Discovery of a New Mass Extinction – Carnian Pluvial Episode – 233 Million Years Ago
It’s not often a new mass extinction is identified; after all, such events were so devastating they really stand out in the fossil record. In…
Paleontology
Giant 100 Million Year Old Sperm Cells Discovered – The Oldest Known Sperm Cells
In another fascinating snapshot from deep time, an international team of paleontologists has reported the discovery of specimens of a minuscule crustacean that dates back…
Fearsome 2,000 Pound Beast: Solving the Mystery of a 13,000 Year-Old Bone Discovered on the California Channel Islands
The California Channel Islands are renowned for their archaeological, biological, and paleontological significance and richness, containing some of the most important early human sites in…
Extracting Ancient DNA of Long-Extinct Plants and Animals From Soil
A much richer picture of the past revealed with new DNA recovery technique. Researchers at McMaster University have developed a new technique to tease ancient…
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…
Unexpected Discovery of a 410-Million-Year-Old Fossil Forces Rethink of Shark Evolution
Sharks’ non-bony skeletons were thought to be the template before bony internal skeletons evolved, but a new fossil discovery suggests otherwise. The discovery of a…
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,…
Lactose Tolerance Quickly Spread Throughout Europe – Genetic Analysis of Human Bones From Bronze Age Battlefield Reveals
Paleogeneticists at Mainz University have found evidence of lactase persistence in only a small proportion of human bones from the Bronze Age battlefield in the…
Finally Revealed: Gargantuan True Size of Legendary Prehistoric Mega-Shark Megalodon
A new study led by the University of Bristol and Swansea University has revealed the size of the legendary giant shark Megalodon, including fins that…
Climate Change Drove Mastodons to Migrate Vast Distances Back and Forth Across North America
New ancient DNA study finds that Northern mastodon populations were less genetically diverse and more vulnerable to extinction. New research suggests that American mastodons were…
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…
Dramatic Tale of Environmental Change Told by Ancient Fossil Trees on Peru’s Central Andean Plateau
On an expedition to the Central Andean Plateau, researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and colleagues were astounded to find a huge fossil-tree…
Evidence of “Hibernation-Like” State Discovered in Early Triassic Creature
Hibernation is a familiar feature on Earth today. Many animals — especially those that live close to or within polar regions — hibernate to get…
Changing Landscapes, Changing Diets: Fossilized Teeth Reveal Dietary Shifts in Ancient Herbivores and Hominins
A new study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences documents dietary shifts in herbivores that lived between 1-3…
Closeup at Last: First Complete Dinosaur Skeleton Ever Found Is Ready
The first complete dinosaur skeleton ever identified has finally been studied in detail and found its place in the dinosaur family tree, completing a project…
New Species of Cretaceous Brittle Star Discovered in Stroke of Luck – Named in Honor of Nightwish Vocalist
New fossil species belongs to a group of extant starfish-like creatures living in the deep sea today. Paleontologists from the Natural History Museums in Luxembourg…
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…