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Paleontology & Fossils news
Rare 3D fossils show that some early trees had forms unlike any you've ever seen
In the fossil record, trees typically are preserved with only their trunks. They don't usually include any leaves to show what their canopies and overall forms may have looked like. But now, researchers reporting in the journal ...
Evolution
5 hours ago
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A 365-million-year-old fish with an extreme underbite showcases vertebrate diversity
Vertebrates are defined as all animals that possess a vertebral column, or backbone. Most living vertebrates also possess jaws, teeth and paired fins or limbs.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 31, 2024
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Scientists pinpoint growth of brain's cerebellum as key to evolution of bird flight
Evolutionary biologists at Johns Hopkins Medicine report they have combined PET scans of modern pigeons along with studies of dinosaur fossils to help answer an enduring question in biology: How did the brains of birds evolve ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 30, 2024
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New species of ancient feline discovered in Spain
A small team of paleontologists at Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC has discovered a new species of ancient feline based on study of a jawbone fossil. In their paper published in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, ...
Cognitive archaeology and the psychological assessment of extinct minds
This week, Emiliano Bruner, a paleoneurologist at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), has published a wide-ranging review in the Journal of Comparative Neurology that describes the relationship ...
Evolution
Jan 29, 2024
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Inner ear of 6-million-year-old ape fossil reveals clues about the evolution of human movement
Humans and our closest relatives, living apes, display a remarkable diversity of types of locomotion—from walking upright on two legs to climbing in trees and walking using all four limbs.
Evolution
Jan 29, 2024
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635
Dinosaurs might have used feathers on forelimbs and tails to flush and pursue their prey, say biologists
What are the origins of wings and tails in birds? This is one of the key questions in the evolution of animals. It has long been accepted that their evolution began in feathered dinosaurs.
Plants & Animals
Jan 25, 2024
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'Hell chicken' species suggests dinosaurs weren't sliding toward extinction before the fateful asteroid hit
Were dinosaurs already on their way out when an asteroid hit Earth 66 million years ago, ending the Cretaceous, the geologic period that started about 145 million years ago? It's a question that has vexed paleontologists ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 25, 2024
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North China fossils show that eukaryotes first acquired multicellularity 1.63 billion years ago
In a study published in Science Advances, researchers led by Prof. Zhu Maoyan from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have reported their recent discovery of 1.63-billion-year-old ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 24, 2024
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Ecosystem from 3.4 billion years ago: New pieces discovered in the cradle of life puzzle
A new study has unraveled key findings about the earliest life forms on Earth. In rock samples from Barberton, Republic of South Africa, researchers were able to find evidence of an unprecedented diverse biological carbon ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 23, 2024
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Student discovers 200-million-year-old flying reptile in Somerset
Gliding winged-reptiles were among the ancient crocodile residents of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, researchers at the University of Bristol have revealed.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 22, 2024
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'The Meg' shark was actually quite thin, scientists say
The prehistoric megalodon is known as one of the most fearsome creatures the world has ever known, a horrifyingly giant shark immortalized in the monster movie "The Meg".
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 22, 2024
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The Megalodon was more slender than depicted in movies, study shows
A new study shows the Megalodon, a gigantic shark that went extinct 3.6 million years ago, was more slender than earlier studies suggested. This finding changes scientists' understanding of Megalodon behavior, ancient ocean ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 21, 2024
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Early evolution of cicadas revealed by analyses of new fossils
To clarify the early evolutionary history of Cicadoidea fossils, the phylogenetic relationships between Mesozoic fossils and extant Cicadoidea, the macroevolution of body structure adaptations, and their relationship with ...
Evolution
Jan 18, 2024
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Wooly mammoth movements tied to earliest Alaska hunting camps
Researchers have linked the travels of a 14,000-year-old wooly mammoth with the oldest known human settlements in Alaska, providing clues about the relationship between the iconic species and some of the earliest people to ...
Ecology
Jan 17, 2024
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Microfossils shed light on the long fossil record of euglenoids
Hiding in the shadows, euglenoids are a fascinating group of single-celled protists that are neither plant nor animal. Plants photosynthesize, and animals eat. Euglenoids do both. Spiraling along the murky bottoms of shallow ...
Evolution
Jan 16, 2024
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Fossil holdfasts show kelp far predate animals we see in kelp forests today
The unique underwater kelp forests that line the Pacific Coast support a varied ecosystem that was thought to have evolved along with the kelp over the past 14 million years.
Ecology
Jan 15, 2024
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Key moment in the evolution of life on Earth captured in fossils
Curtin-led research has for the first time precisely dated some of the oldest fossils of complex multicellular life in the world, helping to track a pivotal moment in the history of Earth when the seas began teeming with ...
Evolution
Jan 15, 2024
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277
Feeding mode of ancient vertebrate tested for first time
A feeding method of the extinct jawless heterostracans, among the oldest of vertebrates, has been examined and dismissed by scientists at the University of Bristol, using fresh techniques.
Evolution
Jan 15, 2024
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The largest great ape to ever live went extinct because of climate change, study finds
An ancient species of great ape was likely driven to extinction hundreds of thousands of years ago when climate change put their favorite fruits out of reach during dry seasons, scientists reported Wednesday.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 14, 2024
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More news
Fossil of 72-million-year-old sturgeon discovered in Edmonton
The extinction of the giant ape: A long-standing mystery solved
Coal miners in North Dakota unearth a mammoth tusk buried for thousands of years
'Giant' predator worms more than half a billion years old discovered in North Greenland
First in situ documentation of a fossilized megalodon tooth in the deep sea
Other news
Tracing the evolution of sign languages using computer modeling
Team discovers mechanism that protects tissue after faulty gene expression
Alpine ibex becoming more nocturnal as temperatures rise
Fooled: Herbivorous animals 'led by the nose' to leave plants alone
A physical qubit with built-in error correction
Five things you probably have wrong about the T rex
Paleontologist discovers rare soft tissue in fossil of crab
Earliest evidence for domestic yak found using both archaeology and ancient DNA
AI provides more accurate analysis of prehistoric and modern animals
How talin protein maintains intercellular connection while transmitting force
Scientists successfully simulate protein complex that initiates fertilization
Physicists develop highly robust time crystal
