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......»»
Independent evolutionary origins of vertebrate dentitions
The origins of a pretty smile have long been sought in the fearsome jaws of living sharks which have been considered living fossils reflecting the ancestral condition for vertebrate tooth development and inference of its evolution. However, this view.....»»
Review: Most human origins stories are not compatible with known fossils
In the 150 years since Charles Darwin speculated that humans originated in Africa, the number of species in the human family tree has exploded, but so has the level of dispute concerning early human evolution. Fossil apes are often at the center of t.....»»
Bringing up baby: A crocodile"s changing niche
Relatives of the giant crocodile might have been kings of the waterways during the Cretaceous period, eating anything—including dinosaurs—that got a little too close to the water's edge, but the largest of these apex predators still started off s.....»»
Forget digging for fossils. This museum 3D printed a full T-Rex skeleton instead
Despite what Jurassic Park might lead you to believe, T-Rex skeletons are very, very rare. So instead of digging one up, this museum 3D printed one.....»»
Extinct "horned" crocodile gets new spot in the tree of life
A study led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History has resolved a long-standing controversy about an extinct "horned" crocodile that likely lived among humans in Madagascar. Based on ancient DNA, the research shows that the horned cr.....»»
Hatchery reviving Britain"s near-extinct local oysters
Decimated by over-fishing and pollution, British oysters could make a comeback as a hatchery in the Channel port city of Portsmouth is helping to revive a native species......»»
Fossils of "giant cloud rats" discovered in Philippine caves
Rats, by and large, aren't terribly popular animals. But while you don't want an infestation of common black rats living in your house, their distant cousins in the Philippines are downright cuddly. These "giant cloud rats" live in the treetops of mi.....»»
Dormice may have hibernated as early as 34 million years ago
In analyzing rodent fossils, scientists funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation have come up with a novel hypothesis: hibernation was a survival strategy 34 million years ago......»»
Our ancestors left Africa both with and without modern brains
The genus Homo originated with a brain that still had ape-like features. Enlarge / One of the remarkably intact Dmanisi skulls at the time of its discovery. (credit: Guy Bar-Oz) We have an extensive collection of fossils from the lineages that.....»»
Living fossils: Microbe discovered in evolutionary stasis for millions of years
It's like something out of science fiction. Research led by Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences has revealed that a group of microbes, which feed off chemical reactions triggered by radioactivity, have been at an evolutionary standstill for million.....»»
The Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Birthed Today"s Rainforests
Plant fossils from Columbia reveal the forests of the Cretaceous period were sparser and less humid than their modern-day counterparts......»»
Prior to the Chicxulub impact, rainforests looked very different
Plant fossils from Colombia show a turnover from conifers to today's forests. Enlarge (credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) Colombia’s rainforest looked very different 66 million years ago. At present, the humid and biodiverse ecosystem is jam-packed w.....»»
How to hunt fossils responsibly: 5 tips from a professional paleontologist
Many of us, at some point or another, dreamed of hunting for dinosaur fossils when we grew up. Paleontology—the study of natural history through fossils—is the scientific reality of this. It encompasses all ancient lifeforms that left their trace.....»»
Rare fossilized algae, discovered unexpectedly, fill in evolutionary gaps
When geobiology graduate student Katie Maloney trekked into the mountains of Canada's remote Yukon territory, she was hoping to find microscopic fossils of early life. Even with detailed field plans, the odds of finding just the right rocks were low......»»
Cephalopods: Older than previously thought?
Possibly the oldest cephalopods in the Earth's history stem from the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland (Canada) discovered by scientists from Heidelberg University. The 522-million-year-old fossils could turn out to be the first known form of these hi.....»»
How ESA helps South Africa share water fairly
Clustered at the edge of the Crocodile River in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, stand thousands of farms and small holdings growing fresh fruit and sugar cane. Water to irrigate the crops is taken from the river, but this slows its flow rate and l.....»»
Fossils in a Forgotten Ice Core Rewrite Greenland’s Icy Past
A secret Cold War project led to signs of ancient life—and a new warning about the future of the climate......»»
Neanderthals disappeared from Europe earlier than thought, says study
Neanderthal fossils from a cave in Belgium believed to belong to the last survivors of their species ever discovered in Europe are thousands of years older than once thought, a new study said Monday......»»
Paleontologists discover new insect group after solving 150-year-old mystery
For more than 150 years, scientists have been incorrectly classifying a group of fossil insects as damselflies, the familiar cousins of dragonflies that flit around wetlands eating mosquitoes. While they are strikingly similar, these fossils have odd.....»»
New fossil discovery illuminates the lives of the earliest primates
Stephen Chester, an assistant professor of anthropology and paleontologist at the Graduate Center, CUNY and Brooklyn College, was part of a team of 10 researchers from across the United States who analyzed several fossils of Purgatorius, the oldest g.....»»