Latest news with #NationalMuseumofNaturalHistory
Time of India
15-07-2025
- Science
- Time of India
66-million-year-old fossil egg found in Antarctica may change what we know about sea reptiles
A strange-looking fossil egg that had been sitting unnoticed in a museum for years is finally getting the attention it deserves– and it's offering a glimpse into Antarctica's ancient marine life. The egg, which was found decades ago on Seymour Island in Antarctica, had puzzled researchers for a long time. It was large, soft-shelled, and oddly deflated, which earned it the nickname 'The Thing' at Chile's National Museum of Natural History, where it was kept. For years, no one knew exactly what it came from. But now, scientists believe it likely belonged to a massive marine reptile– possibly a type of sea lizard or ancient snake– that lived more than 66 million years ago, during the age of dinosaurs. Fossil from the Age of Dinosaurs The fossil egg– estimated to be between 66 and 68 million years old– was found by a Chilean team in the same rocky area where dinosaur bones had previously been uncovered. It's a big one too. At around 29 by 20 centimeters (roughly 11 by 8 inches), it's now considered the second-largest egg ever discovered. Only the egg of Madagascar's extinct elephant bird– a massive, flightless species– has it beat in size. 'A deflated football' with historical significance According to Lucas Legendre, a palaeontologist at the University of Texas, 'This new egg is the very first fossil egg from Antarctica, and the largest soft-shelled egg ever discovered.' He added, 'It is elongated, collapsed, with many creases and folds on its surface. One side is flattened, suggesting this is where it came in contact with the sea floor. Its eggshell is very thin and poorly mineralised, like in the eggs of lizards and snakes. ' His team's findings were published in the journal Nature, offering new evidence that challenges long-standing beliefs about marine reptile reproduction. Stored in Chile, studied across continents Since it was first uncovered, the fossil has been kept at Chile's National Museum of Natural History. For years, its origin remained a mystery. But after a closer look and detailed analysis, researchers were finally able to trace it back to massive marine reptiles– likely mosasaurs or plesiosaurs– that swam the oceans during the Late Cretaceous period. Shifting scientific understanding Until now, scientists had assumed that such marine reptiles were entirely viviparous, meaning they gave birth to live young. However, the discovery of this fossil egg suggests otherwise, indicating that some of these ancient creatures may have laid eggs. Note: Images in this article were generated using Canva AI and are for illustrative purposes only.
Euronews
11-07-2025
- Euronews
Bulgaria ends fruitless search for dangerous and elusive black panther
After nearly two weeks of high alert and a complete lockdown of Bulgaria's Shumen Plateau Nature Park, the active search for a suspected black panther has come to an end without any trace of the predator, according to domestic media. The search, which began on 19 June, was prompted by a widely circulated video and paw prints that initially led to fears that a dangerous wild feline was roaming free. However, zoologists from the National Museum of Natural History have since raised doubts. For one, Dr Stoyan Lazarov believes that the paw print likely belonged to a large dog. A report from fellow zoologist, Professor Nikolay Spasov, supported this claim, also stating the print was not feline in origin. Despite days of tracking and deploying camera traps and baited stations, no apparent sightings or physical traces were found. The animal's movements appear 'erratic and unpredictable," said Georgi Krastev, director of the Central Balkan National Park, who helped coordinate the search. Lazarov also noted that a creature raised in captivity, such as a black leopard or jaguar, would likely gravitate toward populated areas in search of food, rather than hiding deep in the woods. The absence of livestock attacks or sightings in nearby villages only deepens the uncertainty. Some experts now question whether the animal was ever there. Others suggest it may have migrated from or to neighbouring countries, including Romania, Hungary or Serbia. In recent years, authorities have dealt with several unusual cases — from a tame alligator found living between apartment blocks in Sofia in 2024, to a caracal captured in Plovdiv in 2019, and a leopard that escaped a zoo in Lovech in 2014 before being shot by local hunters, according to domestic media reports. Authorities continue to suspect the black panther spotted in Shumen may have escaped from an illegal exotic pet owner, though there have been no further developments on that front. The panther goes viral While the mystery of the elusive black panther in Bulgaria's Shumen Plateau may have come to an anticlimactic, albeit still open-ended conclusion, it has sparked a wave of humour across the country and the wider region. Social media has been flooded with memes and AI-generated images of the big cat, as well as folk songs about the black panther or puma from Shumen. Businesses were also quick to capitalise on the unexpected publicity, adding references to the panther into their marketing. In Romania, for instance, restaurants have created images of the panther enjoying local delicacies such as beer and kebabs, domestic media reported. The latest joke came from Romania's emergency services, who posted an AI-generated photo of firefighters rescuing a black panther from a tree — a post that quickly went viral with thousands of likes and shares. The Romanian emergency department was quick to point out that the humorous AI-generated post was also intended to highlight the need for increased awareness of fake content and disinformation, in an educational twist to their joke. Authorities in Bulgaria have stated that monitoring for the black panther will continue, with signs posted throughout the park advising visitors to enter at their own risk. Locals are advised to avoid forested areas alone and remain calm if they encounter the animal, as the predator can turn aggressive if it feels threatened.
Miami Herald
09-07-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Winged reptile so small it could perch on your shoulder identified from AZ fossil
A fossil from a seagull-sized winged reptile that lived millions of years ago was found in Arizona, and the creature has now been identified as a new species. The new type of pterosaur, named Eotephradactylus mcintireae, was identified by a Smithsonian-led research team, according to a July 7 news release from the institution. It's known as the 'ash-winged dawn goddess.' The creature 'would have been small enough to comfortably perch on a person's shoulder,' per Smithsonian officials. It also had 'a long jaw with several types of teeth for different purposes,' including curved fangs for grabbing prey and blade-like teeth for slicing it up, paleontologist Ben Kligman said in a July 8 email to McClatchy News. He said the pterosaur likely feasted on 'primitive fish related to living gar.' Researchers — including Kligman, a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History — documented the new species in a study published July 7 in the peer-reviewed journal PNAS, or Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. First occurrence The pterosaur's jawbone with teeth came from a remote area in northeastern Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park, Smithsonian officials said. The site also contained numerous other fossils from different creatures, including 'an ancient turtle with spike-like armor,' according to Smithsonian officials. 'These fossils, which date back to the late Triassic period around 209 million years ago, preserve a snapshot of a dynamic ecosystem where older groups of animals, including giant amphibians and armored crocodile relatives, lived alongside evolutionary upstarts like frogs, turtles and pterosaurs,' Smithsonian officials said. Kligman noted in his email that 'the presence of the pterosaur Eotephradactylus living and interacting in a community alongside groups like frogs, lizard relatives, and turtles is the first occurrence of this community type in the fossil record.' Those groups were found living together in later eras, he said, but not before a massive extinction event that killed about three-quarters of species on the planet about 201 million years ago. That 'means that the assembly of modern vertebrate communities was not the direct result of the end-Triassic extinction, and had been taking place well before it,' he said. Stands out During Eotephradactylus mcintireae's time, the fossil site area 'was positioned in the middle of Pangaea and sat just above the equator,' according to Smithsonian officials, who noted that 'the semi-arid environment was crisscrossed by small river channels and likely prone to seasonal floods' that sent ash and sediment into the channels. The creatures found in the site were likely buried in such a flood, Smithsonian officials said. The site was discovered several years ago, and the pterosaur jaw fossil was eventually uncovered by Suzanne McIntire, a longtime volunteer in the Smithsonian's FossiLab, Smithsonian officials said. The new species was named partly for her. The ash-winged dawn goddess is the oldest-known pterosaur in North America, according to Smithsonian officials. Kligman said 'a big part of why (it) stands out is that it was found fossilized in sediments deposited in a river. Most early pterosaurs are found in oceanic sediments. We hope that our (study's) recognition of pterosaurs from new environments of the Pangaean continent will help future researchers in the search for more of these rare fossils.' Kay Behrensmeyer from the Smithsonian and Robin Whatley from Columbia College Chicago were study co-leads. Other authors were Jahandar Ramezani, Adam D. Marsh, Tyler R. Lyson, Adam J. Fitch and William G. Parker.
USA Today
09-07-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Pterosaur fossils discovered in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park
Tucked away in a remote bonebed in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park laid hundreds of fossils, including a fragile jawbone belonging to one of the oldest-known flying reptiles: the pterosaur. The discovery of the oldest flying vertebrate in North America by a group of researchers fills a gap in the fossil record proving that pterosaurs coexisted with frogs, turtles and older groups of animals like giant amphibians. The recently discovered fossils date back to the late Triassic period – about 209 million years ago, scientists said. The discovery of at least 16 vertebrate species includes seven previously unknown species. Paleontologist Ben Kligman of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History led the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Kligman told USA TODAY the initial motivation of this field work was to find layers of rock that might preserve early mammal fossils. "As so often happens in the field of paleontology: you go looking for one thing and you find something totally different." said Kligman. These fossils, which date back to the late Triassic period, provide a snapshot in time of a once dynamic ecosystem of different species living together. The fossil site is also key for understanding the evolutionary origins of both turtles and pterosaurs, Kligman added. "The site captures the transition to more modern terrestrial vertebrate communities where we start seeing groups that thrive later in the Mesozoic living alongside these older animals that don't make it past the Triassic," according to Kligman. Where was the pterosaur discovered? The Petrified Forest National Park in Northeast Arizona is known for producing fossils of plants and animals from the Triassic time period, Reuters reported. Remains of the pterosaur along with primitive frogs, lizard-like reptiles and one of the oldest-known turtles were all discovered in the national park. Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to achieve powered flight, followed much later by birds and bats, Reuters reported. The oldest-known fossils of these seagull-sized reptiles were found in Europe and date back to around 215 million years, researchers said. But pterosaurs are thought to have appeared even further back – roughly 230 million years ago, around the same time as the earliest dinosaurs. The newly identified pterosaur – Eotephradactylus mcintire – is named after Suzanne McIntire, who discovered the fossil after it has been brought to Smithsonian's FossiLab along with 1,200 other individual fossils. "What was exciting about uncovering this specimen was that the teeth were still in the bone, so I knew the animal would be much easier to identify," McIntire said in a statement. The name means 'ash-winged dawn goddess,' and refers to the fossil site's volcanic ash and the animals' position near the base of the pterosaur evolutionary tree, according to a statement from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. The Triassic era came on the heels of Earth's biggest mass extinction 252 million years ago, and then ended with another mass extinction 201 million years ago that wiped out many of the major competitors to the dinosaurs, according to Reuters. While frogs and turtles are still around today, pterosaurs dominated the skies until the asteroid impact 66 million years ago that ended the age of dinosaurs, Reuters reported. How large was the pterosaur? The pterosaur's wingspan was about three feet and its skull was about four inches long. It had curved fangs at the front of its mouth for grabbing fish as it flew over rivers, and blade-like teeth in the back of the jaw for slicing prey, Reuters reported. The researchers said Eotephradactylus would have had a tail, as all the early pterosaurs did. Contributing: Will Dunham, Reuters
Newsweek
07-07-2025
- Science
- Newsweek
Paleontologists Discover One of North America's Earliest Flying Reptiles
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The oldest known pterosaur fossil ever found outside of Europe has just been discovered in Arizona, offering new insights into the flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs hundreds of millions of years ago. In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers led by paleontologist Ben Kligman, of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, examine a fossilized jawbone of the new species. The gull-sized pterosaur was found at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona along with hundreds of other fossils dating back 209 million years—to the late Triassic period,—filling a gap in the fossil record just before the end-Triassic extinction. An artist's impression of the newly identified pterosaur Eotephradactylus mcintirea An artist's impression of the newly identified pterosaur Eotephradactylus mcintirea Brian Engh From what the researchers were able to gather, the new species of pterosaur—dubbed Eotephradactylus mcintireae after Suzanne McIntire, the FossiLab volunteer who discovered it—was small enough to comfortably perch on a person's shoulder. It likely fed on the site's fish. These findings, unearthed from the Owl Rock Member that outcrops in a remote and less explored area of the site, reveal that at that time older animals like giant amphibians and armored crocodile relatives lived alongside newer species such as early frogs, turtles and pterosaurs. "The site captures the transition to more modern terrestrial vertebrate communities where we start seeing groups that thrive later in the Mesozoic living alongside these older animals that don't make it past the Triassic," Kligman said in a statement. "Fossil beds like these enable us to establish that all of these animals actually lived together." Ben Kligman, a Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow and paleontologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, quarrying a bonebed in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park in 2025. Ben Kligman, a Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow and paleontologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, quarrying a bonebed in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park in 2025. Ben Kligman, Smithsonian. Back in 2011, a team co-led by research geologist Kay Behrensmeyer, the National Museum of Natural History's curator of vertebrate paleontology, was exploring challenging terrain when they came across the fossil rich bonebed, which turned out to be preserving an entire Triassic ecosystem. "That's the fun thing about paleontology: you go looking for one thing, and then you find something else that's incredible that you weren't expecting," said Kligman, who began working on this site as part of his doctorate in 2018. Volunteers working on fossils from a Petrified Forest National Park bonebed in the FossiLab on view to museumgoers in the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils – Deep Time at the Smithsonian's National Museum of... Volunteers working on fossils from a Petrified Forest National Park bonebed in the FossiLab on view to museumgoers in the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils – Deep Time at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. More Ben Kligman, Smithsonian. Scientists believe that during the Triassic period, this part of Arizona was an arid place positioned in the middle of Pangaea right above the equator, later submerged by a flood that likely buried all the creatures preserved in the bonebed. Among the creatures unearthed at the site was also an ancient turtle with spike-like armor and shell, which at the same time was also present in Germany. This discovery suggests that turtles dispersed rapidly across Pangaea, despite their size and speed. Do you have a science story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about fossils? Let us know via science@ Reference Kligman, B. T., Whatley, R. L., Ramezani, J., Marsh, A. D., Lyson, T. R., Fitch, A. J., Parker, W. G., & Behrensmeyer, A. K. (2025). Unusual bone bed reveals a vertebrate community with pterosaurs and turtles in equatorial Pangaea before the end-Triassic extinction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122.
