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Paleontology & Fossils news
Is it a bird or a dinosaur? Fossils from Teylers Museum in Netherlands secretly visit UK's synchrotron
The feathered limbs, sharp teeth and claws of the oldest known bird-like dinosaurs, the Archaeopteryx have fascinated naturalists and paleontologists including Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin who propelled the species to ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 9, 2024
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Fossilized circles in the sand on South Africa's coast may be artwork by our early ancestors
If you have walked on a dune surface after windy conditions have settled, you may have been privileged to recognize one of Nature's wonders: scratch circles. These are structures formed when the end of a tethered object is ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 9, 2024
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Likely ancestor of all modern hoofed animals identified
A team of anthropologists, paleontologists and Earth scientists from Kent State University, the City University of New York and the University of Michigan's Museum of Paleontology has for the first time identified the likely ...
Human activity is making it harder for scientists to interpret oceans' past
New research shows human activity is significantly altering the ways in which marine organisms are preserved, with lasting effects that can both improve and impair the fossil record. The findings are published in the journal ...
Ecology
May 8, 2024
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Discovery of ancient Glaswegian shrimp fossil reveals new species
A short but robust little shrimp may have died out over 330 million years ago during the Carboniferous period, but the rare Scottish shellfish has been revitalized as a new species to science and as a Glaswegian.
Plants & Animals
May 8, 2024
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US restorationist solves 60-million-year-old dinosaur fossil 'puzzles'
Before a T. rex can tower over museum visitors or a Triceratops can show off its huge horns, dinosaur fossils must first be painstakingly reconstructed—cleaned, fit together and even painted.
Paleontology & Fossils
May 8, 2024
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Evidence suggests saber-toothed cats held onto their baby teeth to stabilize their sabers
California's state fossil—are familiar to anyone who has ever visited Los Angeles' La Brea Tar Pits, a sticky trap from which more than 2,000 saber-toothed cat skulls have been excavated over more than a century.
Evolution
Apr 30, 2024
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Researchers spent two years in deep underground caves to bring this extraordinary fossil to light
Pitch-black darkness. Crushing squeezes, muddy passages, icy waterfalls. Bats and spiders. Abseiling over ledges into the unknown. How far would you go for a fossil?
Paleontology & Fossils
Apr 29, 2024
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T. rex not as smart as previously claimed, scientists find
An international team of scientists including two neurobiologists from the University of Alberta is weighing in on the latest controversy over the brain power of Tyrannosaurus rex.
Paleontology & Fossils
Apr 29, 2024
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The first glow-in-the-dark animals may have been ancient corals deep in the ocean
Many animals can glow in the dark. Fireflies famously blink on summer evenings. But most animals that light up are found in the depths of the ocean.
Plants & Animals
Apr 27, 2024
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Gigantic Jurassic raptor footprints unearthed in China
Scientists have discovered the tracks of a 5 meter-long raptor dinosaur, challenging what was previously known about the species' size range.
Paleontology & Fossils
Apr 26, 2024
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Ancient giant tortoise fossils found in Colombian Andes
Paleontologists have discovered giant tortoise fossils in Colombia dating back some 57 million years, the university leading the excavation said, with the findings key to understanding South America's prehistoric eras.
Paleontology & Fossils
Apr 25, 2024
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These giant, prehistoric salmon had tusk-like teeth
Oncorhynchus rastrosus, a giant species of salmon that lived in the North American Pacific Northwest a few million years ago, sported a pair of front teeth that projected out from the sides of its mouth like tusks, according ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Apr 24, 2024
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Exceptionally well-preserved shark fossils from the time of the dinosaurs identified in Mexico
An international team of archaeologists, paleontologists, evolutionists and geoscientists has analyzed ancient shark fossils from the time of the dinosaurs that were recently unearthed in Mexico. In their paper published ...
Bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago, pushing back previous oldest dated example
Bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago in a group of marine invertebrates called octocorals, according to the results of a new study from scientists with the Smithsonian's National Museum ...
Evolution
Apr 23, 2024
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Fossil frogs share their skincare secrets: Analysis of 45-million-year-old soft tissues
Paleontologists at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland, have solved a hundred-year-old mystery of how some fossil frogs preserve their fleshy parts—it's all down to their skin.
Paleontology & Fossils
Apr 23, 2024
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This ancient snake in India might have been longer than a school bus and weighed a ton
A ancient giant snake in India might have been longer than a school bus and weighed a ton, researchers reported Thursday.
Plants & Animals
Apr 20, 2024
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Africa is full of bats, but their fossils are scarce—why these rare records matter
Africa is home to more than 20% of the world's bat population. There are more than 200 species to be found on the continent. South Africa is particularly diverse, with 72 bat species.
Paleontology & Fossils
Apr 18, 2024
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Discovery of new ancient giant snake in India
A new ancient species of snake dubbed Vasuki Indicus, which lived around 47 million years ago in the state of Gujarat in India, may have been one of the largest snakes to have ever lived, suggests new research published in ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Apr 18, 2024
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Scientists construct organo-phosphatic shells of brachiopods
Biomineralized columns, stacked in layers like a sandwich gave Cambrian brachiopod shells their strength and flexibility 520 million years ago.
Evolution
Apr 18, 2024
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More news
Paleontologists unearth what may be the largest known marine reptile
Dinosaur study challenges Bergmann's rule
New fossil dolphin identified
Early dinosaurs grew up fast, but fossil analysis suggests they weren't the only ones
Amber reveals mating behavior of cretaceous water striders
Scientists confirm that methane-processing microbes produce a fossil record
Scientists discover endoparasitic marine tapeworm trapped in Cretaceous amber
Other news
Study discovers cellular activity that hints recycling is in our DNA
Life expectancy study reveals longest and shortest-lived cats
GoT-ChA: New tool reveals how gene mutations affect cells
Research shows that five three-horned dinosaurs lived, and died, together
Researchers discover 125,000-year-old coastal ecosystem underneath spaceport in Kourou
In paleontology, correct names are keys to accurate study
Duckbill dinosaur discovery in Morocco: Expert unpacks the mystery of how they got there
Ancient giant dolphin discovered in the Amazon
Biologists use machine learning to classify fossils of extinct pollen
Researchers reveal new cellular mechanical transducer
Bilbies could hop back into mild climate zones, study finds
