Scientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen have discovered the first proven biological evidence of a supernova on earth, finding hints of supernova iron in bacteria microfossils. In fossil remnants of iron-loving bacteria, researchers of the Cluster of Excellence Origin and Structure of the Universe at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), found a radioactive iron isotope [...]

New research describes the newly discovered species of bone-headed dinosaur, named Acrotholus audeti, which lived about 85 million years ago. Scientists have named a new species of bone-headed dinosaur (pachycephalosaur) from Alberta, Canada. Acrotholus audeti (Ack-RHO-tho-LUS) was identified from both recently discovered and historically collected fossils. Approximately six feet long and weighing about 40 kgs [...]

An international team of researchers used ancient DNA to reconstruct the first high-resolution genetic record of modern European lineages through time, observing both human DNA evolving in ‘real-time’ and the dramatic population changes that have taken place in Europe. Ancient DNA recovered from a series of skeletons in central Germany up to 7500 years old [...]

An international team of scientists excavated and analyzed over 200 bones from dinosaurs at different stages of embryonic development from a 190-million-year-old dinosaur bonebed, revealing how dinosaur embryos grew and developed in their eggs. A 190-million-year-old dinosaur bonebed near the city of Lufeng, in Yunnan, China has revealed for the first time how dinosaur embryos [...]

By using elevated pressures and temperatures to simulate the effects of burial on structurally colored cuticles of modern beetles, researchers at Yale University show how colors change during fossilization. An international research team led by Yale University scientists has for the first time explained the preservation of colors in fossil insects. The discovery shows why [...]

Researchers from Ohio State University have discovered the oldest example of biomarkers found inside a particular complete fossil. Columbus, Ohio—Though scientists have long believed that complex organic molecules couldn’t survive fossilization, some 350-million-year-old remains of aquatic sea creatures uncovered in Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa have challenged that assumption. The spindly animals with feathery arms—called crinoids, [...]

A newly published study from the University of Adelaide shows that calcified dental plaque (dental calculus) found on ancient teeth from 34 early European skeletons indicates that the transition from hunter-gatherer to farming shifted the oral microbial community to a disease-associated configuration. DNA preserved in calcified bacteria on the teeth of ancient human skeletons has [...]

A nearly 400,000 year old human fossil discovered in a Serbian cave is helping scientists shed new light on human evolution. Winnipeg, MB – A fossil fragment of a human lower jaw recovered from a Serbian cave is the oldest human ancestor found in this part of Europe. The newly obtained radiometric date of the [...]

Paleontologists have discovered the fossilized bones of a 68 million year old flying reptile, Eurazhdarcho langendorfensis, in the Transylvanian Basin of Romania. A new kind of pterosaur, a flying reptile from the time of the dinosaurs, has been identified by scientists from the Transylvanian Museum Society in Romania, the University of Southampton in the UK [...]

Findings related to the newly discovered ‘bird-dinosaur’ Eosinopteryx suggest that the origin of flight was much more complex than previously thought. The discovery of a new bird-like dinosaur from the Jurassic period challenges widely accepted theories on the origin of flight. Co-authored by Dr Gareth Dyke, Senior Lecturer in Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of [...]

Researchers have discovered an 8.6-meter long reptile with a massive skull and sharp teeth that lived 244 million years ago, during the Triassic Period. It’s been described as an early ichthyosaur, a four-footed reptile that turned seafarer. The scientists published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences¹. Other ichthyosaurs fed [...]

A new study indicates that a group of bipedal dinosaurs, known as oviraptors, shook their feather-adorned tails to gain attention during their courtship rituals. The scientists published their findings in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica¹. The key evidence is the structure of their relatively stubby tail, which was muscular and flexible at its base, but [...]