Latest Paleontologists Stories

A limestone countertop, a practiced eye and Google Earth all played roles in the discovery of a trove of fossils that may shed light on the origins of African wildlife.The circuitous and serendipitous story, featuring University of Michigan paleontologists Philip Gingerich, Gregg Gunnell and Bill Sanders, is the subject of a segment on the award-winning television series "Wild Chronicles," currently airing on public television stations (Episode 412"”Looking Back; check listings...

By Zoe Elizabeth Buck, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Jul. 31--A fossil researcher at a Washington state museum has triggered doubts about the discovery of Tyrannosaurus rex tissue by N.C. State paleontologist Mary Schweitzer. Three years ago, Schweitzer's team gained international headlines with the news they had uncovered the thigh bone of a 70 million-year-old dinosaur in Montana with what appeared to be blood vessels and maybe even whole cells embedded inside. The discovery shook...

Scientists who dig dinosaurs in Eastern Montana will now be able to chemically analyze fossils the same day they're excavated and before degrading begins.Paleontologists from Montana State University, North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences recently bought and renovated a mobile laboratory that Dan Redding of Rudyard drove to Eastern Montana for the summer.The lab is the first of its kind and a dream come true, said Mary Higby Schweitzer, a North...