Dr. Karen Samonds, Northern Illinois University, discusses how fossil discoveries in Madagascar shed light on the island’s evolutionary history, and how the remaining species can be preserved. Madagascar is one of Earth’s biodiversity hotspots that has some of the most unique species of animals on the planet. However, these pale in comparison to the diversity … Continue reading Speaker Series 2019: The Origins and Evolution of Madagascar’s Modern Vertebrates
evolution
New Research Announces New Species and Challenges Evolutionary History of Multituberculates
New research by Dr. Craig Scott, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Dr. Anne Weil, Oklahoma State University, and Dr. Jessica Theodor, University of Calgary, introduces a new species of multituberculate, Catopsalis kakwa, which challenges previous research proposing the evolution of larger body mass. This new research suggests a more complex evolutionary history of Taeniolabidoid multituberculates … Continue reading New Research Announces New Species and Challenges Evolutionary History of Multituberculates
New Species of Turtle Named in Honour of Community Where it Was Discovered
New research by Dr. Jordan Mallon, Canadian Museum of Nature, and Dr. Don Brinkman, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, introduces a new species of Basilemys turtle, Basilemys morrinensis. The species name honours the village of Morrin, Alberta for its role in the discovery of the specimen. Basilemys was a large, terrestrial turtle over one metre … Continue reading New Species of Turtle Named in Honour of Community Where it Was Discovered
Speaker Series 2018: Insights from China on the Dinosaurian Origins of Birds
By the end of the 1980s, most palaeontologists accepted that birds were the descendants of bipedal, mainly carnivorous dinosaurs known as theropods. At that time, the only known fossil to document the evolutionary transition to birds was Archaeopteryx from the Jurassic Period which was discovered in Germany. This changed with the discovery in the mid-1990s … Continue reading Speaker Series 2018: Insights from China on the Dinosaurian Origins of Birds
New Species of Fishes Discovered in Sandstone Block on Display in Grounds for Discovery Exhibit
New collaborative research conducted on the fish block currently on display in the Grounds for Discovery exhibit, contributes to the reinterpretation of the family relationship of osteoglossomorph fishes. Dr. Allison Murray, University of Alberta, Dr. Darla Zelenitsky, University of Calgary, and Dr. Donald Brinkman and Andrew Neuman, Executive Director, from the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology … Continue reading New Species of Fishes Discovered in Sandstone Block on Display in Grounds for Discovery Exhibit
Speaker Series 2018: Evolutionary Experiments in the Early Tetrapod Form
The early origins of amphibians (frogs, salamanders, and caecilians) are not well understood. This is due to their rarity in the early fossil record, as well as incomplete scientific understanding of four-legged vertebrate (tetrapod) evolution and the anatomy of possible amphibian relatives. Newly discovered fossils from the Triassic Period give us insights into the origins … Continue reading Speaker Series 2018: Evolutionary Experiments in the Early Tetrapod Form
New Research Adds to the Understanding of Ceratopsid Evolution
New research by Dr. Caleb Brown published in the journal PeerJ analyses two isolated ceratopsid horncores and contributes to our scientific understanding of the evolution of ceratopsid cranial display structures. Ceratopsidae were a diverse and abundant group of large-bodied horned dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous that are well-documented in the fossil record (e.g., Triceratops and … Continue reading New Research Adds to the Understanding of Ceratopsid Evolution
What Happens When Two Research Fields Collide? A Case Study from Dinosaur Provincial Park
There is much more to palaeontology than just dinosaurs, although they have a tendency to dominate in popular culture. Palaeontology is the study of the history of all life on Earth, through the fossil record. The Royal Tyrrell Museum’s researchers excavate and study fossils from a diverse range of fields. Our scientists study not only … Continue reading What Happens When Two Research Fields Collide? A Case Study from Dinosaur Provincial Park
Speaker Series 2017: Discovery, Geological Context and Challenges of Dating a New Hominin, Homo naledi, from the Rising Star Cave, South Africa
The discovery of Homo naledi, a new species of hominin (the group encompassing modern humans, extinct human species, and all close human ancestors) was announced in September 2015. Found in a deep, nearly inaccessible cave system, this was the largest concentration of hominin bones ever found in Africa. The unusual distribution of bones suggested symbolic … Continue reading Speaker Series 2017: Discovery, Geological Context and Challenges of Dating a New Hominin, Homo naledi, from the Rising Star Cave, South Africa
Speaker Series 2016: Why So Big? Understanding the Early Evolution of the Brain in Primates and Their Relatives Using the Fossil Record
In this Speaker Series guest speaker Dr. Mary Silcox of the University of Toronto explores “Why So Big? Understanding the Early Evolution of the Brain in Primates and Their Relatives Using the Fossil Record.” Dr. Silcox’s main research focus is on the earliest evolution of our own Order, the Primates. In particular, she studies fossils of … Continue reading Speaker Series 2016: Why So Big? Understanding the Early Evolution of the Brain in Primates and Their Relatives Using the Fossil Record