by Waisum Ma Introduction: Oviraptorosauria is a group of theropod dinosaurs that first appeared around 125 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous period. They evolved into diverse forms before being wiped out 66 million years ago in the extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, an event that killed all the non-avian dinosaurs. The first known oviraptorosaurian — called Oviraptor — was unearthed in 1923 by the American Museum of Natural History expedition team in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. It was found near some eggs assumed to be from the dinosaur Protoceratops, which led researchers ..read more

by Hannah C. Bird Introduction: Ichnology is the study of trace fossils, the physical evidence for the activities of organisms that lived millions of years ago. Trace fossils depict activities such as walking, resting, feeding and burrowing, which can be represented by tracks ranging from recognizable large footprints to long, grooved trails (Fig. 1). One organism can be responsible for multiple trackways: for example, the extinct invertebrate arthropods called trilobites are known to have produced the burrowing trace Cruziana as well as the resting trace Rusophycus. Figure 1 — Examples of tra ..read more

by Charlotte M. Bird 1 Introduction: Imagine you are an avid fossil hunter and have just dug up a skull of an extinct vertebrate. You are the first human ever to see it. Not only is that amazing, but you are also at the start of a journey into discovering how this organism lived: whether it was diurnal (active during the day) or nocturnal, whether it hunted above ground or burrowed, had poor vision or an exceptional sense of smell. Despite the millions of years that may have passed, the growing field of virtual palaeontology provides a new world of analysis techniques that can help palaeontolo ..read more

by Jack Wilkin*1 Introduction: The Morrison Formation is renowned worldwide as one of the world’s most significant locations for dinosaur fossils. It covers more than 150 million square kilometres, running from Alberta in Canada to New Mexico in the United States, and from Idaho across to Nebraska (Fig. 1). The Morrison dates to the Oxfordian stage of the late Jurassic period, some 155 million to 148 million years ago. It is what is known as a Konzentrat-Lagerstätten, meaning that it has a very high concentration of fossil remains, with extensive bone beds created by flash floods depositing lo ..read more

by The Palaeontology [online] editorial board*1 Introduction: At the turn of most years, the some of the editorial board at Palaeontology [online] takes the opportunity to reflect on the past year in palaeontology. Given that we published a wonderful overview of Diploporitans in January, this year we’ve moved our look over our favourite studies from last year to February. Palaeontology and associated disciplines are fast-moving and exciting areas of science — looking back at 2018 lets us highlight just a few of the key developments that really show this. Picking just one article each is diffic ..read more

by Waisum Ma Introduction: Oviraptorosauria is a group of theropod dinosaurs that first appeared around 125 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous period. They evolved into diverse forms before being wiped out 66 million years ago in the extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, an event that killed all the non-avian dinosaurs. The first known oviraptorosaurian — called Oviraptor — was unearthed in 1923 by the American Museum of Natural History expedition team in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. It was found near some eggs assumed to be from the dinosaur Protoceratops, which led researchers ..read more

by Hannah C. Bird Introduction: Ichnology is the study of trace fossils, the physical evidence for the activities of organisms that lived millions of years ago. Trace fossils depict activities such as walking, resting, feeding and burrowing, which can be represented by tracks ranging from recognizable large footprints to long, grooved trails (Fig. 1). One organism can be responsible for multiple trackways: for example, the extinct invertebrate arthropods called trilobites are known to have produced the burrowing trace Cruziana as well as the resting trace Rusophycus. Figure 1 — Exampl ..read more

by Charlotte M. Bird 1 Introduction: Imagine you are an avid fossil hunter and have just dug up a skull of an extinct vertebrate. You are the first human ever to see it. Not only is that amazing, but you are also at the start of a journey into discovering how this organism lived: whether it was diurnal (active during the day) or nocturnal, whether it hunted above ground or burrowed, had poor vision or an exceptional sense of smell. Despite the millions of years that may have passed, the growing field of virtual palaeontology provides a new world of analysis techniques that can help palae ..read more

by Jack Wilkin*1 Introduction: The Morrison Formation is renowned worldwide as one of the world’s most significant locations for dinosaur fossils. It covers more than 150 million square kilometres, running from Alberta in Canada to New Mexico in the United States, and from Idaho across to Nebraska (Fig. 1). The Morrison dates to the Oxfordian stage of the late Jurassic period, some 155 million to 148 million years ago. It is what is known as a Konzentrat-Lagerstätten, meaning that it has a very high concentration of fossil remains, with extensive bone beds created by flash floods deposi ..read more