Ancient Wasp-Mimicking Fly Discovered – Named After PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’
A newly discovered species of ancient wasp-mimicking flies was named Buccinatormyia gangnami, after a famous hit by a South Korean singer PSY. It was described…
Paleontology
This Ancient “Giant Spider” Fossil Surprised Paleontologists – Detective Work Revealed a Hoax
A ‘Jackalope’ of an Ancient Spider Fossil Deemed a Hoax Earlier this year, a remarkable new fossil specimen was unearthed in the Lower Cretaceous Yixian…
Global Mercury Contamination and Warming When Dinosaurs Perished
The impact of an asteroid or comet is acknowledged as the principal cause of the mass extinction that killed off most dinosaurs and about three-quarters…
Dinosaur Footprints Suggest That Jurassic Beasts Trotted Between Africa and Europe
Dinosaur footprints found in several European countries, very similar to others in Morocco, suggest that they could have been dispersed between the two continents by…
Global Warming, Ocean Acidification: Earth Was Stressed Before Dinosaur Extinction
Fossilized seashells show signs of global warming, ocean acidification leading up to asteroid impact. Shells’ chemistry shifted to respond to influx of carbon into the…
Paleontologists Discover Odd Shrimp That Fills Hole in Fossil Record
Tiny Fossils, Big Findings: Paleontologists Discover Odd Mid-Cretaceous Shrimp Hundreds of tiny well-preserved fossils shed new light on one of the poorest fossil records of…
New Fossils of Ancient Snake With Hind Legs Reveals Tantalizing Details of Evolution
New fossils of an ancient legged snake, called Najash, shed light on the origin of the slithering reptiles, including how snakes got their bite and…
New Group of Ancient Flying Reptiles Identified by Paleontologists
Study describes new group of pterosaurs, identifies crustacean-heavy diet. New research suggests that ancient flying reptiles known as pterosaurs were much more diverse than originally…
Mutated Ferns Show Poisonous Factor in Ancient Mass Extinction
Most researchers believe that the mass extinction 201 million years ago was caused by release of CO2 by volcanism with global warming as a consequence….
What Came First, the Animal or the Embryo? New Research Has Answer
Animal embryos evolved before animals. Animals evolved from single-celled ancestors, before diversifying into 30 or 40 distinct anatomical designs. When and how animal ancestors made…
This Bone-Crunching Dinosaur Regrew All Its Teeth Every Few Months
New study shows a carnivorous dinosaur species regrew all its teeth every few months. Majungasaurus lived in Madagascar some 70 million years ago. Talk about…
Asymmetrical Dinosaur Skull Discovery Turns Paleontology Assumptions on Their Head
University of Alberta paleontologists uncover spiky skull—and overturn long-standing assumptions in identifying horned dinosaurs. A team of researchers at the University of Alberta has unearthed…
This 100 Million-Year-Old Snake Had Legs, but Cheekbone Provides Critical Insight Into Evolution
An ancient snake’s cheekbone sheds light on evolution of modern snake skull: 100-million-year old legged snake fossil provides critical insight into how the heads of…
How Mammals’ Complex “Frankenstein’s Monster” Backbones Evolved
Mammals’ backbones are weird. Compared to other four-legged animals like reptiles, mammal spines are a complex mix of sections of differently-shaped bones. Our Frankenstein’s monster…
Lichens Are Way Younger Than Scientists Thought – Likely Evolved Millions of Years After Plants
You’ve probably seen a lichen, even if you didn’t realize it. If you’ve ever meandered through the forest and wondered what the crusty stuff on…
New Fossil Discovery Pushes Back Evidence of Insect Pollination to a Time When Pterodactyls Still Roamed the Skies
A new study co-led by researchers in the U.S. and China has pushed back the first-known physical evidence of insect flower pollination to 99 million…
Experiment Creates an Essential Component of Life – Finds Deep Sea Vents Had Ideal Conditions for Origin of Life
By creating protocells in hot, alkaline seawater, a University College London-led research team has added to evidence that the origin of life could have been…
It Seems There Were Too Many Meat-Eating Dinosaurs – This May Be the Explanation
A big problem with dinosaurs is that there seems to be too many meat-eaters. From studies of modern animals, there is a feeding pyramid, with…