ICP News
For decades, the scientific community believed that humans faced a uniquely difficult childbirth compared to other primates. However, a new international study, co-led by the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP), using advanced three-dimensional techniques, reveals that several non-human primates experience comparable or even greater obstetric constraints, fundamentally shifting…
An extraordinary fossil from the Pyrenees reveals what the skin and color pattern of crocodiles from 125 million years ago were like
17 Jun 2026
200 times
A new study published in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society describes, for the first time in detail, the soft tissues preserved in Montsecosuchus depereti, a Lower Cretaceous crocodylomorph from the Pedrera de Meià site, in the province of Lleida (Catalonia, Spain). The analysis, based on ultraviolet light, provides new…
New species of Middle Miocene bear-dog described in tribute to Salvador Moyà-Solà
09 Jun 2026
212 times
A research team with the participation of the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP) has described a new species of extinct carnivore from fossil remains recovered at the Els Casots site (Subirats, Alt Penedès). The study, published in the Journal of Mammalian Evolution, describes Paludocyon moyasolai, a medium-sized amphicyonid…
A team from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont and the Museu de la Conca Dellà has analyzed a unique fossil record: several bird eggs dating back 12 million years ago preserved in an extraordinary way. These birds, related to current partridges, nested in the same place for more…
How the Ampelomeryx grew: Discovering the life history of this relative of giraffes that lived in the Penedès
28 Apr 2026
260 times
A research team from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP-CERCA) has led the paleohistological study of Ampelomeryx ginsburgi, a giraffomorph ruminant from the Middle Miocene recovered at the Els Casots site (Penedès). Through microscopic analysis of bone tissues, the researchers were able to determine that this peculiar animal…
A study led by ICP researchers analyzes the morphology of the radius (one of the two forearm bones) of the pliopithecoid primate Pliobates cataloniae, from the Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula, and evaluates its implications for locomotor evolution in apes.
Oriol Monclús-Gonzalo defends his doctoral thesis on the locomotor evolution of primates
23 Feb 2026
246 times
Oriol Monclús-Gonzalo, researcher at the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP), has defended his doctoral thesis on the locomotor evolution of primates. The study analyzes the functional morphology of several tarsal bones in living and fossil primates to reconstruct how extinct species moved, and has been supervised by Judit…
The extinct pig Cainochoerus inhabited eastern Africa during the late Miocene, around 6 million years ago and was remarkably small compared to modern African pigs. Now, a team of paleontologists reports the discovery of rare fossil jaws and teeth from the Lemudong’o site in the southern Kenyan Rift, documenting the…
The Groundhog Day of millions of years ago: Reconstructing climate using fossil rodents
30 Jan 2026
301 times
Small mammals are closely linked to climate, and their fossils allow scientists to reconstruct past precipitation and climatic conditions. A study by the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP-CERCA) reveals that between 12.5 and 9 million years ago in the Vallès-Penedès region, rainfall was approximately twice as high as…
The price of becoming a giant and how Canary Islands rodents lost their senses
15 Jan 2026
617 times
The Canary Islands giant rats of the genus Canariomys roamed these Atlantic volcanic islands from the Pleistocene to just the 4th century BCE, and were huge compared to their closest living relative, the African grass rat. Now, a new study from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP-CERCA) and…
