A team of international researchers, led by the University of Bologna, has discovered the fossilized remains of methane-cycling microbes that lived in a hydrothermal system…
A new pelomedusoid turtle from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar provides evidence for convergent evolution of suction feeding among pleurodires. We here describe a new…
Fossil apes can inform us about essential aspects of ape and human evolution, including the nature of our last common ancestor. In the 150 years…
Paleontologists working in museum collections in Italy, Switzerland, and Germany have identified five additional specimens of a 240-million-year-old ichthyosaur, named Besanosaurus leptorhynchus, which was previously…
Trilobites Had a Leg Up on Breathing A new study has found the first evidence of sophisticated breathing organs in 450-million-year-old sea creatures. Contrary to…
Paleontologists from the Universities of Bonn and Liverpool examined 14 skulls of Plateosaurus trossingensis. “Everyone’s unique” is a popular maxim. All people are equal, but…
A serendipitous discovery of a fossilized bony lung reveals a massive ancient fish. Fossilized remains of a fish that grew as big as a great…
As the Mars Rover sets out to look for evidence of life on another planet, scientists back on Earth suggest viruses played a key role…
For most of Earth’s history, life was limited to the microscopic realm, with bacteria occupying nearly every possible niche. Life is generally thought to have…
When you think of fungi, what comes to mind may be a crucial ingredient in a recipe or their amazing ability to break down dead…
Fossil Burrows Point to Ancient Seafloor Colonization by Giant Marine Worms Giant ambush-predator worms, possible ancestors of the ‘bobbit worm’, may have colonized the seafloor…
Fossils suggest that the constrictors’ origin lies in Europe. Together with his colleague Hussam Zaher of the University in São Paulo, Senckenberg scientist Krister Smith…
Research reveals earliest flight-related molting strategy in 150-million-year ancient bird. Flying birds molt their feathers when they are old and worn because they inhibit flight…
The only dinosaur bones ever found on the island of Ireland have been formally confirmed for the first time. The only dinosaur bones ever found…
International research team gains new insights into the evolution of fossil beetles. About a year ago, researchers found fossil specimens of beetles in an amber…
Small bivalved crustacean ostracods are the most abundant fossil arthropods since the Ordovician and play an important role in paleoenvironmental reconstruction and evolutionary biology. The…
New research from an international team of evolutionary geneticists, bioinformaticians, and paleontologists suggests that dramatic environmental changes accompanying the shift or melting of continental glaciers…
The 13-million-year-old gibbon ancestor fills major gaps in the primate fossil record. A 13-million-year-old fossil unearthed in northern India comes from a newly discovered ape,…