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Paleontology & Fossils news
Fungus gnat entombed in a 40-million-year-old piece of amber is a rare gem
A Danish amber collector's find upon a wild North Sea shore in the 1960's has proved to be of great and surprising significance. After having thoroughly examined the roughly 40-million-year-old piece of amber, University ...
Evolution
Aug 30, 2024
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Ancient sea cow that was attacked by both a primeval crocodile and shark sheds new light on prehistoric food chains
A new study showing how a prehistoric sea cow was preyed upon by not one, but two different carnivores—a crocodilian and a shark—is revealing clues into both the predation tactics of ancient creatures and the wider food ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 29, 2024
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Plant-eating dinosaurs evolved backup teeth to eat tough food, research reveals
At the end of the Cretaceous, the duck-billed hadrosaurs were the most advanced herbivores on Earth. New research has revealed just how voracious these dinosaurs were, with their average tooth worn away in less than two months ...
Evolution
Aug 27, 2024
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Darwin's fear was unjustified: Study suggests fossil record gaps not a major issue
Fossils are used to reconstruct evolutionary history, but not all animals and plants become fossils and many fossils are destroyed before we can find them (e.g., the rocks that contain the fossils are destroyed by erosion). ...
Evolution
Aug 26, 2024
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Matching dinosaur footprints found on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean
An international team of researchers led by SMU paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs has found matching sets of Early Cretaceous dinosaur footprints on what are now two different continents.
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 25, 2024
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Paleontologists discover new predatory dinosaur with a distinctive 'eyebrow'
Theropod dinosaurs are one of the most important large groups of dinosaurs, including well-known predators, such as Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus, as well as modern birds. A variety of theropods are known from the Mesozoic ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 21, 2024
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Heterogeneous occurrence of evergreen broad-leaved forests revealed by plant fossils in East Asia
Evergreen broad-leaved forests (EBLFs) are the most characteristic biomes in East Asia. They assume a fundamental role in the biodiversity function and ecosystem services of the East Asiatic floristic kingdom. Hence, understanding ...
Ecology
Aug 20, 2024
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Paleontologists describe new examples of giant sea scorpions from the Silurian and Devonian in New South Wales
A team of paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History, the Australian Museum Research Institute, and the WB Clarke Geoscience Center, in Australia, has added new evidential data for pterygotid eurypterids ...
Fossil hotspots in Africa obscure a more complete picture of human evolution, study says
Much of the early human fossil record originates from just a few places in Africa, where favorable geological conditions have preserved a trove of fossils used by scientists to reconstruct the story of human evolution.
Evolution
Aug 20, 2024
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Understanding of early life ecosystems sheds light on evolution of life on Earth
With a new understanding of past life on the planet through fossils, a Mississippi State biological sciences faculty member is helping researchers better predict Earth's future.
Evolution
Aug 19, 2024
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Review of 400 years of scientific literature corrects the Dodo extinction record
Researchers are setting out to challenge our misconceptions about the Dodo, one of the most well-known but poorly understood species of bird.
Plants & Animals
Aug 16, 2024
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In Mississippi, discovery of elephant fossil from the ice age provides window into the past
Fossil hunter Eddie Templeton was out exploring in Mississippi when he came across a remarkable find in a steep embankment. It appeared to be part of an ice-age elephant tusk.
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 15, 2024
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Characterizing the impact of 700 years of Inuvialuit subsistence hunting on beluga whales
An international team of researchers, led by scientists from the University of Copenhagen and University of Toronto, analyzed beluga whale bones retrieved from archaeological sites in the Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, ...
Ecology
Aug 14, 2024
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New technology offers a better look at tardigrade fossils embedded in amber
A trio of evolutionary biologists at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology has learned more about the evolutionary history of tardigrades by studying two fossils embedded in amber. In their study, published in ...
Findings reveal eurypterids evolved giant size independently at least nine times
Sea scorpions, ancient predators that patrolled Earth's marine and freshwater habitats hundreds of millions of years ago, are the focus of a sizable scientific mystery.
Evolution
Aug 13, 2024
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New species of extinct walrus-like mammal discovered in the North Atlantic
A new discovery by a team of paleontologists, led by Dr. Mathieu Boisville (University of Tsukuba, Japan), has uncovered a new species of the extinct genus Ontocetus from the Lower Pleistocene deposits in the North Atlantic. ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 13, 2024
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Discovery of tiny bone sheds light on mysterious 'hobbit' humans
The discovery of a tiny arm bone suggests that an ancient human dubbed "hobbits" only shrank down to their diminutive size after they arrived on an Indonesian island a million years ago, scientists said on Tuesday.
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 10, 2024
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135-million-year-old marine crocodile sheds light on Cretaceous life
An international team of scientists, including researchers from Germany and the UK, have described a new species of ancient marine crocodile, Enalioetes schroederi. Enalioetes lived in the shallow seas that covered much of ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 9, 2024
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When mammoths roamed Vancouver Island: Paleontologists delve into beasts' history in the region
Mammoths, the massive pre-historic ice age cousins of the modern-day elephant, have always been understood to have inhabited parts of British Columbia, but the question of when has always been a bit woolly.
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 8, 2024
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Giant fossil seeds from Borneo record ancient plant migration
Ancient fossil beans about the size of modern limes, and among the largest seeds in the fossil record, may provide new insight into the evolution of today's diverse Southeast Asian and Australian rainforests, according to ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 8, 2024
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More news
Fossil hunter discovers new species of 210-million-year-old lungfish
Researchers uncover 500 million-year-old mollusk ancestor
New insights into one of Europe's oldest dinosaurs
New species of tyrannosaurid dinosaur identified in China
AI-assisted analysis suggests elephant-like species extinction rates grew when humans arrived
Scientists assess how large dinosaurs could really get
Other news
Researchers identify genes for low glycemic index and high protein in rice
Novel chemical tool aims to streamline drug-making process
New fossil snake species provides insight into reptile social behavior and development
Stegosaurus fossil fetches nearly $45M, setting record for dinosaur auctions
Evidence for butchery of giant armadillo-like mammals in Argentina 21,000 years ago
Brazilian researchers discover dinosaur fossil after heavy rains in Rio Grande do Sul
How old are South African fossils like the Taung Child? Study offers an answer
Gnatalie is the only green-boned dinosaur found on the planet. She will be on display in LA
Enhancing microbe memory to better upcycle excess CO₂
AI tool maps out cell metabolism with precision
Promising antibiotic candidates discovered in microbes deep in the Arctic Sea
