News tagged with natural history

Darwin's theory of gradual evolution not supported by geological history, scientist concludes

Charles Darwin's theory of gradual evolution is not supported by geological history, New York University Geologist Michael Rampino concludes in an essay in the journal Historical Biology. In fact, Rampino notes that a more ...

Biology / Evolution

created Nov 09, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (38) | comments 477 | with audio podcast

'Fossil eel' squirms into the record books

A new species of eel found in the gloom of an undersea cave is a "living fossil" astonishingly similar to the first eels that swam some 200 million years ago, biologists reported on Wednesday.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 17, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (19) | comments 58

Fossilised pregnant fish was one of the first animals to have sex

(PhysOrg.com) -- A pregnant fossil fish at the Natural History Museum in London has shed light on the possible origin of sex, according to a study published in Nature today by an international team includ ...

Biology /

created Feb 25, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (17) | comments 3

Move over, sponges: New evidence confirms Placozoans are the closest living surrogate to the ancestor of all animals

A new and comprehensive analysis confirms that the evolutionary relationships among animals are not as simple as previously thought. The traditional idea that animal evolution has followed a trajectory from ...

Biology /

created Jan 27, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 1

47-million-year-old fossil could shed light on primate family tree

(PhysOrg.com) -- A 47-million-year-old primate fossil, a purported "missing link" between primates and humans, was unveiled this week in New York. The fossil, formally called Darwinius masillae but nicknamed ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created May 19, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 2

Dinosaurs had fleas too -- giant ones, fossils show

In the Jurassic era, even the flea was a beast, compared to its minuscule modern descendants. These pesky bloodsuckers were nearly an inch long.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Feb 29, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 8

Four-winged dinosaur's feathers were black with iridescent sheen

A team of American and Chinese researchers has revealed the color and detailed feather pattern of Microraptor, a pigeon-sized, four-winged dinosaur that lived about 130 million years ago. The non-avian dinosaur's ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Mar 08, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (11) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Warm and fuzzy T. rex? New evidence surprises

The discovery of a giant meat-eating dinosaur sporting a downy coat has some scientists reimagining the look of Tyrannosaurus rex.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Apr 04, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 15

Whales in the desert: Fossil bonanza poses mystery

(AP) -- More than 2 million years ago, scores of whales congregating off the Pacific Coast of South America mysteriously met their end.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Nov 19, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (10) | comments 8

Toothed pterosaur: Tiny fossil fragment reveals giant-but-ugly-truth

New research from the Universities of Portsmouth and Leicester has identified a small fossil fragment at the Natural History Museum, London as being part of a giant pterosaur – setting a new upper limit ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Oct 13, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (10) | comments 15 | with audio podcast

Scientists reveal a first in Ice Age art

Researchers from the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Florida have announced the discovery of a bone fragment, approximately 13,000 years old, in Florida with an incised image ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Jun 21, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (10) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Study reveals clues to how humans became sociable

(PhysOrg.com) -- Humans have evolved to become the most flexible of the primates and being able to live in lots of different social settings sets us apart from non-human primates, suggests research by University ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 10, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (9) | comments 33 | with audio podcast

'Pregnant plesiosaur' examined

A paper to be published on August 12, 2011 in Science reveals that Dr. F. Robin O'Keefe of Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. and Dr. Luis Chiappe, Director of the Natural History Museum's Dinosaur Institute, have d ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Aug 11, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Ancient whale species sheds new light on its modern relatives

Beluga whales and narwhals live solely in the cold waters of the Arctic and sub-arctic. Smithsonian scientists, however, found that this may not have always been the case. They recently described a new species ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

DNA traces cattle back to a small herd domesticated around 10,500 years ago

All cattle are descended from as few as 80 animals that were domesticated from wild ox in the Near East some 10,500 years ago, according to a new genetic study.

Biology / Evolution

created Mar 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast