Newly discovered / described fossil species 2020

[Hipporex]

My bad, I had a brain fart there...

It's all good, we all make mistakes.

July 22, 2020: New genus and species of tetanuran dinosaur, Vectaerovenator inopinatus, from the Isle of Wight. It lived 116 million years ago (Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch).

• Study: Dryad Data -- A highly pneumatic ‘mid Cretaceous’ theropod from the British Lower Greensand
• Article: New Carnivorous Dinosaur Unearthed on Isle of Wight | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

August 04, 2020: Prehistoric beaver Dipoides gnawed trees for harvesting food, not building dams. The genus lived 4 million years ago (Zanclean stage of the Pliocene epoch) in what is now the Canadian High Arctic.

• Study: Evolution of woodcutting behaviour in Early Pliocene beaver driven by consumption of woody plants | Scientific Reports
• Article: Ancient Beavers Gnawed Trees for Harvesting Food, Not To Build Dams | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

August 13, 2020: The woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) went extinct due to climate change, study says.

• Study: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31071-X
• Article: Climate Change Drove Woolly Rhinoceros to Extinction: DNA Study | Genetics, Paleontology | Sci-News.com

 

[Hipporex]

July 28, 2020: The cave lion (Panthera spelaea) was a distinct species and not an extinct subspecies of the modern lion (Panthera leo).

• Study: Early Pleistocene origin and extensive intra-species diversity of the extinct cave lion | Scientific Reports
• Article: Two Subspecies of Cave Lion Identified | Genetics, Paleontology | Sci-News.com

August 12, 2020: New species of crested penguin, Eudyptes atatu, from New Zealand. It lived 3.2 million years ago (Piacenzian stage of the Pliocene epoch).

• Study: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.1497
• Article: Ancient Crested Penguin Unearthed in New Zealand | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

August 13, 2020: Silurian trilobite Aulacopleura koninckii was equipped with a fully modern type of visual system - an apposition compound eye comparable to that of living bees, dragonflies, and many diurnal crustaceans. It lived 429 million years ago (Homerian stage of the Silurian period)

• Study: Insights into a 429-million-year-old compound eye | Scientific Reports
• Article: Silurian Trilobite Had Modern Type of Compound Eye | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

 

[Hipporex]

August 18, 2020: Multiple "nearby" supernova explosions may have contributed to the ozone depletion and several subsequent extinction events at the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary, approximately 359 million years ago, study says.

• Study: Supernova triggers for end-Devonian extinctions
• Article: Nearby Supernovae Caused Late Devonian Extinctions, Scientists Say | Astronomy, Paleontology | Sci-News.com

August 19, 2020: New study helps explain how non-avian dinosaur skeletons supported massive loads.

• Study: Differing trabecular bone architecture in dinosaurs and mammals contribute to stiffness and limits on bone strain
• Article: New Study Helps Explain How Dinosaur Skeletons Supported Massive Loads | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

August 20, 2020: A thalattosaur Xinpusaurus was found inside the ichythosaur Guizhouichthyosaurus.

• Study: https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(20)30534-4
• Article: Paleontologists Find Massive Marine Reptile in Stomach of Triassic Ichthyosaur | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

 

[Hipporex]

August 26, 2020: First evidence of caimans preying upon ground sloths. Specifically, the massive Purussaurus neivensis preyed upon a Pseudoprepotherium. The two lived in South America during the Miocene epoch.

• Study: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0239
• Article: Giant Miocene Caiman Preyed on Ground Sloths | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

August 27, 2020: Paleontologists find evidence of hibernation-like state in the tusks of the mammal relative Lystrosaurus. Lystrosaurus lived from 255 to 250 million years ago (late Permian to Early Triassic) in what is now Antarctica, India, China, Mongolia, European Russia and South Africa.

• Study: Evidence of torpor in the tusks of Lystrosaurus from the Early Triassic of Antarctica | Communications Biology
• Article: Paleontologists Find Evidence of Hibernation-Like State in Tusks of Triassic Mammal Relative | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

Auguest 27, 2020: Paleontologists find perfectly preserved embryo inside 80-million-year-old (Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch) titanosaurian dinosar egg. The egg was uncovered in Argentina.

• Study: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31150-7
• Article: Paleontologists Find Perfectly Preserved Embryo inside 80-Million-Year-Old Titanosaurian Egg | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

 

[Hipporex]

July 29, 2020: Two species of Jurassic lacewings mimicked lichen to hide from predators.

• Study: Lichen mimesis in mid-Mesozoic lacewings | eLife
• Article: Jurassic Lacewings Mimicked Lichen to Hide from Predators | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

September 01, 2020: New study suggests that American mastodons (Mammut americanum) repeatedly expanded into northern latitudes in response to interglacial warming.

• Study: American mastodon mitochondrial genomes suggest multiple dispersal events in response to Pleistocene climate oscillations | Nature Communications
• Article: American Mastodons Migrated Across Vast Distances Due to Warming Climate, DNA Study Says | Genetics, Paleontology | Sci-News.com

September 03, 2020: News flash people, Jason Statham lied to you. Is this our most anatomically accurate look at megalodon (Otodus megalodon) yet?

• Study: Body dimensions of the extinct giant shark Otodus megalodon : a 2D reconstruction | Scientific Reports
• Article: Scientists Reconstruct Body Dimensions of Megalodon | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

 

[Hipporex]

September 7, 2020: New genus and species of placoderm fish, Minjinia turgenensis, from Mongolia. It lived 410 million years ago (Pragian stage of the Devonian period). Observations of its fossil suggests that cartilaginous sharks may have evolved from bony ancestors.

• Study: Endochondral bone in an Early Devonian ‘placoderm’ from Mongolia | Nature Ecology & Evolution
• Article: Devonian Fossil Shows Sharks May Have Evolved from Bony Ancestors | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

September 9, 2020: New genus and species of lesser ape, Kapi ramnagarensis, from India. It lived 13.8 million years ago (Serravallian stage of the Miocene epoch). This discovery fills temporal, morphological, and biogeographic gaps in hominoid evolution and provides new evidence about when the ancestors of modern gibbons migrated to Asia from Africa.

• Study: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.1655
• Article: 13-Million-Year-Old Gibbon Ancestor Discovered in India | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

September 10, 2020: New species of eurypterid arthropod, Adelophthalmus pyrrhae, from France. It lived 340 million years ago (Viséan stage of the Carboniferous period). Evidence has been found that these marine creatures were able to breathe in subaerial environments through their main respiratory organs.

• Study: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31188-X
• Article: Carboniferous-Period Sea Scorpion Was Capable of Breathing Air | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

 

[Hipporex]

August 28, 2020: More Spinosaurus news?! Yes, calm down child. New study of spinosaur teeth suggests Spinosaurus aegyptiacus was indeed a semi-aquatic dinosaur.

• Study: Taphonomic evidence supports an aquatic lifestyle for Spinosaurus - ScienceDirect
• Article: Spinosaurus aegyptiacus Had Aquatic Lifestyle, Fossil Discovery Confirms | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

September 8, 2020: New genus and species of ornithopod, Changmiania liaoningensis, from China’s Liaoning Province. It lived 123 million years ago (Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch).

• Article: A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China
• Study: Paleontologists Discover New Species of Ornithopod Dinosaur | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

September 16, 2020: Paleontologists realize the Carnian Pluvial Episode (which occurred 234 to 232 million years ago (Late Triassic epoch)), was a mass extinction event.

• Article: Paleontologists Identify New Mass Extinction Event | Paleontology | Sci-News.com
• Study: Extinction and dawn of the modern world in the Carnian (Late Triassic) | Science Advances

 

[Hipporex]

September 17, 2020: New genus and species of crocodyliform, Ogresuchus furatus, from Eurasia. It lived during the Late Cretaceous epoch. The fossil was found in a dinosaur nesting area. Infer from that what you will.

• Study: A small Cretaceous crocodyliform in a dinosaur nesting ground and the origin of sebecids | Scientific Reports

September 21, 2020: New genus and species of sperm whale, Rhaphicetus valenciae, from Peru. It lived during the lower Miocene.

• Study: A new longirostrine sperm whale (Cetacea, Physeteroidea) from the lower Miocene of the Pisco Basin (southern coast of Peru)

September 23, 2020: New genus of mosasaur, Gnathomortis, from Colorado. It swam between 81 and 79 million years ago (Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch). It was previously considered a member of the genus Prognathodon. Roughly translated Gnathomortis means "jaws of death."

• Study: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2020.1784183
• Article: Paleontologist Describes New Genus of Mosasaurs: Gnathomortis | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

 

[Junklekitteb]

Kapi ramnagarensis

Kapi means ape or monkey in Karnataka, and Ramnagara is a district in the statez where my school is and where I go birding. However, this was apparently found in the far north. Coincidence!

 

[Hipporex]

September 16, 2020: New species of trilobite, Gravicalymene bakeri, from Tasmania. It lived approximately 450 million years ago (Katian stage of the Late Ordovician) and was named after Thomas Stewart Baker, the fourth actor to play the title character in the television series Doctor Who.

• Study: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03115518.2020.1797874
• Article: Fossils of New Trilobite Species Found in Tasmania | Paleontology | Sci-News.com

September 28, 2020: New genus and species of mosasaur, Gavialimimus almaghribensi, from Morocco. It lived between 72 and 66 million years ago (Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch).

• Study: New Species of Mosasaur Unveiled in Morocco | Paleontology | Sci-News.com
• Article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2020.1818322

October 7, 2020: New genus and species of two-fingered oviraptorosaur, Oksoko avarsan, from Mongolia. It lived approximately 68 million years ago (Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch).

• Study: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.201184
• Article: New Bird-Like Dinosaur Unearthed in Mongolia | Featured, Paleontology | Sci-News.com

 

[KevinB]

Description of the first duck-billed dinosaur (Hadrosauridae, Lambeosaurinae) found in Africa, Ajnabia odysseus (derived from an Arab word meaning foreigner and the Greek seafarer legend), from a mine in Morocco, with some interesting implications for the dispersal of dinosaurs across oceans.

Meet Ajnabia odysseus, First Duck-Billed Dinosaur from Africa | Paleontology | Sci-News.com
The first duckbill dinosaur fossil from Africa hints at how dinosaurs once crossed oceans
The first duckbill dinosaur (Hadrosauridae: Lambeosaurinae) from Africa and the role of oceanic dispersal in dinosaur biogeography - ScienceDirect

 

[Chlidonias]

A new species of monk seal from three million years ago was recently described from New Zealand (paper published this month) which suggests that monk seals evolved in the Southern Hemisphere and not the Northern as previously thought. The fossil species, Eomonachus belegaerensis, was about 2.5 metres long and 200-250kg in weight (described as "giant" in the press reports). The specific name is after the fictional Belegaer Sea in The Lord of the Rings.

Popular article: Giant seal fossil found in New Zealand hints they evolved in the south

Scientific paper (abstract): https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.2318

Living true seals (phocids) are the most widely dispersed semi-aquatic marine mammals, and comprise geographically separate northern (phocine) and southern (monachine) groups. Both are thought to have evolved in the North Atlantic, with only two monachine lineages—elephant seals and lobodontins—subsequently crossing the equator. The third and most basal monachine tribe, the monk seals, have hitherto been interpreted as exclusively northern and (sub)tropical throughout their entire history. Here, we describe a new species of extinct monk seal from the Pliocene of New Zealand, the first of its kind from the Southern Hemisphere, based on one of the best-preserved and richest samples of seal fossils worldwide. This unanticipated discovery reveals that all three monachine tribes once coexisted south of the equator, and forces a profound revision of their evolutionary history: rather than primarily diversifying in the North Atlantic, monachines largely evolved in the Southern Hemisphere, and from this southern cradle later reinvaded the north. Our results suggest that true seals crossed the equator over eight times in their history. Overall, they more than double the age of the north–south dichotomy characterizing living true seals and confirms a surprisingly recent major change in southern phocid diversity.