Crocodile fossils found in Portsmouth seawalls
A group of students who headed to the beach last year for some fresh air amid the gloom of the pandemic, chanced upon a crocodile bone in the old seawall that led to the discovery of other fossils......»»
Darwin"s fear was unjustified: Study suggests fossil record gaps not a major issue
Fossils are used to reconstruct evolutionary history, but not all animals and plants become fossils and many fossils are destroyed before we can find them (e.g., the rocks that contain the fossils are destroyed by erosion). As a result, the fossil re.....»»
Widespread culling of crocodiles is not an effective way to stop attacks on humans, study shows
Education and community awareness, removal of problem animals and exclusion areas are significantly more effective in reducing saltwater crocodile attacks in the Northern Territory than a widespread culling program to reduce crocodile numbers, accord.....»»
Heterogeneous occurrence of evergreen broad-leaved forests revealed by plant fossils in East Asia
Evergreen broad-leaved forests (EBLFs) are the most characteristic biomes in East Asia. They assume a fundamental role in the biodiversity function and ecosystem services of the East Asiatic floristic kingdom. Hence, understanding the historical dyna.....»»
Fossil hotspots in Africa obscure a more complete picture of human evolution, study says
Much of the early human fossil record originates from just a few places in Africa, where favorable geological conditions have preserved a trove of fossils used by scientists to reconstruct the story of human evolution......»»
Understanding of early life ecosystems sheds light on evolution of life on Earth
With a new understanding of past life on the planet through fossils, a Mississippi State biological sciences faculty member is helping researchers better predict Earth's future......»»
New technology offers a better look at tardigrade fossils embedded in amber
A trio of evolutionary biologists at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology has learned more about the evolutionary history of tardigrades by studying two fossils embedded in amber. In their study, published in Communications Biology, Mar.....»»
135-million-year-old marine crocodile sheds light on Cretaceous life
An international team of scientists, including researchers from Germany and the UK, have described a new species of ancient marine crocodile, Enalioetes schroederi. Enalioetes lived in the shallow seas that covered much of Germany during the Cretaceo.....»»
Videos of people feeding crocodiles at site of latest attack are deeply concerning, says expert
After a 4.9-meter saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) killed a 40-year-old doctor in Far North Queensland this week, the illegal feeding of wild crocodiles has become a point of major concern......»»
Smallest arm bone in the human fossil record sheds light on the dawn of Homo floresiensis
A paper appearing today in Nature Communications reports the discovery of extremely rare early human fossils from the Indonesian island of Flores, including an astonishingly small adult limb bone......»»
How the last meal of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian crocodile was revealed using modern science
What do you think of when you think about ancient Egyptian mummies? Perhaps your mind takes you back to a school trip to the museum, when you came face to face with a mummified person inside a glass case. Or maybe you think of mummies as depicted by.....»»
How the last meal of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian crocodile was brought back to life using modern science
What do you think of when you think about ancient Egyptian mummies? Perhaps your mind takes you back to a school trip to the museum, when you came face to face with a mummified person inside a glass case. Or maybe you think of mummies as depicted by.....»»
Sea level changes shaped early life on Earth, fossils show
A newly developed timeline of early animal fossils reveals a link between sea levels, changes in marine oxygen, and the appearance of the earliest ancestors of present-day animals......»»
New perspectives for using corals in climate research
Ancient ocean temperatures are most commonly reconstructed by analyzing the ratio of different oxygen atoms in the calcium carbonate remains of fossils. However, this presents many challenges, including a combination of biological processes known as.....»»
Taco-shaped arthropod fossils give new insights into the history of the first mandibulates
A new study, led by paleontologists at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is helping resolve the evolution and ecology of Odaraia, a taco-shaped marine animal that lived during the Cambrian period......»»
New hope for critically endangered Siamese crocodile
Sixty Siamese crocodiles, from five separate nests, have successfully hatched in Cambodia's Cardamom National Park—the largest record of this species breeding in the wild this century and a massive boost for the survival prospects of this criticall.....»»
Evidence for butchery of giant armadillo-like mammals in Argentina 21,000 years ago
Cut marks on fossils could be evidence of humans exploiting large mammals in Argentina more than 20,000 years ago, according to a study published July 17, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Mariano Del Papa of National University of La Plata.....»»
New study highlights the alarming rise of telephone fraud targeting older adults in the UK
A new study by the University of Portsmouth has revealed that older adults in the UK, particularly those over the age of 75, are experiencing an unprecedented number of attempted telephone frauds. The research is published in the journal Internationa.....»»
How old are South African fossils like the Taung Child? Study offers an answer
One hundred years ago, the discovery of a skull in South Africa's North West province altered our understanding of human evolution. The juvenile skull was dubbed the Taung Child by Raymond Dart, an anatomist at the University of the Witwatersrand, wh.....»»
Croc"s deadly last meal in Ancient Egypt unearthed
Scientists have used state of the art 3D imaging technology to piece together the life—and probable death—of a 2.2 meter-long crocodile mummified by the ancient Egyptians......»»
500 million-year-old fossil is the earliest branch of the spider’s lineage
A local fossil collector in Morocco found the specimen decades ago. Enlarge (credit: UNIVERSITY OF LAUSANNE) In the early 2000s, local fossil collector Mohamed ‘Ou Said’ Ben Moula discovered numerous fossils at Fezou.....»»