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Discovery of new praying mantis species from the time of the dinosaurs A McGill-led research team has identified a new species of praying mantis thanks to imprints of its fossilized wings. It lived in Labrador, in the Canadian Subarctic around 100 million years ago, during the time of the dinosaurs, in the Late Cretaceous period. The researchers believe that the fossils of the new genus and species , Labradormantis guilbaulti, helps to establish evolutionary relationships between previously known species and advances the scientific understanding of the evolution of the most ‘primitive’ m...

Researchers have identified a new species of praying mantis thanks to imprints of its fossilized wings. It lived in Labrador, in the Canadian Subarctic around 100 million years ago, during the time of the dinosaurs, in the Late Cretaceous period. Artist’s interpretation of Labradormantis guilbaulti in liftoff among the leaves of a sycamore tree in Labrador around 100 million years ago. (Credit: A. Demers-Potvin/McGill) The researchers believe that the fossils of the new genus and species, Labradormantis guilbaulti, helps to establish evolutionary relationships between previously known spe...

Rainfall patterns remained largely unaffected despite dramatic climate changes It’s known that the primary cause of the mass extinction of dinosaurs, about 66 million years ago, was a meteorite impact. But the exact mechanisms that linked the meteorite impact to mass extinction remain unclear, though climactic changes are thought to have played a part. To understand how the mass extinction and associated climate changes affected specific ecosystems, a team of McGill scientists has analyzed the microscopic remains of plants from this period, found in the sediment of rivers in southern Saskat...