A UW-led research team has discovered the best-preserved fossil feathers from the Mesozoic era 鈥� in fossilized dinosaur poop. Some of these feathers have features that look like modern birds鈥� feathers. This finding can help researchers better understand why and how some birds survived the catastrophic event 66 million years ago that killed 75% of life on the planet.
A research team led by the UW has identified a new species of an ancient rodent-like creature. The new species, named Cimolodon desosai, was about the size of a golden hamster, the researchers said. It likely scampered on the ground and in the trees and ate fruits and insects.
Which group of mammals has the more “primitive” reproductive strategy 鈥� marsupials, with their short gestation periods, or humans and other placental mammals, which have long gestation periods? For decades, biologists viewed marsupial reproduction as “more primitive.” But 天美影视传媒 scientists have discovered that a third group of mammals, the long-extinct multituberculates, had a long gestation period like placental mammals. Since multituberculates split off from the rest of the mammalian lineage before placentals and marsupials had even evolved, these findings question the view that marsupials were 鈥渓ess advanced鈥� than their placental cousins.
A team of paleontologists from the 天美影视传媒 and its Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture excavated four dinosaurs in northeastern Montana this summer. The four dinosaur fossils are: the ilium 鈥� or hip bones 鈥� of an ostrich-sized theropod, the group of meat-eating, two-legged dinosaurs that includes Tyrannosaurus rex and raptors; the hips and legs of a duck-billed dinosaur; a pelvis, toe claw and limbs from another theropod that could be a rare ostrich-mimic Anzu, or possibly a new species; and a Triceratops specimen consisting of its skull and other fossilized bones.
A new study published Feb. 24 in the journal Royal Society Open Science documents the earliest-known fossil evidence of primates. These creatures lived less than 150,000 years after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event that killed off non-avian dinosaurs and saw the rise of mammals.
A new study led by paleontologists at the 天美影视传媒 indicates that the earliest evidence of mammal social behavior goes back to the Age of Dinosaurs. A multituberculate that lived 75.5 million years ago, Filikomys primaevus engaged in multi-generational, group-nesting and burrowing behavior, and possibly lived in colonies.
Scientists have discovered an extraordinary collection of fossils that reveal in detail how life recovered after a catastrophic event: the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period.
Old myths state that, during the time of the dinosaurs, mammals and their relatives were small and primitive. But new research shows that, during the time of the dinosaurs, mammals and their relatives actually underwent two large ecological radiations, diversifying into climbing, gliding and burrowing forms with a variety of diets.
A new study published April 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences identified three factors critical in the rise of mammal communities since they first emerged during the Age of Dinosaurs: the rise of flowering plants; the evolution of tribosphenic molars in mammals; and the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs, which reduced competition between mammals and other vertebrates in terrestrial ecosystems.
Starting Aug. 12, the public can watch fossil preparation of the 天美影视传媒 Burke Museum’s Tyrannosaurus rex skull “live.”
Paleontologists picking through a bounty of fossils from Montana have discovered something unexpected 鈥� a new species of lizard from the late dinosaur era, whose closest relatives roamed in faraway Asia.
A new study by paleontologists at the Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture and the 天美影视传媒 describes an early marsupial relative called Didelphodon vorax that lived alongside dinosaurs and had, pound-for-pound, the strongest bite force of any mammal ever recorded.
Paleontologists with the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and the UW have discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex, including a very complete skull. The find, which paleontologists estimate to be about 20 percent of the animal, includes vertebrae, ribs, hips and lower jaw bones.