Living alligators expose why juvenile fossils can fool classification methods

Fossil finds are exciting moments that sometimes introduce the world to an ancient mammal or dinosaur that existed millions of years ago.

But a longstanding problem in paleontology is that fossils are often incomplete, and subtle differences between certain species, along with major changes that can occur as an animal grows, complicate species identification.

A paper published this month in Paleobiology lays the groundwork for a new approach to correctly identifying ancient animal fossils, with significant implications for vertebrate paleontology. ...