Paleontologists in Brazil have identified a new genus and species of hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur — an extinct lineage of beaked, herbivorous reptiles — based on a partial skull and lower jaws recovered from Triassic rocks. Named Isodapedon varzealis, the species appears to represent a distinct branch within a group that was once thought to be less…
CT scans of a decades-old specimen from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History show a new species of short-snouted crocodylomorph with unusually strong jaws, offering a rare snapshot of ecological specialization in the Late Triassic epoch. Eosphorosuchus lacrimosa (left) is disturbed by Hesperosuchus agilis (right) near a Coelophysis carcass at what will become modern-day…
A new genus and species of carnivorous herrerasaurian dinosaur has been described from an incomplete but well-preserved skull found in northern New Mexico, the United States. An artistic rendition of Ptychotherates bucculentus. Image credit: Megan Sodano / Virginia Tech. The new dinosaur species roamed our planet around 201 million years ago during the Rhaetian stage…
Using high-resolution CT and synchrotron scanning, paleontologists confirmed that the fossilized specimen from the Early Triassic of the South African Karoo Basin contains an unborn dicynodont Lystrosaurus, resolving a long-standing mystery about whether early mammal ancestors laid eggs. The researchers suggest the dicynodont eggs were likely soft-shelled, explaining why they have remained elusive for so…
Known from a single skull discovered in South Africa in 1952, Cistecynodon parvus has been shuffled across the evolutionary tree: described at various times as a close relative of advanced cynodonts, a juvenile of another species and even something outside the group altogether. Now, a new study using computed tomography (CT) scans to digitally reconstruct…
Paleontologists have described a new species of enigmatic cyclidan crustacean on the basis of three well-preserved specimens from the Early Triassic Guiyang biota of China. Yunnanocyclus fortis. Image credit: Sun et al., doi: 10.1002/spp2.70052. Cyclidans are a distinctive group of arthropods that first appeared in the Carboniferous period and survived until the Late Cretaceous. Their…
