Every year, paleontologists dig up discoveries that completely reshape our understanding of life on Earth. But 2015 was something special. From a creature barely bigger than a pinhead to a terrifying prehistoric bird, the fossil finds of that year told a story spanning nearly 600 million years. Here are 12 of the most remarkable ones.
600 Million Years Ago — The Oldest Sponge Ancestor
Courtesy of Zongjun Yin
Barely the size of a pinhead, Eocyathispongia qiania had tubular chambers and surface cells strikingly similar to those of modern sponges — making it one of the earliest known animal ancestors. (SN: 4/4/15, p. 12)
460 Million Years Ago — The Earliest Sea Scorpion
J. Lamsdell
Found in an ancient meteorite impact crater in Iowa, Pentecopterus decorahensis was a genuine sea monster — up to 1.7 meters long with bristly, serrated limbs built for grabbing prey. (SN: 11/14/15, p. 5)
385 Million Years Ago — A Fish That Could Do Push-Ups
Neil Shubin
New analysis of Tiktaalik roseae — the famous "fishapod" transitional species — revealed that its hind fins were much stronger and more limb-like than previously thought, suggesting it could prop itself up and move on land earlier than expected. (SN: 1/24/15, p. 8)
~230 Million Years Ago — T. rex's Plant-Eating Cousin
Chilesaurus diegosuarezi had the skeleton of a theropod dinosaur but the blunt, plant-eating teeth of a herbivore — proof that not all T. rex relatives were carnivores. (SN: 5/30/15, p. 8)
~145 Million Years Ago — A Tiny Dinosaur With Wings
The crow-sized dinosaur Yi qi had bizarre bat-like wing membranes supported by a long bone extending from its wrists — a type of flight apparatus never seen before in dinosaurs. (SN: 5/16/15, p. 6)
~100 Million Years Ago — A Dinosaur Tail in Amber
A chunk of Burmese amber was found to contain a small section of a feathered dinosaur tail, preserving individual feathers, soft tissue, and even traces of pigment — an astonishing window into Cretaceous life. (SN: 12/31/15)
~65 Million Years Ago — New Evidence on Dinosaur Extinction
Drilling into the Chicxulub impact crater off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula provided new details about the asteroid impact that ended the Cretaceous period — and wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs. (SN: 12/12/15, p. 8)
~47 Million Years Ago — Ida Gets a Rival
A nearly complete primate skeleton found in a German fossil site provided new evidence about early primate evolution, suggesting our deep ancestors were more diverse and widespread than previously understood. (SN: 6/13/15, p. 10)
~20 Million Years Ago — Ancient Whale Cousin
New fossils of ancient whales revealed surprising flexibility in the evolutionary transition from land to sea, showing that whale ancestors experimented with many different body plans before settling into today's familiar forms. (SN: 2016)
~11.6 Million Years Ago — Laia, the Gibbonlike Ancestor
Pliobates cataloniae, nicknamed "Laia," challenges the idea that apes descended from large, gorilla-sized ancestors. This cat-sized primate suggests today’s apes evolved from smaller, gibbonlike creatures. (SN: 11/28/15, p. 10)
~3.5 Million Years Ago — Terror Bird
F. Degrange
Llallawavis scagliai was a South American predator standing 1.2 meters tall, with a beak reinforced like a hatchet for stunning prey on impact. (SN: 5/2/15, p. 11)
~3 Million Years Ago — Little Foot Revealed
After more than two decades of painstaking excavation in a South African cave, researchers unveiled "Little Foot," one of the most complete Australopithecus skeletons ever discovered — offering new insight into our early hominin relatives. (SN: 2015)
Source: Science News
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