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Why humans have smaller faces than Neanderthals

The human face is strikingly distinct from our fossil cousins and ancestors—most notably, it is significantly smaller, and more gracile. However, the reasons behind this change remain largely unknown. A team of researchers ...

From dinosaurs to birds: The origins of feather formation

Feathers are among the most complex cutaneous appendages in the animal kingdom. While their evolutionary origin has been widely debated, paleontological discoveries and developmental biology studies suggest that feathers ...

New Zealand once home to southern elephant seals

Southern elephant seals are the "canary in the coal mine" for the Southern Ocean, offering insight into how the ecosystem may react to future climate change and human impact, new research shows.

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Paleontology & Fossils
Museums have tons of data, and AI could make it more accessible
Paleontology & Fossils
The first fossil thrips in Africa: this tiny insect pest met its end in a volcanic lake 90 million years ago
Paleontology & Fossils
Western Europe's oldest human face discovered in Spain
Paleontology & Fossils
Melanosome patterns in Mesozoic mammals suggest they had dark, uniformly dull fur coloring
Paleontology & Fossils
Rare aardvark trace fossils discovered in South Africa
Evolution
DNA and 90 million-year-old pollen fossils reveal new insights into evolution of Asian tropics
Evolution
We modeled how early human ancestors ran—and found they were surprisingly slow
Paleontology & Fossils
Dinosaur tracks, made 140 million years ago, have been found for the first time in South Africa's Western Cape
Paleontology & Fossils
Archaeologists uncover the oldest known partial face fossil of a human ancestor in western Europe
Paleontology & Fossils
Unnoticed for decades, dinosaur footprints at Australian school reveal ancient secrets
Paleontology & Fossils
Terrestrial 'life oasis' from end-Permian mass extinction period discovered in China
Paleontology & Fossils
'Old stump' spotted by deer hunter is actually a mammoth tusk, Texas researchers say
Paleontology & Fossils
Wind turbine remains may be among 'most surprising' fossils for far future generations, paleontologists say
Evolution
Triassic Life: An overview of ancient amphibians, crocodile relatives, early dinosaurs and mammalian ancestors
Paleontology & Fossils
A 62-million-year-old skeleton sheds light on an enigmatic mammal
Paleontology & Fossils
Fossil evidence found of humans domesticating avocados 7,500 years ago
Paleontology & Fossils
A longer, sleeker super predator: Study paints more accurate picture of megalodon's true form
Plants & Animals
Megalodon's body size and form uncover why certain aquatic vertebrates can achieve gigantism
Ecology
Tooth size in South American sea lions reflects historical shifts in population abundance
Plants & Animals
Plants struggled for millions of years after the world's worst climate catastrophe, scientists reveal

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Social Sciences
Lyft drivers study reveals racial profiling by law enforcement
Social Sciences
Even atheists in secular countries show intuitive preferences for religious belief
Cell & Microbiology
Uncovering the relationship between transport proteins and brain disease
Bio & Medicine
Scientists uncover how microswimmers move faster in groups, paving way for tiny drug-delivering robots
Ecology
After 7,000 years without light and oxygen in Baltic Sea mud, researchers bring prehistoric algae back to life
Molecular & Computational biology
Discovery of compounds that delay flowering could boost crop yields
Astronomy
Experiment shows theory describing formation of interstellar benzene does not actually produce benzene
Plasma Physics
Commercial fusion power plant now closer to reality
Superconductivity
The first comprehensive characterization of unconventional superconductivity arising from multipolar moments
Condensed Matter
Thermopower-based technique can detect fractional quantum Hall states
Analytical Chemistry
Solar-powered system converts waste to ammonia and glycolic acid
Biochemistry
Nanofiltration system separates valuable industrial chemicals from cattle manure
Cell & Microbiology
New approach could treat anthrax beyond the 'point of no return'
Environment
Arctic sea ice hits record low for its usual peak growth period
Environment
Earth's storage of water in soil, lakes and rivers is dwindling. And it's especially bad for farming
Superconductivity
New superconducting state discovered: Cooper-pair density modulation
Nanomaterials
Nanostructured copper alloy rivals superalloys in strength and stability
General Physics
Dirac's Plate Trick, the Hairy Ball Theorem and more: Research probes physics of irregular objects on inclined planes
Molecular & Computational biology
A genetic tree as a movie: Moving beyond the still portrait of ancestry
Earth Sciences
Increased meltwater and rain help explain why Southern Ocean cooling has defied predictions

A 62-million-year-old skeleton sheds light on an enigmatic mammal

For more than 140 years, Mixodectes pungens, a species of small mammal that inhabited western North America in the early Paleocene, was a mystery. What little was known about them had been mostly gleaned from analyzing fossilized ...