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Paleontology & Fossils news

Excavated white-tailed deer bones could inform a more sustainable future
In Connecticut, deer are a frequent sight, whether they are quietly munching on plants around our yards, bounding into the cover of trees with a flash of white from their tails, or after they don't safely make it across a ...
Ecology
May 26, 2023
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More nautilids may have survived the mass extinction at the end of the Triassic period than previously thought
The end of the Triassic period, 201 million years ago, is considered one of the greatest mass extinction events in the history of the Earth. The main cause of this catastrophe for life and evolution is thought to have been ...
Evolution
May 25, 2023
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Fossil tells the 'tail' of an ancient beast
Approximately 200 million years ago, Antarctica was attached to South America, Africa, India, and Australia in a single "supercontinent" called Gondwana. Paleontologists have long wondered about the unique mammals that lived ...
Evolution
May 24, 2023
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What if dinosaurs were already in decline when the asteroid struck?
Non-avian dinosaurs were probably in decline long before an asteroid smashing into the Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago sealed their fate, according to a University of Alberta paleontologist who says the ancient tale ...
Evolution
May 24, 2023
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Newly described species of dome-headed dinosaur may have sported bristly headgear
If you look at enough dinosaur fossils, you'll see that their skulls sport an amazing variety of bony ornaments, ranging from the horns of Triceratops and the mohawk-like crests of hadrosaurs to the bumps and knobs covering ...
Plants & Animals
May 23, 2023
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New book eyes Earth's excavators, from microbes to elephants and dinosaurs
The ordinary person looks at Stone Mountain and sees a solid, unmovable monolith. Emory paleontologist Anthony Martin, who thinks in geologic time, sees something more akin to a giant sugar cube.
Paleontology & Fossils
May 22, 2023
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Fossils of a saber-toothed top predator reveal a scramble for dominance leading up to 'the Great Dying'
Two hundred and fifty-two million years ago, Earth experienced a mass extinction so devastating that it's become known as "the Great Dying." Massive volcanic eruptions triggered catastrophic climate change, killing off nine ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 22, 2023
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Mastodon bones unearthed by Michigan work crew go on display in museum
A selection of bones belonging to a juvenile mastodon who roamed the woods of Michigan 13,000 years ago is now on display at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, after workers unearthed it by chance last year.
Paleontology & Fossils
May 19, 2023
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Ancient mass extinction event may not be so strange after all, says new study
The Late Ordovician mass extinction event (LOME) has long been viewed as odd compared to other mass extinction events in Earth's history. Contrary to nearly all other major extinction phases known from the fossil record it ...
Ecology
May 18, 2023
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266

Fossil fragments shed light on a new spinosaurid dinosaur found in Spain
A dinosaur specimen from Castellón, Spain represents a new proposed species of spinosaurid, reports a paper published in Scientific Reports. The identification of a potential new species suggests that the Iberian peninsula ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 18, 2023
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Fossil of mosasaur with bizarre 'screwdriver teeth' found in Morocco
Scientists have discovered a new species of mosasaur, a sea-dwelling lizard from the age of the dinosaurs, with strange, ridged teeth unlike those of any known reptile. Along with other recent finds from Africa, it suggests ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 17, 2023
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Earliest sea scorpion from China found in end-Ordovician Anji Biota in Zhejiang
Eurypterids (Arthropoda: Chelicerata), normally known as sea scorpions, are an important extinct group of Paleozoic chelicerate arthropods.
Paleontology & Fossils
May 17, 2023
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A predatory dinosaur from Brazil and its surprising anatomy
Irritator challengeri was a two-legged, meat-eating dinosaur, or more precisely—a spinosaurid. The knowledge of the species is based on the most complete fossil skull known from this group. With the aid of X-ray computed ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 16, 2023
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A new workflow to standardize fossil pollen datasets for ecological research
A new study published in Global Ecology and Biogeography presents a step-by-step guide to compile numerous fossil pollen datasets into a user-specific, standardized and clean compilation—ready for further analysis.
Ecology
May 15, 2023
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Healthy teeth thanks to the 'washing machine effect': Research explains tooth abrasion in cows
Ruminants like cows have developed an unusual way of digesting their food: they ingest plants, give them a rough chewing and then swallow the half-chewed mash before regurgitating it repeatedly and continuing to chew. This ...
Plants & Animals
May 12, 2023
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These giant 'drop bears' with opposable thumbs once scaled trees in Australia. But how did they grow so huge?
Although long dead, fossil skeletons provide an incredible window into the lifestyle and environment of an extinct animal.
Paleontology & Fossils
May 12, 2023
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286

Study suggests differential species proliferation likely key to evolutionary increase in size of brontotheres
A pair of evolutionary ecologists from Universidad de Alcalá, working with a colleague from the New York Institute of Technology, reports that differential species proliferation was likely the key to the evolutionary increase ...

300,000-year-old snapshot: Oldest human footprints from Germany found
In a study published today in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews, an international research team led by scientists from the University of Tübingen and the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment ...
Ecology
May 12, 2023
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Rare fossils fill a gap in the evolution of major animal groups
Exceptionally well-preserved fossils from the Cambrian period have helped fill a gap in our understanding of the origin and evolution of major animal groups alive today.
Evolution
May 12, 2023
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351

Human ancestors preferred mosaic landscapes and high ecosystem diversity, study finds
A new study published in the journal Science by an international team finds that early human species adapted to mosaic landscapes and diverse food resources, which would have increased our ancestor's resilience to past shifts ...
Evolution
May 11, 2023
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More news

Culprit behind destruction of New York's first dinosaur museum revealed

Giants of the Jurassic seas were twice the size of a killer whale, says study

Fossil insect study identifies new genus and species of prodigious leaper, the froghopper

Earth's first animals had particular taste in real estate

Nose shape gene inherited from Neanderthals

International study reveals genetic link between modern wine grapes and ancient varieties

Researchers discover largest 'raptor' dinosaurs lived millions of years earlier than we knew

A micropaleontology manuscript written 'on the barricades'

Crushed Scottish fossils reconstructed to reveal ancient predator's skull

'Golden' fossils reveal origins of exceptional preservation

Middle Ordovician 'marine dwarf world' found in Castle Bank, Wales

How are dinosaur tissues preserved in deep time?

New rhynchosaur, named Beessiiwo cooowuse, found in Wyoming
Other news

Ingestible capsule to address GI tract diseases

Researchers shed further light onto zinc homeostasis in cells

Sunlight-powered catalyst transforms methane into valuable chemicals

Stephen Hawking's last collaborator on physicist's final theory

Experiments see first evidence of a rare Higgs boson decay

Fractons as information storage: Not yet tangible, but close

Skepticism about Microsoft results regarding robust quantum bits

First-ever sturgeon fossil found in Africa

X-ray analysis sheds new light on prehistoric predator's last meal

Tracking the accelerated melting of glaciers in Greenland
