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Paleontology & Fossils news
Fossils reveal 'latitudinal traps' that increased extinction risk for marine species
A new study led by researchers at the University of Oxford has shown that the shape and orientation of coastlines significantly influenced extinction patterns for animals living in the shallow oceans during the last 540 million ...
Ecology
2 hours ago
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DNA from wolf pup's last meal reveals new facts about woolly rhino's extinction
The woolly rhino, Coelodonta antiquitatis, would have been an impressive sight to the ancient people who painted images of them on cave walls and carved figurines of them out of bone, antler, ivory and wood.
Evolution
2 hours ago
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Mummified cheetahs found in Saudi caves shed light on lost populations
Scientists have uncovered the mummified remains of cheetahs from caves in northern Saudi Arabia.
Ecology
5 hours ago
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Woolly rhino genome recovered from Ice Age wolf stomach
Researchers from the Center for Paleogenetics have managed to analyze the genome from a 14,400-year-old woolly rhinoceros, recovered from a tissue sample found preserved inside the stomach of an ancient wolf.
Molecular & Computational biology
Jan 14, 2026
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Homo habilis: The oldest and most complete skeleton discovered to date
An international research team has unveiled a significant discovery in human paleontology: an exceptionally well-preserved Homo habilis skeleton dating back more than 2 million years.
Evolution
Jan 14, 2026
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T. rex grew up slowly: New study reveals 'king of dinosaurs' kept growing until age 40
For decades, scientists have been counting annual growth rings—similar to tree rings—inside fossilized leg bones of Tyrannosaurus rex to estimate how old the giant carnivores were when they died and how quickly they grew ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 14, 2026
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A centuries-old debate on how reptiles keep evolving skin bones is finally settled
Our bones did not begin deep inside the body. They started in the skin, not long after the first complex animals took shape.
Evolution
Jan 13, 2026
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How floodwaters impact fossil formation
A new study by the University of Minnesota challenges previous classifications paleontologists use to determine how the fossil record is formed. They investigated how dinosaur and mammal bones are transported and buried by ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 12, 2026
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Modern rock wallabies seem to survive by sticking together in small areas: Fossils show they need to travel
Today, rock wallabies are seen as secretive cliff-dwellers that rarely stray far from the safety of their rocky shelters. But the fossil record tells a very different story.
Ecology
Jan 12, 2026
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The 'Age of Fishes' began with mass death, fossil database reveals
Some 445 million years ago, life on Earth was forever changed. During the geological blink of an eye, glaciers formed over the supercontinent Gondwana, drying out many of the vast, shallow seas like a sponge and giving an ...
Evolution
Jan 9, 2026
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How did these strange, ancient organisms turn into such remarkable fossils?
In Earth's fossil record, soft-bodied organisms like jellyfish rarely stand the test of time. What's more, it's hard for any animal to get preserved with exceptional detail in sandstones, which are made of large grains, are ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 8, 2026
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Scientists solve the mystery of Europe's missing dinosaurs. Spoiler alert! They were never actually missing
Ceratopsians were horned, beaked dinosaurs that once stomped their way all over North America and Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, about 80 million years ago. Their abundance in the fossil records of these continents, ...
Earth's early sponges were soft: Scientists close fossil record gap
Sponges are among Earth's most ancient animals, but exactly when they evolved has long puzzled scientists. Genetic information from living sponges, as well as chemical signals from ancient rocks, suggest that sponges evolved ...
Evolution
Jan 7, 2026
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A case of mistaken identity: Mammoth fossils from Alaska turn out to belong to two ancient whales
For more than 70 years, what were thought to be mammoth fossils were tucked away in the archives of the University of Alaska Museum of the North. During the museum's Adopt-a-Mammoth program, which allows the public to sponsor ...
Early hominins from Morocco reveal an African lineage near the root of Homo sapiens
An international research team reports the analysis of new hominin fossils from the site of Thomas Quarry I (Casablanca, Morocco). The fossils are very securely dated to 773,000 +/- 4,000 years ago, thanks to a high-resolution ...
Evolution
Jan 7, 2026
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156
Ammonites survived asteroid impact that killed off dinosaurs, new evidence suggests
In the aftermath of the giant asteroid that crashed into the Yucatan Peninsula about 66 million years ago, approximately 75% of all species on Earth were wiped out, including the dinosaurs. Among those thought to have perished ...
A speeding clock could solve Darwin's mystery of gaps in animal fossil records
The oldest fossilized remains of complex animals appear suddenly in the fossil record, and as if from nowhere, in rocks that are 538 million years old.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 6, 2026
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Evidence of upright walking found in 7-million-year-old Sahelanthropus fossils
In recent decades, scientists have debated whether a seven-million-year-old fossil was bipedal—a trait that would make it the oldest human ancestor. A new analysis by a team of anthropologists offers powerful evidence that ...
Evolution
Jan 2, 2026
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Qaidam Basin fossils suggest Pleistocene establishment of East Asian migratory flyway
A research team led by Associate Professor Wang Yaqiong from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS), in collaboration with colleagues from multiple domestic and international ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 2, 2026
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Ancient microfossils reveal a moving North Pacific Ocean 5 million years ago
A research team led by scientists at Kumamoto University has discovered a new genus of microscopic crustaceans from northern Japan, offering rare insights into how ocean currents in the North Pacific shifted during a key ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Dec 29, 2025
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More news
Ancient mega-shark ruled Australian seas 15 million years before megalodon
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Metabolic analyses of animal fossils help scientists reconstruct million-year-old environments
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How small mammals shrink their brains to survive the cold
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Charging gold nanorods with light energy
First armored dinosaur hatchling discovered in China
Sea reptile's tooth shows that mosasaurs could live in freshwater
Analysis of Diplodocus dinosaur scales reveals possible speckled color patterning
The fossil bird that choked to death on rocks, and no one knows why
Flowers shape the spread of viruses among wild bees, study finds
