Monday, April 20, 2026

Palaeontologists discover new long-necked dinosaur in Patagonia

Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns

image:
Fossil extraction of *Bicharracosaurus dionidei*.
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Credit: Pablo Puerta

With their massive bodies, long necks and tails, and tiny heads, long-necked dinosaurs (sauropods) embody the image of a typical dinosaur for many people. Sauropods include the largest known land animals of all time, with body lengths of up to 40 meters; the best-known examples are Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus.

The new long-necked dinosaur from southern Argentina is not quite as large: the researchers estimate the length of Bicharracosaurus dionidei to be around 20 meters. Parts of its spine were recovered, including over 30 neck, back, and tail vertebrae, several ribs, and a fragment of the pelvic bone. The structure of the bones indicates that the remains belong to an adult animal that lived on the southern continent of Gondwana around 155 million years ago. The fossil is interesting to researchers in many ways: it combines a mix of characteristics from both brachiosaurids and diplodocids. For instance, some skeletal parts of Bicharracosaurus show similarities to the African Giraffatitan, a brachiosaurid from Tanzania. Other features, particularly those of its dorsal vertebrae, resemble Diplodocus and its closest relatives from North America.

“Our phylogenetic analyses of the skeleton indicate that Bicharracosaurus dionidei was related to the Brachiosauridae, which would make it the first Brachiosauridae from the Jurassic of South America,” says LMU doctoral student Alexandra Reutter, the study’s first author. The paleontologist analyzed the remains of the new dinosaur as part of her doctoral thesis.

“Our knowledge of the evolution of sauropods from the Late Jurassic has so far been based almost entirely on numerous fossil findings from North America and other sites in the Northern Hemisphere. For a long time, there was only a single significant site on the southern continents, in Tanzania. The fossil site in the Argentine province of Chubut, from which Bicharracosaurus dionidei originates, provides us with important comparative material, allowing us to continuously supplement and reevaluate our understanding of the evolutionary history of these animals, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere,” says leader of the study and dinosaur expert Prof. Oliver Rauhut of the Bavarian State Collections of Natural History (SNSB).

The first remains of Bicharracosaurus dionidei were discovered by shepherd Dionide Mesa on his farm, the researchers chose the species name of the new dinosaur in his honor. The genus name is derived from “bicharraco,” colloquial Spanish for “big animal”. The fossil comes from the Cañadón Calcáreo rock formation in the Patagonian province of Chubut and is housed at the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio in Trelew, Argentina.

Journal

PeerJ

DOI

10.7717/peerj.20945

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Bicharracosaurus dionidei, gen. et sp. nov., a new macronarian (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Late Jurassic Cañadón Calcáreo Formation of Argentina and the problematic early evolution of macronarians

Article Publication Date

16-Apr-2026

Fossil extraction of Bicharracosaurus dionidei.

Credit

Pablo Puerta

Bicharracosaurus vertebrae being prepared at the Egidio Feruglio Paleontological Museum in Trelew, Argentina.

Credit

Amalia Villafañe

Alexandra Reutter with remains of Bicharracosaurus dionidei at the Egidio Feruglio Paleontological Museum in Trelew, Argentina.

Credit

Amalia Villafañe

Reconstruction of Bicharracosaurus dionidei

Credit

Felipe Cutro-Lev

Giant Aussie dinosaur was well equipped to nibble on tasty bush tucker

Flinders University

artist's impression — image:
Muttaburrasaurus artwork courtesy of Travis Tischler (with permission of artist)
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Credit: artist Travis Tischler

In a surprising new study, Australia’s most famous plant-eating dinosaur has been described as a “picky eater with a nose for good food” when it roamed across the continent around 96 million years ago.

After examining different parts of the skull from new bones of the large-bodied ornithopod Muttaburrasaurus langdoni, fossil experts from across Australia and the US have released several new insights in a journal article published in PeerJ.

Lead author Dr Matthew Herne, from The University of New England, says that the discovery re-defines several assumptions made about the bumpy-nosed species, which is the fossil emblem of Queensland.

The first astonishing discovery was that Muttaburrasaurus had teeth at the tip of its snout.

“This was unexpected, because the beak (front part of the snout) of Muttaburrasaurus was thought to be toothless like many other well-known plant-eating species such as Iguanodon from Europe and the ‘duck-billed’ Hadrosaurs, mostly found in the Northern Hemisphere.

“But ornithischian dinosaurs of this size normally have beak-like snouts without teeth, with a good example of this being Triceratops,” says Dr Herne.

Therefore, the beak of this Australian dinosaur wasn’t toothless and most likely a pickier eater. With its narrow toothy beak, Muttaburrasaurus would have browed for particular leaves and seeds and possibly even invertebrates for variety in their diet.

This also means that Muttaburrasaurus evolved from an earlier offshoot of the ornithopod dinosaurs from Camptosaurus and Iguanodon, when the earlier forms of the small-bodied ornithischians all had toothed beaks.

This new finding can help place Muttaburrasaurus more accurately on the dinosaur tree of life.

The new bones, unearthed in the same historic site in central Queensland as the original skeleton named after the township of Muttaburra, also reveal some tantalising clues about the behaviour and life of the animals.

Coauthor Professor Vera Weisbecker, from Flinders University, says the findings were made by extracting the brain imprint on the skull and the inner ears.

“We realised that its inner ear was more like dinosaurs that walked on two legs, like Tyrannosaurus rex, than others that spent more time on all fours,” she says.

“So it’s possible that Muttaburrasaurus was a large herbivore walking and running on its hind legs when needed and used its front arms for support to crop food closer to the ground.”

The team also found that the characteristic ‘bulbous’ shape of Muttaburrasaurus’ nose is comprised of entirely new bones that are not found in other dinosaurs.

Dr Herne says finding the new bones was exciting because they revealed two large complex air chambers above the main inhaled airflow which would have slowed down air as it breathed in.

“So we suspect that they indicate a very acute sense of smell, perhaps to help the animal find food, detect predators or assist in directional navigation,” explains UNE Adjunct Research Fellow in Vertebrate Palaeontology Dr Herne, who is also affiliated with Queensland Museum and Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History in Queensland.

He says this feature of the nose also matches their very large olfactory bulbs – “among the largest of any dinosaur” – which are the parts of the brain where smell is processed.

Another coauthor Dr Joseph Bevitt, from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), says the use of advanced CT scanning, neutron scattering and synchrotron technologies provided detailed 3D digital models of the jaws and teeth.

These remarkable new insights into the skull of Muttaburrasaurus provided other intriguing findings, including:

THE DISCOVERY that premaxillary bones in the Muttaburrasaurus muzzle evolved to exclude the nasal bones from bordering the nostrils. This feature was only previously known in the hollow crested lambeosaurine hadrosaurs from the Northern Hemisphere, indicating possible independent convergent evolution between northern and southern hemisphere dinosaurs.

EYE SOCKET measurements and fleshed-out restoration of the head show that its vision was typical for a large herbivore, with a wide field of view to the sides but with little ability to see in front of itself. The wide panoramic vista experienced by Muttaburrasaurus could have helped it avoid predators or track its herd.

GEOLOGICAL evidence suggests that Muttaburrasaurus lived close to the inland Eromanga Sea that invaded much of central Australia from 140 million to 90 million years ago. The CT examination of nasal cavities suggest Muttaburrasaurus could have used specialised nasal salt glands to remove excess salt from coastal plants and possibly crustaceans it consumed at the end of the inland sea.

RATHER THAN shear or cutting, the newly acquired CT imagery of cheek teeth show that Muttaburrasaurus would have ground its food, like other ornithopods and in a similar way to horses, cows and kangaroos.

Researchers add there is still not enough evidence to tell whether Muttaburrasaurus lived in herds like many other large ornithischians such as the hadrosaurs or Triceratops.

The article, ‘Cranial anatomy, palaeoneurology, palaeobiology and stratigraphic age of the large-bodied ornithopod, Muttaburrasaurus langdoni Bartholomai and Molnar, 1981, from the mid-Cretaceous of Australia’ (2026) by Matthew C Herne, Joseph J Bevitt, Luke Milan (UNE), Scott A Hocknull (Biodiversity and Geoscience, Queensland Museum), Alan M Tait (Monash University), Charlotte M Allen (QUT), Andrew C Rozefelds (Queensland Museum), Ralph E Molnar (University of California, Berkeley), Vera Weisbecker (Flinders) and Phil R Bell (UNE) has been published in PeerJ DOI: 10.7717/peerj.20794. Images at the Googledrive here

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by a UNE Postdoctoral fellowship to Matthew C Herne and assistance was provided by the Barcaldine Regional Council, Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum and multiple research partners.

Queensland fossil expert Dr Matthew Herne at the Muttaburrasaurus site.

Credit

Photo by Chris Rohan

Muttaburrasaurus langdoni, left, illustrated in Queensland Australia, around 96 million years ago. Other dinosaurs include a Megaraptoran carnivore, small ornithopods and enantiornithine birds. Illustration courtesy James Kuether.

Credit

Courtesy artist James Kuether.

Journal

PeerJ

DOI

10.7717/peerj.20794

Method of Research

Imaging analysis

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Cranial anatomy, palaeoneurology, palaeobiology and stratigraphic age of the large-bodied ornithopod, Muttaburrasaurus langdoni Bartholomai and Molnar, 1981, from the mid-Cretaceous of Australia

Article Publication Date

13-Apr-2026

Student identifies new meat-eating dinosaur three times older than T. rex

Virginia Tech

image:
Simba Srivastava is a senior majoring in geosciences.
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Credit: Photo by Spencer Coppage for Virginia Tech.

“You want to stick your finger in a dinosaur brain?” asked Simba Srivastava.

Surrounded by cabinets full of ancient bones in the paleobiology lab, the Virginia Tech undergraduate student held out a lumpy, pockmarked fossil.

“This is a uniquely sucky specimen,” said Srivastava. “It's so bad. Like, if you saw a human skull in this way, you'd throw up.”

Nevertheless, the senior geosciences major spent two years unscrambling the ancient creature and determining its place in the story of evolution. His findings, which were published today in Papers in Palaeontology, shed light on how dinosaurs dominated the Jurassic period.

This is the type of work a long-tenured curator or a late-stage professor would do, but geobiologists Sterling Nesbitt and Michelle Stocker tapped Srivastava when he was a first-year student.

“We want undergraduate researchers to experience the whole paleontological research process at Virginia Tech,” said Nesbitt. “Simba grabbed the project by the reins.”

Dino domination

The mangled skull was uncovered twice: In 1982, a crew from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History unearthed it from New Mexico’s Ghost Ranch. Thirty-some years later, Nesbitt dug it out of a drawer and eventually brought it back to Blacksburg. Using computed tomography scanning data, Srivastava isolated the specimen digitally and 3D printed a reconstruction.

The skull belonged to a species of meat-eating dinosaur that’s more than three times as old as Tyrannosaurus Rex.

These creatures lived at the end of the Triassic period, which is about 252 million to 201 million years ago. Back then, dinosaurs weren’t the all-powerful apex predators portrayed by Hollywood. They were vying for resources against the forerunners of crocodiles and mammals.

But that all changed drastically when an extinction seemingly wiped out most of the competition. With that, the Triassic ended, and dinosaurs came into their power.

“Dinosaurs go from being co-stars to the headliner,” Srivastava said.

Clues about how dinosaurs evolved and spread in the succeeding Jurassic period lie buried in the rocks, but well-preserved fossils from the end of the Triassic are rare.

In fact, Srivastava’s squished specimen is the only one of its kind anyone has found so far.

The skull shows that the species had massive cheekbones, a wide braincase, and probably a short, deep snout. It was the first time these characteristics had been seen in early dinosaurs, indicating that they were constantly evolving, according to the study.

Murder muppet’s last stand

The name Srivastava picked for the new species reflects its bizarre proportions and unfortunate condition.

“We landed on Ptychotherates bucculentus, which means ‘folded hunter with full cheeks’ in Latin,” said Srivastava. “One paleo-artist said that it looked like a murder muppet.”

After two years of deep research, the Virginia Tech team was able to determine that the skull belonged to one of the last surviving members of one of the earliest-evolving families of carnivorous dinosaurs called Herrerasauria.

Thanks to this fossil, the group made another, somewhat surprising discovery.

Ptychotherates was found in rocks that may date to right before the great extinction at the end of the Triassic period — and no other members of their family was ever seen again, possibly suggesting that this dinosaur group went extinct as a result of that mass extinction.

“This forces us to reconsider the impact of the end-Triassic extinction as something that wiped out not just the competitors to dinosaurs, but some long-standing dinosaur lineages themselves,” Srivastava said.

And finally, because no herrerasaurians have been found anywhere else this late in the Triassic, the area that is today the American Southwest may have been where they survived the longest and made their last stand.

Srivastava’s folded hunter is their only spokesperson.

“This specimen, it fits in my hands, but it is the only proof that any of these dinosaurs lived this long, lived in these latitudes, the only proof that they evolved to have this skull shape,” said Srivastava. “All these billions of individuals that existed through time are spoken for by this one specimen.”

Original study: DOI 10.1002/spp2.70069

Journal

Papers in Palaeontology

DOI

10.1002/spp2.70069

Elephant genomes reveal a past of continental connectivity and a future of increasing isolation

University of Copenhagen

image:
Elephants in Rwanda. In the largest genomic study of African elephants to date, an international team of researchers analysed 232 whole genomes from both savanna and forest elephants, collected across 17 African countries.
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Credit: Photo credit: Laura Bertola

In the largest genomic mapping of Africa's elephants, an international team of researchers shows that elephant history is defined by the ability to move across large distances and exchange genes throughout the African continent. But as the elephants’ living space is becoming increasingly patchy, the study documents the visible genetic consequences of isolation – and points to approaches that help to incorporate genomics into current and future elephant conservation.

In the largest genomic study of African elephants to date, an international team of researchers analysed 232 whole genomes from both savanna and forest elephants, collected across 17 African countries. This is the first large-scale, continent-wide genetic study since African elephants were recognized as two separate species. To achieve this herculean task, the researchers used samples that have been biobanked during previous genetic research more than 30 years ago and generated high-quality genomes through the iConserve program of the biotechnology company Illumina.

The results, which are now published in Nature Communications, show genetic signs of isolation in several populations, where elephant herds have been cut off from each other due to a history of hunting, as well as growing human populations and their needs for agriculture and infrastructural developments.

"Our study shows that until recently, elephants have been connected across vast distances. This freedom of movement has created genetic robustness because the populations have intermingled. Today, the picture is different. Elephants are living in a world where space is more and more restricted and some populations are becoming isolated," says the study’s lead author, Assistant Professor Patrícia Pečnerová of the University of Copenhagen and Lund University.

Remote areas are worst affected

Two remote areas in north-eastern Africa, in Eritrea and Ethiopia, are home to elephant populations that are small in number and quite isolated. The elephants there are more than 400 kilometres away from other populations and are enclosed by human settlements and agricultural areas. Here, researchers found a high degree of inbreeding, low genetic variation, and an accumulation of mildly deleterious mutations, which make them more vulnerable to changes in the environment and diseases.

A similar, but more nuanced pattern emerges in West Africa, where high human population densities and a long history of the ivory trade have also isolated and reduced elephant populations. Contrary to expectations, savanna elephants in west-central Africa do not show the same loss of genetic variation seen in the isolated populations in Eritrea and Ethiopia. While they are similarly inbred due to past bottlenecks and isolation, the impact on genetic variation is partly masked because forest elephant genes flowed into these populations through interspecies hybridization.

Savanna and forest elephants are known to hybridize in a small number of locations where their habitats meet. Surprisingly, this study also found that even savanna elephants far from the hybrid zone carry trace amounts of forest elephant ancestry. Whether this reflects a different position of the hybrid zone in the past or forest genes being carried across the continent by the movement of elephants, remains unclear. Yet, it highlights that while genetic exchange has been fundamental within species, it also has occurred between the two African elephant species.

However, when it comes to implications for conservation, Professor Alfred Roca of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a senior author of the study, calls for caution:

“By reconstructing their genomic history, we found that savanna and forest elephants followed very different population trajectories over the last four million years, with over 85% of overall elephant genetic variation due to the differences between them. Given this history, gene flow between the species is unlikely to be beneficial, and hybrid elephants should be avoided for translocations. Among savanna elephant populations, historically high connectivity across their range limited regional differentiation. However, there were sufficient genetic differences across southern, eastern and west-central Africa to suggest that translocations across regions should be avoided.”

We must protect both landscapes and animals

The patterns of gene flow revealed in this study are ultimately shaped by one thing: the ability of elephants to move across landscapes. Today, the positive effect of preserving elephant movement by protecting the landscape is quite evident in southern Africa in the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area – also called the KAZA region, which spans five Southern African countries and covers an area of 520,000 square kilometres in one of the world's largest nature reserves. Here, the elephants are genetically diverse because the populations are closely connected and can exchange genes.

Patrícia Pečnerová, who is also a National Geographic Explorer and a Branco Weiss Fellow, explains: "Elephants are extremely intelligent animals that can live close to humans and adapt. But one of the most important forces for their evolution is that genes can move between populations. In southern Africa, the landscape still allows movement between protected areas, and here we see that the genetic health of the elephants remains relatively intact."

Without ecological corridors and international coordination between countries and nature management authorities, even protected populations risk becoming weakened by genetic isolation. The highways of the animal kingdom are vanishing—once-open landscapes that allowed elephants to move, connect, and exchange genes are becoming increasingly fragmented. To ensure the long-term survival of elephants, we need to protect more than just the animals. We need to protect the landscapes and the connections between them.

“This study reminds us that we cannot understand or conserve elephants without knowing their history, and that they have always been in flux, especially in response to human impacts and climate change. The finding that recent and ancient hybridisation between the two species extends over such a large part of both species’ range is particularly interesting,” says co-author Chris Thouless, Director of Conservation at Save the Elephants and Director of the Elephant Crisis Fund. He adds: “The evidence of inbreeding in isolated and depleted savanna elephant populations is a matter of concern, especially since the samples on which this study is based date from before the recent period of intense poaching for ivory.”

The comprehensive genomic atlas not only provides new knowledge about the elephants' past and movements, but is also an operational tool for the authorities working to protect them. Along with making all data publicly available for future research and conservation efforts, the researchers behind the project and partners from Save the Elephants and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance are developing DNA tools that can be used on site to monitor wild elephant populations.

“Our findings provide important insights into the genetic health and connectivity of elephant populations on the African continent. By identifying distinct population units and levels of gene flow, this research can guide more effective conservation strategies, including habitat management, corridor protection, and translocation decisions. In addition, genomic tools and data that we have generated can support wildlife forensics by helping to trace the origin of confiscated ivory, thereby strengthening efforts to combat illegal wildlife trade. Looking ahead, this work contributes to a growing body of knowledge that will inform conservation not only in Uganda but across Africa. By integrating genomics into conservation education and planning, we can better safeguard elephant populations for future generations, ensuring their ecological role and long-term survival in rapidly changing environments” say co-authors Charles Masembe and Vincent Muwanika, both Professors at Makerere University in Uganda.

Main results of the study:

• 232 whole genomes from elephants in 17 African countries have been analysed – the largest genomic mapping of African elephants to date.

• African forest and savanna elephants have followed different evolutionary trajectories for millions of years.

• There is both older and more recent hybridisation between the species.

• Even savanna elephants outside of the hybrid zone carry small traces of forest elephant ancestry.

• Isolated peripheral populations (e.g., Eritrea and Ethiopia) show clear signs of inbreeding, lowered genetic variation, and an increased load of mildly deleterious mutations.

• West African populations have high inbreeding due to the long history of isolation, but savanna elephants in west-central Africa have surprisingly high levels of genetic variation due to hybridisation with forest elephants.

• While differentiation among savanna elephants across southern, eastern, and north-central Africa has been limited by historical gene flow, the differences that do exist suggest that translocations across regions should be avoided.

• Large contiguous natural areas in southern Africa show that the genetic health of the populations is maintained by the high genetic connectivity.

• Forest elephants have higher genetic variation with fewer potentially harmful mutations than savanna elephants, giving hope for their short-term survival despite their ongoing steep decline.

• The genomic resources will enable monitoring of elephant populations in the field

This research was supported by the iConserve program of Illumina, Inc., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service African Elephant Conservation Fund, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, and other personal awards.

Elephants in Rwanda. In the largest genomic study of African elephants to date, an international team of researchers analysed 232 whole genomes from both savanna and forest elephants, collected across 17 African countries.

Credit

Photo credit: Laura Bertola

Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-026-71262-w.

Article Title

The genomic impact of population connectivity and decline in Africa’selephants

Article Publication Date

16-Apr-2026

For some Americans, their accent isn’t just related to where they live

Study finds ‘country identity’ affects how some people pronounce vowels

Ohio State University

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For people living in some parts of the United States, their accent might not just indicate where they live – but also who they think they are.

In a small study in rural northwestern Ohio, researchers found that men who had a “country” identity – for example, a love of hunting and guns, pickup trucks and country music – showed different vowel patterns in their pronunciations than did their neighbors who showed more interest in pursuits like theater, golf and rock music.

“We are used to language patterns like accents being regionally based – you talk like the people who live around you,” said Kathryn Campbell-Kibler, co-author of the study and associate professor of linguistics at The Ohio State University.

“But here we found that aspects of language may be tied to identity rather than just where you happen to live.”

The setting of the study – Defiance County – is key.

Defiance County is in a “transition zone” between the Inland North accent, which is spoken around the lower Great Lakes including Chicago, Detroit and Toledo, and the Midland accent, which includes parts of western and southern Ohio through the Midwest. The western part of Ohio has a gradual transition while the east, with European settlement shaped by the Western Reserve, has a much sharper border.

The result is that the area is a linguistic melting pot where speakers use a mix of features from both the North and the Midland, Campbell-Kibler said. So, in this study, the researchers investigated whether two factors other than the county’s location might influence accents of the residents: travel patterns and country identity.

The study, published recently in the journal American Speech, involved recorded interviews with 22 men in the county. The researchers looked specifically at five vowel patterns and how they differed based on travel patterns and country identity.

One hypothesis was that people who traveled a lot for work or other reasons might pick up accents tied to where they visit. The researchers compared those who traveled to Toledo or Michigan – firmly in the Inland North – with those who traveled to Fort Wayne, an Indiana city also in the transition zone, and those who didn’t travel much.

But travel affected only one of the vowels studied, the LOT vowel, with those traveling to Toledo more likely to use the Inland North pronunciation (where “hot” may sound more like “hat”). And this finding was not very robust, Campbell-Kibler said.

Much more robust were the findings about the country identity. Through the course of the interviews, the researchers asked participants about their hobbies, music choices and vehicle choices. Each participant was given a score for whether they mentioned connections to things like hunting, fishing, gardening, 4H and livestock (country identity) or hiking, biking, golf or video games (not country.) They were also asked about their high-school identity. Those who said “rednecks” or “ag kids” were given points for a country identity while those who said “band geeks” or “nerds” were not.

The researchers also asked each participant if they felt they had more in common with someone living in Fort Wayne, the nearest city, or with someone living in a similarly rural community in Idaho. Those who scored high on country identity were much more likely to say they had more in common with a person in rural Idaho.

Findings showed that those who identified more strongly with country practices were more likely to use two vowel patterns often associated with the South or Appalachia, even though Defiance County is hundreds of miles from those regions. For example, they may pronounce “my” like “ma.”

Although there was some Appalachian migration to Defiance County in the 20th century, participants didn’t maintain connections to family in Appalachia or connect their country identity to roots there. Instead, they defined being country as being about what someone does — especially having gardens and livestock.

Campbell-Kibler said she suspects that the results found in this study probably would be found in other parts of the United States.

“People today are influenced not just by the people they live near, but by all they read and see on the internet and television,” she said. “The way people talk can be affected by who they want to be, not just where they live.”

Co-authors on the study were Martha Austen and Shontael Elward, who did the work as graduate students at Ohio State, and both now have PhDs in linguistics from the university.

Journal

American Speech

DOI

10.1215/00031283-12463431

Article Title

Travel Patterns and Country Identity in Northwest Ohio Vowels