450-Million-Year-Old Sea Creature’s Bizarre Breathing Organs Uncovered
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…
Fossils
“Everyone’s Unique” – Paleontologists Reveal Great Variability Within Dinosaur Species
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…
Enormous Ancient Fish Discovered by Accident – Bizarre-Looking and “Absolutely Massive!”
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…
Stromatolites – Fossils of Earliest Life on Earth – May Owe Their Very Existence to Viruses
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…
Organic Biomorphs: Experiments Show the Record of Early Life Could Be Full of “False Positives”
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…
Incredible 635 Million-Year-Old Fungi-Like Microfossil That Bailed Our Planet Out of an Ice Age
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…
Giant Ambush-Predator Worms May Have Colonized the Seafloor Around 20 Million Years Ago
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…
World’s Oldest Python Found in Messel Pit
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…
New Insights Into the Origins of Flight From Ancient Archaeopteryx Fossil
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…
Jurassic Scelidosaurus harrisonii: Only Dinosaur Bones Ever Discovered in Ireland
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…
Scientists Reconstruct Beetles From the Cretaceous – 99 Million Years Ago
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…
Sexual Intercourse of Ostracods Revealed Through 100-Million-Year-Old Amber Discovery
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…
Genetic Evidence From Fossilized Remains Show Climate Change Drove Mastodons Vast Distances Across North America
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…
New Fossil Ape Discovered in India Fills Major Gaps in the Primate Fossil Record
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,…
Evidence of Hibernation-Like State Discovered in Tusks of Strange 250-Million-Year-Old Antarctic Creature
Researchers discover Fossil evidence of ‘hibernation-like’ state in tusks of 250-million-year-old Antarctic animal. Among the many winter survival strategies in the animal world, hibernation is…
Triassic Megapredator’s Last Meal Was a Massive Marine Reptile
Some 240 million years ago, a dolphinlike ichthyosaur ripped to pieces and swallowed another marine reptile only a little smaller than itself. Then it almost…
Massive Reptile Discovered in the Belly of a Triassic Megapredator
When paleontologists digging in a quarry in southwestern China uncovered the nearly complete skeleton of a giant, dolphin-like marine reptile known as an ichthyosaur, they…
Stunning 99-Million-Year-Old Fossil Reveals “Hell Ants” in Detail: Hunted With Bizarre, Deadly Mandibles
In a 99-million-year-old preserved amber fossil, researchers get a detailed glimpse into how ‘Hell Ants’ hunted with scythe-like mandibles and horn appendages. In findings published…