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A nearly complete skull of an omphalosaurid

Omphalosaurids were an enigmatic group of Mesozoic marine reptiles known mainly from fragmentary fossils from the Lower and Middle Triassic. The new publication describes the first nearly complete skull of an omphalosaurid from the Lower Triassic of Svalbard; it belongs to a new species, Ammonitritor scientacivium.

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Science News

Early origins of life on Earth

Before DNA became central to life, it is thought that RNA molecules may have stored genetic information and replicated themselves. This period is called the RNA world. Computer modelling of Earth’s surface temperature indicates that around 4.33 billion years ago conditions began to mitigate,

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Science News

Cadomella – still mysterious

The Liassic brachiopod Cadomella belongs to the class Rhynchonellata, but its exact systematic position remains a mystery. This paper summarises many years of fieldwork and research in museum collections in France, England, Germany, and Portugal: available occurrence data have been compiled and verified,

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Long-necked Triassic reptile from Poland

The Triassic was a period in which many extant reptile groups originated, but it also gave rise to forms that exhibited unique anatomical features. Tanystropheus was characterised by an extremely elongate neck, which could have reached around half of its total body length.

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Science News

Recovery after the Taghanic extinction

The fifth and final paper in a series devoted to the rich brachiopod fauna from Józefka near Górno (Holy Cross Mountains, Poland) concerns species from the upper Givetian. Twenty species are described, two of which are new.

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Science News

Marine vertebrates from the Permian–Triassic boundary

The Permian–Triassic mass extinction was the largest extinction event in Earth's history, completely reshaping marine and terrestrial ecosystems. However, Early Triassic marine vertebrate fossils are rare,

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