テキサス州北部で発掘された化石から、巨大な海生爬虫類の新しい種「ティロサウルス・レクス」が特定されました。体長約13メートルのこのモササウルス類は約8000万年前に生息しており、同種の中でも最大級の大きさを誇ります。研究チームは2026年5月21日にこの研究成果を発表しました。
この発見は、アメリカ自然史博物館、ダラスのペロー自然科学博物館、および南メドウ大学の研究者らによって主導されました。筆頭著者のアメリア・ジートロウ氏は、当初別の種と誤認されていた化石について、詳細な比較を行った結果、より大型であることや細かくギザギザした歯など、際立った特徴が明らかになったと述べています。1979年にダラス郊外の貯水池付近で発見されたこのホロタイプ標本は、現在ペロー自然科学博物館で展示されています。
Researchers have identified a massive new species of long-necked dinosaur in Thailand that ranks as the largest ever found in Southeast Asia. The discovery adds to the growing list of prehistoric finds in the region.
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Researchers have described a previously unknown sauropod dinosaur from fossils found in Argentina's Chubut province. The creature, called Bicharracosaurus dionidei, reached about 20 meters in length and lived around 155 million years ago.
Researchers have uncovered evidence that octopuses from the Late Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago, grew to lengths of nearly 20 meters and hunted as top predators. The findings, based on well-preserved fossil jaws from Japan and Vancouver Island, challenge previous views of early octopus evolution. Professor Yasuhiro Iba of Hokkaido University led the study, published in Science on April 23.
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Scientists have uncovered more than two dozen dinosaur tracks dating back 132 million years in a small rock outcrop near Knysna, South Africa. These footprints, the youngest known in southern Africa, indicate dinosaurs persisted in the region into the early Cretaceous Period. The discovery challenges previous gaps in the local fossil record following ancient lava flows.
Researchers have described a previously unknown crocodile species that lived alongside early human ancestors in Ethiopia more than 3 million years ago. The animal, formally named Crocodylus lucivenator, was likely the top predator in its ecosystem.
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A fossil fish discovered nearly 30 years ago on New Zealand's Pitt Island has finally been fully studied after researchers recovered the original collector's missing field notebooks. The 1.2-meter specimen, identified as an ancient tarpon-like predator, was named Ikawaihere koehleri. The completed research was published recently in the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics.