Exquisitely preserved embryo found inside fossilized dinosaur egg
A 72- to 66-million-year-old embryo found inside a fossilized dinosaur egg sheds new light on the link between the behavior of modern birds and dinosaurs, according to a new study......»»
Enigmatic Dinosaur Skull Sparks Debate over Tyrannosaur Evolution
A dinosaur skull first discovered in the 1980s was originally catalogued as a T. rex. Now some scientists argue it represents a new species of tyrannosaur and could shed light on where the massive animals originated.....»»
The first assessment of toxic heavy metal pollution in the Southern Hemisphere over the last 2,000 years
Human activity, from burning fossil fuels and fireplaces to the contaminated dust produced by mining, alters Earth's atmosphere in countless ways. Records of these impacts over time are preserved in everlasting polar ice that serves as a sort of time.....»»
From embryo to evolution: Insights from the head of lizards and snakes
The evolution of animal heads is a remarkable example of how various anatomical features co-evolved to adapt to different ecological niches, behaviors and functions. But the intricate details of why vertebrate head shapes vary so greatly have remaine.....»»
Permian marine mass extinction linked to volcanism-induced anoxia
Mass extinctions are rapid global decreases in Earth's biodiversity, with five key events identified over the planet's history, arguably the most famous of which occurred ~66 million years ago during the Cretaceous, which brought the rein of dinosaur.....»»
New method of cultivating human norovirus using zebrafish embryo
Food virologists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have successfully propagated the human norovirus using zebrafish embryos, providing a valuable platform to assess the effectiveness of virus inactivation for the water treatment and foo.....»»
First in situ documentation of a fossilized megalodon tooth in the deep sea
A small team of oceanographers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S., working with a zoologist from the SNSB-Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, in Germany, has documented the first in situ discovery of a fossilized megalodon tooth in th.....»»
New embryo-like model simulates early human blood production
University of Pittsburgh researchers have developed a new embryo-like model derived from adult cells that replicates key features of early human development, including the generation of blood cells......»»
A new way of thinking about how organ architecture develops
Within every developing embryo lies the mystery of self-organization: How does an organism go about shaping itself even while it's in the process of making its parts?.....»»
Earliest-known fossil mosquito suggests males were bloodsuckers too
Researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on December 4 have found the earliest-known fossil mosquito in Lower Cretaceous amber from Lebanon. What's more, the well-preserved insects are two males of the same species with piercing mouthpart.....»»
Floral time travel: Flowers were more diverse 100 million years ago than they are today
An international team of researchers led by botanists at the University of Vienna, Austria, has analyzed the morphological diversity of fossilized flowers and compared it with the diversity of living species. They found that flowering plants had alre.....»»
More than a meteorite: New clues about the demise of dinosaurs
What wiped out the dinosaurs? A meteorite plummeting to Earth is only part of the story, a new study suggests. Climate change triggered by massive volcanic eruptions may have ultimately set the stage for the dinosaur extinction, challenging the tradi.....»»
Separating out signals recorded at the seafloor
Blame it on plate tectonics. The deep ocean is never preserved, but instead is lost to time as the seafloor is subducted. Geologists are mostly left with shallower rocks from closer to the shoreline to inform their studies of Earth history......»»
Fossil unearthed in Mongolia"s Gobi Desert suggests some dinosaurs slept in same position as modern birds
A team of paleontologists and biologists from Hokkaido University, Hokkaido University Museum, North Carolina State University and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, has uncovered a previously unknown species of dinosaur that appears to have slept in.....»»
3D folding of the genome: Theoretical model helps explain how cell identity is preserved when cells divide
Every cell in the human body contains the same genetic instructions, encoded in its DNA. However, out of about 30,000 genes, each cell expresses only those genes that it needs to become a nerve cell, immune cell, or any of the other hundreds of cell.....»»
Pok Pok Montessori-inspired iOS app gets Dinosaur toy following App of the Year nomination
A brand new Dinosaur toy has arrived today as a major update for the wonderful Montessori-inspired iOS app Pok Pok. The new hands-on prehistoric experience encourages kids’ growth with role play, cause and effect, collecting, problem-solving, patie.....»»
Feathery moa"s fossilized footprints, ancient age revealed
Cosmogenic nuclide dating, a method commonly used in dating coastal areas and alluvial riverbeds for landscape reconstruction, is also useful for calculating the age of trace fossils, such as a footprint, where no remains of the animal are preserved......»»
Scientists discover new component in world"s best-studied plant
Wageningen researchers have discovered a previously unnoticed component within the thale cress: a thin film that encases the embryo in the seed. This discovery is particularly noteworthy because this species has been intensively studied for five deca.....»»
Orkney"s lost tomb—how researchers made the Neolithic discovery
Orkney in the north of Scotland is renowned for its remarkably well-preserved monuments. Many of these are Neolithic (10,000 BC to 2,200 BC) and consist of stone circles and chambered tombs, which are still highly visible in the landscape. Chambered.....»»
Insect trapped in amber reveals the evolutionary battles of ancient Europe
An extraordinary insect preserved in amber is opening our ears to a world of communication beyond our hearing. New research on an extinct katydid in the Natural History Museum's collection reveals that katydids have been using ultrasounds for million.....»»
Recent fossil discovery suggests the first dinosaur egg was leathery
The discovery of several exceptionally preserved reproduction-related dinosaur specimens over the last three decades has improved our knowledge of dinosaur reproductive biology. Nevertheless, due to limited fossil evidence and a lack of quantitative.....»»