An article published in the journal “Palaeontology” describes a research on Anchiornis huxleyi, a small feathered dinosaur that lived about 160 million years ago in today’s China. Evan Saitta and Jakob Vinther of the British University of Bristol revealed new details on these animals’ plumage by examining a very well preserved specimen. Their conclusion is that this species had a fluffier look than the aerodynamic one of modern flying birds.

An article published in the journal “Nature Geoscience” describes a research on the evolutionary radiation, in the sense of the quick diversification of new species, that happened in the Ordovician period, between 445-485 million years ago. Known as the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE), it led to a huge growth in the number of species and according to a team of researchers it was caused also by an 80% increase in oxygen levels in the air.

An article published in the journal “Papers in Palaeontology” describes the discovery of a species of bryozoan called Jablonskipora kidwellae which constitutes an evolutionary missing link. These are the first modern bryozoans that grew in a structure and their study could help shed light on the evolution of these small invertebrates that live in colonies and are part of a phylum that emerged in the Cambrian period, about 500 million years ago.

An article published in the magazine “Journal of Systematic Palaeontology” describes a research on a marine predator that was recently identified and called Ieldraan melkshamensis. This is a reptile about three meters (10 feet) long that lived in the shallow and warm seas that covered most of today’s Europe in the Middle Jurassic, about 163 million years ago. This species was classified as part of the taxonomic tribe of Geosaurini and provides new information on the origin of today’s crocodiles’ distant relatives.

An article published in the magazine “PLOS ONE” describes a research on primitive trilobites with the discovery of the oldest digestive system consisting of digestive glands and a crop. A team of researchers led by Melanie Hopkins, an assistant curator in the Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, examined 270 specimens of which most were discovered in Yunnan, China, where they lived more than 500 million years ago, discovering that at least the species Palaeolenus lantenoisi and Redlichia mansuyi had a stomach.