which reptiles predominated as the main group of land-dwelling vertebrates. Synapsids, the forerunners of mammals, dominated the land vertebrat...

According to recent findings, huge dinosaur predators changed the structure of their eye sockets to better withstand strong bite forces. New research suggests that in order to better withstand strong bite forces, huge dinosaur predators like Tyrannosaurus rex evolved various forms of eye sockets. The eye socket in many animals, including the majority of dinosaurs, is just a circular opening in the skull that houses the eyeball; however, this is not the case in huge carnivores. According to a recent study, these predators' distinctive circular or oval eye sockets may have developed to lessen the impact on their skulls as they pounced on prey. Today, August 11, 2022, the results of this study by University of Birmingham researchers were published in Communications Biology. Tyrannosaurus rex skull and life reconstruction with original eye socket and eye (on the left), and fictitious reconstruction with circular eye socket and enlarged eye (on the right) (right). Dr. Stephan Lautenschl...

In a farmer's field in Gloucestershire, England, a remarkable ancient site with animal remains from a tropical sea has been found. The fossils were amazingly well preserved and were found beneath a field where an old breed of English Longhorn cattle formerly grazed. Although the fossils are about 183 million years old, they appear to have been frozen in time. The remnants of fish, ancient marine reptiles, squids, uncommon insects, and more have been discovered for the first time within three-dimensionally preserved limestone concretions by a team of paleontologists. The fossils were discovered in a stratum of inland rock that was last exposed in the UK more than a century ago. It offers a rare chance to unearth fossils from a time when this region of the nation was submerged in water. The newly discovered location is at Court Farm in Kings Stanley, Gloucestershire, not far from Stroud. Fossil collectors Sally and Neville Hollingworth made the find. The BBC One documentary "Att...

It turns out that the fossilized teeth discovered in the 1970s belonged to a new, sizable near cousin of the contemporary giant panda. Scientists have discovered a new species of panda, which they claim is now the last known and "most advanced" European giant panda. Around six million years ago, it lumbered through the Bulgarian swamps covered in forest. Two fossilized teeth, first found in the country of eastern Europe in the late 1970s, have been unearthed from the depths of the Bulgarian National Museum of Natural History, offering fresh proof of a big cousin of the contemporary giant panda. Contrary to the well-known black and white bear of today, it did not only eat bamboo. Professor Nikolai Spassov of the Museum says, "Although not a direct progenitor of the contemporary genus of the giant panda, it is its near relative." His results were just published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. This revelation underscores how little we still und...