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Paleontology & Fossils news
The human brain grew as a result of the extinction of large animals
A new paper by Dr. Miki Ben-Dor and Prof. Ran Barkai from the Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University proposes an original unifying explanation for the physiological, behavioral and cultural evolution ...
Evolution
4 hours ago
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Neandertals had the capacity to perceive and produce human speech
Neandertals—the closest ancestor to modern humans—possessed the ability to perceive and produce human speech, according to a new study published by an international multidisciplinary team of researchers including Binghamton ...
Evolution
5 hours ago
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Argentine titanosaur may be oldest yet: study
A colossal dinosaur dug up in Argentina could be the oldest titanosaur ever found, having roamed what is now Patagonia some 140 million years ago at the beginning of the Cretaceous period, scientists said Sunday.
Paleontology & Fossils
13 hours ago
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Pioneering prehistoric landscape reconstruction reveals early dinosaurs lived on tropical islands
A new study using leading edge technology has shed surprising light on the ancient habitat where some of the first dinosaurs roamed in the UK around 200 million years ago.
Paleontology & Fossils
Feb 26, 2021
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Were it not for humans, woolly mammoths would have lived for 4,000 more years, simulation shows
An international team of researchers has used computer simulations to show that it was likely a combination of climate change and human hunting that led to the extinction of the woolly mammoth. They have written a paper describing ...
Dinosaur species: 'Everyone's unique'
"Everyone's unique" is a popular maxim. All people are equal, but there are of course individual differences. This was no different with dinosaurs. A study by researchers at the University of Bonn and the Dinosaur Museum ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Feb 26, 2021
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Automated weed and feed: Developing a smart crop sprayer
Conventional crop-spraying with herbicide to kill weeds among a crop wastes a lot of the herbicide and raises environmental concerns. A smart crop sprayer might identify weeds growing through the crop and spot spray only ...
Biotechnology
Feb 26, 2021
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First rebbachisaurid dinosaur remains found in Asia
A pair of researchers with the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Museum of Natural History in the U.S., respectively, has respectively, uncovered the first known example of a rebbachisaurid dinosaur to be found ...
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, ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Feb 24, 2021
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Using a multipronged approach to investigate the diet of ancient dogs
Coprolites, or fossilized feces, are often used to understand the dietary preferences of ancient civilizations. However, the samples are often contaminated, making the analysis difficult. A new study, published in Scientific ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Feb 24, 2021
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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 ...
Evolution
Feb 24, 2021
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How did dogs get to the Americas? An ancient bone fragment holds clues
The history of dogs has been intertwined, since ancient times, with that of the humans who domesticated them.
Evolution
Feb 23, 2021
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First DNA extracted from modern, ancient and fossil tropical shells
In Wonderland, Alice drank a potion to shrink herself. In nature, some animal species shrink to escape the attention of human hunters, a process that takes from decades to millennia. To begin to understand the genetics of ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 23, 2021
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Evidence of predation by octopuses pushed back by 25 million years
New research unveiled the earliest evidence of octopus predation in the fossil record. The evidence consists of tiny holes drilled in the clams they preyed upon during the Cretaceous period about 75 million years ago.
Evolution
Feb 22, 2021
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DNA from 360,000-year-old bone reveals oldest non-permafrost genome
Scientists have successfully sequenced the genome of an extinct cave bear using a 360,000-year-old bone—the oldest genome of any organism from a non-permafrost environment.
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 22, 2021
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Animal evolution—glimpses of ancient environments
Although amber looks like a somewhat unusual inorganic mineral, it is actually derived from an organic source—tree resins. Millions of years ago, when this aromatic and sticky substance was slowly oozing from coniferous ...
Evolution
Feb 19, 2021
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Paper reconciles two branches of evolutionary science into one framework
A review paper published in this week's Evolutionary Anthropology reconciles competing approaches in the sciences of human behavior. Co-authored by SFI Applied Complexity Fellow Michael Price and Elspeth Ready of the Max ...
Evolution
Feb 19, 2021
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Quartz crystals in the stomach of fossil bird complicates the mystery of its diet
It's hard to know what prehistoric animals' lives were like—even answering seemingly simple questions, like what they ate, can be a challenge. Sometimes, paleontologists get lucky, and pristine fossils will preserve an ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Feb 19, 2021
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Giant predatory worms roamed the seafloor until 5.3 million years ago
An international study in which the University of Granada participated—recently published in the journal Scientific Reports—has identified a new fossil record of giant predatory worms in the northeast of Taiwan (China), ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Feb 18, 2021
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The shoulders of Homo antecessor and modern humans are similar
The shape of our shoulders was already present in the Lower Pleistocene, according to a pioneering study published today in the journal Scientific Reports, carried out by Daniel García Martínez and José María Bermúdez ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Feb 18, 2021
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More news
Europe's largest meteorite crater is home to deep ancient fungi
Comet from edge of solar system killed the dinosaurs: study
Genes for face shape identified
Neanderthal gut microbiota and the bacteria helping our health
635 million-year-old fungi-like microfossil that bailed us out of an ice age discovered
Newly discovered fossil named after paleontologist
Other news
4-D bioengineering materials bend, curve like natural tissue
Velcro-like cellular proteins key to tissue strength
Optimally promoting biodiversity in agricultural landscapes
Seeding ice clouds with wildfire emissions
New insights into an ancient protein complex
When foams collapse (and when they don't)
How a plant regulates its growth
Study sheds new light on the behaviour of the giant carnivorous dinosaur Spinosaurus
New skull of tube-crested dinosaur reveals evolution of bizarre crest
Dinosaur embryo find helps crack baby tyrannosaur mystery
Fossil burrows point to ancient seafloor colonization by giant marine worms
