Recently, Chinese researchers described their discovery of the “earliest” bird fossil with fused pelvic bones, just like modern birds.¹ Also like modern birds, this fossil appears to be made of original bone, not mineralized bone (which would be rock). Could any process preserve actual bones for 120 million years?

Paleontologists found bits of crustacean shell inside well-preserved dinosaur dung. Besides being a first-time discovery, these dietary supplements challenge the herbivore status of the hadrosaurs that ate them. They also raise questions about why dinosaurs would deviate from their normal diet.