47 Million Years Ago, Horses Were About the Size of a Labrador Dog
Researchers open a window onto ancient mammal evolution using fossils from Germany. The former coalfield of Geiseltal in Saxony-Anhalt has yielded large numbers of exceptionally…
Paleontology
How Late Cretaceous Dinosaur-Dominated Ecosystems Were Structured
A topic of considerable interest to paleontologists is how dinosaur-dominated ecosystems were structured, how dinosaurs and co-occurring animals were distributed across the landscape, how they…
New Twist to the Story of Human Ancestors From an Unusual Skullcap and Thousands of Clues
Our Direct Human Ancestor — Homo Erectus — Is Older Than We Thought An unusual skullcap and thousands of clues have created a southern twist…
Proof in an Ancient Shell: Earth Turned Faster 70 Million Years Ago
Beer stein-shaped distant relative of modern clams captured snapshots of hot days in the late Cretaceous. Earth turned faster at the end of the time…
Ancient Antarctica Rainforest Discovery Suggests Prehistoric World Much Warmer Than Thought
Researchers have found evidence of rainforests near the South Pole 90 million years ago, suggesting the climate was exceptionally warm at the time. A team…
In Earth’s Greatest Extinction, Land Animals Began Dying Off Long Before Marine Life
New dates for fossils indicate land animal turnover extended for hundreds of thousands of years. The mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period…
Three New Species of Flying Reptiles Discovered – Pterosaurs That Inhabited the Sahara 100 Million Years Ago
A community of flying reptiles that inhabited the Sahara 100 million years ago has been discovered by a University of Portsmouth palaeobiologist and an international…
New Species of Feathered Carnivorous Dinosaur Discovered in New Mexico Yields Evolutionary Insights
The discovery of a new species of dromaeosaurid — a family of generally small to medium-sized feathered carnivores that lived during the Cretaceous Period —…
New Dinosaur Discovered in New Mexico Is One of the Last Known Surviving Raptors
A new feathered dinosaur that lived in New Mexico 67 million years ago is one of the last known surviving raptor species, according to a…
Ancestor of All Animals – Including Humans – Identified in Australian Fossils
A wormlike creature that lived more than 555 million years ago is the earliest bilaterian. A team led by UC Riverside geologists has discovered the…
Map of Life Will Need to Be Redrawn and Textbooks Updated After Highly Surprising Discovery on Christmas Island
The world’s animal distribution map will need to be redrawn and textbooks updated, after researchers discovered the existence of ‘Australian’ species on Christmas Island. The…
Evolutionary Origin of the Human Hand Revealed by Ancient Fish Fossil
An ancient fossil found in Canada reveals new insights into how the human hand evolved from fish fins. An ancient Elpistostege fish fossil found in…
“Wonderchicken” – Origin of Modern Birds Revealed by Fossil From the Age of Dinosaurs
The oldest fossil of a modern bird yet found, dating from the age of dinosaurs, has been identified by an international team of paleontologists. The…
Ancient Sea-Worm Mystery Solved by Student After 50 Years in “Wastebasket”
When a partial fossil specimen of a primordial marine worm was unearthed in Utah in 1969, scientists had a tough go identifying it. Usually, such…
50 Newly Identified Footprints Show Stegosaurs Left Their Mark on Scottish Isle of Skye
They are among the most recognizable dinosaurs … now paleontologists have discovered that stegosaurs left a lasting impression on a Scottish island. Around 50 newly…
Rare Lizard Fossil Provides Important Clues on How Fossils Stay Preserved for Millions of Years
Researchers at the University of Bonn are investigating the conservation status of the reptile, which is up to 20 million years old. The tiny forefoot…
Archaeologists Discover Clues to Early Domestication in Wild Boars
Until now, archaeozoologists have been unable to reconstruct the earliest stages of domestication: the process of placing wild animals in captivity remained beyond their methodological…
Remarkable Discovery of 1 Billion-Year-Old Green Seaweed Micro-Fossils in China
Virginia Tech paleontologists have made a remarkable discovery in China: 1 billion-year-old micro-fossils of green seaweeds that could be related to the ancestor of the…