Category
Paleontology
Explore the 7 entries currently assigned to this category. These counts describe this curated catalogue, not the size or rate of change of the field itself.
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Not a fact anymore
Nanotyrannus fossils are juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex rather than a distinct small-bodied tyrannosaur.
What we know now
Two independent 2025 studies concluded that Nanotyrannus represents a distinct tyrannosaur that lived alongside T. rex, using mature or nearly mature specimens to separate its anatomy from juvenile T. rex.
- Status
- Reclassified
- Category
- Paleontology
- Accepted for
- Not quantified
- Changed approximately
- 2025
Not a fact anymore
Pterosaurs remained relatively small through the Jurassic and only evolved much larger body sizes in the Cretaceous.
What we know now
Some pterosaurs had already reached wingspans above about 2.5 metres by the Middle Jurassic. The later Cretaceous still produced the largest pterosaurs, but large size began earlier than the older model suggested.
- Status
- Narrowed
- Category
- Paleontology
- Accepted for
- Not quantified
- Changed approximately
- 2022
Not a fact anymore
Non-avian dinosaurs were uniformly scaly reptiles without feathers.
What we know now
Fossils show that many non-avian dinosaurs had feathers or feather-like body coverings. Other dinosaur groups retained scales, and some had combinations of scales and feathers.
- Status
- Narrowed
- Category
- Paleontology
- Accepted for
- ≈146 years
- Changed approximately
- 1990s–present
Not a fact anymore
Dinosaurs were treated as an entirely extinct group, separate from living birds.
What we know now
Non-avian dinosaurs became extinct about 66 million years ago, but one dinosaur lineage survived: birds. In modern phylogenetic classification, birds are living avian dinosaurs.
- Status
- Reclassified
- Category
- Paleontology
- Accepted for
- Not quantified
- Changed approximately
- 1970s–1990s
Not a fact anymore
The extinction of non-avian dinosaurs was a gradual event with no major asteroid cause.
What we know now
A large asteroid struck at Chicxulub about 66 million years ago and triggered severe global environmental disruption. This impact was the primary cause of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.
- Status
- Superseded
- Category
- Paleontology
- Accepted for
- ≈55 years
- Changed approximately
- 1980s–2010s
Not a fact anymore
Giant sauropod dinosaurs were too heavy to support themselves on land and therefore had to live largely submerged in water.
What we know now
Sauropods were primarily terrestrial animals with limbs, feet and skeletons adapted to bearing enormous loads on land. They could enter water and probably could swim, but deep-water immersion was not required to support their bodies; their air-filled skeletal and respiratory system actually made them unusually buoyant and potentially unstable when floating.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Paleontology
- Accepted for
- ≈75 years
- Changed approximately
- 1960s–1975
Not a fact anymore
Large dinosaurs normally walked with upright torsos and their heavy tails dragging along the ground.
What we know now
Most dinosaurs held their tails off the ground as counterbalances, with their spines and bodies in more horizontal, dynamic postures. Routine tail-drag traces are rare in trackways.
- Status
- Superseded
- Category
- Paleontology
- Accepted for
- ≈84 years
- Changed approximately
- Mid to late 20th century
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