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Paleontology & Fossils news
Ancient parasitic 'Venus flytrap' wasp preserved in amber reveals parasitoid strategies
An extinct lineage of parasitic wasps dating from the mid-Cretaceous period and preserved in amber may have used their Venus flytrap-like abdomen to capture and immobilize their prey.
Ecology
3 hours ago
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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 ...
Evolution
8 hours ago
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How survivors spanned the globe after Earth's biggest mass extinction
Scientists don't call it the "Great Dying" for nothing. About 252 million years ago, upward of 80% of all marine species vanished during the end-Permian mass extinction—the most extreme event of its kind in Earth's history.
Ecology
9 hours ago
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Giant claw unearthed in Mongolia belongs to a new species of two-fingered dinosaur
An international team of paleontologists and Earth scientists has identified fossilized remains as a two-clawed therizinosaur. The fossils were unearthed more than a decade ago in Mongolia. Their paper is published in the ...
Scientists create lab-grown amber-like resin to study fossil preservation
The Field Museum in Chicago and the Foundation for Scientific Advancement reported that sediment-encased maturation of pine resin produces a hardened, translucent substance that closely mimics natural copal and amber in appearance, ...
Radioisotopic ages of newly discovered fossil sites hold clues to evolution of mammals
Anatolia, the western part of modern-day Turkey that sits at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, is a fossil-rich land crucial to unlocking the mysteries surrounding the evolution of mammals over the last 10 million ...
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 ...
Evolution
Mar 20, 2025
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93
The olive landscape: A nearly 4,000-year-old legacy of human-nature interaction in the Central Mediterranean
The olive tree is one of the most iconic symbols of the Mediterranean basin, deeply intertwined with the region's history, economy, and culture. But how did this tree, originally a wild species, come to dominate landscapes ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 20, 2025
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A fossilized gathering of ancient crustacean reveals new insights into their lives
Rare evidence about the lives of an ancient group of arthropods has been uncovered in the U.S. The findings of the study are published in the journal Biology Letters.
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 20, 2025
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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.
Ecology
Mar 20, 2025
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Unusual desert rocks suggest unknown microorganism that uses marble and limestone as a habitat
In the desert areas of Namibia, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, research work has revealed unusual structures that are probably due to the activity of an unknown microbiological life form. Unusually small burrows, i.e., tiny tubes ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 19, 2025
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New report calls for return of human remains—but UK museums lack the resources to act
The display of human remains in museums has long been a contentious issue. Last week, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations (APPG-AR) published a report on the African human remains collected by British ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 19, 2025
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Vulture fossil discovery reveals how volcanic deposits can preserve the microscopic details of animal tissues
An analysis of a 30,000-year-old fossil vulture from Central Italy has revealed for the first time that volcanic rock can preserve microscopic details in feathers—the first ever record of such a preservation.
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 18, 2025
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Ancient seafloor creature grew like modern marine invertebrates, study suggests
The growth and lifespan of Parvancorina minchami, small anchor-shaped animals that lived on the seafloor about 550 million years ago, resemble that of current marine invertebrates like golden shrimp and Baltic clam.
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 18, 2025
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Oldest cerapodan ornithischian dinosaur discovered in Morocco
A team of paleontologists from the Natural History Museum in the U.K., the University of Birmingham, also in the U.K., and Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, in Morocco, has unearthed the oldest known cerapodan ornithischian ...
Discovery of a new species of fossil tree helps paint picture of ancient African forest
Recent research by scientists at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), Texas Tech University, and several other collaborating institutions have identified ancient fossils of a newly described tree species named ...
Ecology
Mar 18, 2025
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A 15-million-year-old fossilized freshwater fish with preserved stomach contents is a newly discovered species
In an Australian first, researchers have described a new species of 15-million-year-old fossilized freshwater fish, Ferruaspis brocksi, that shows preserved stomach contents as well as the pattern of coloration.
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 17, 2025
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137
How big brains and flexible skulls led to the evolution of modern birds
Modern birds are the living relatives of dinosaurs. Take a look at the features of flightless birds like chickens and ostriches that walk upright on two hind legs, or predators like eagles and hawks with their sharp talons ...
Evolution
Mar 17, 2025
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125
Museums have tons of data, and AI could make it more accessible
Ice cores in freezers, dinosaurs on display, fish in jars, birds in boxes, human remains and ancient artifacts from long-gone civilizations that few people ever see—museum collections are filled with all this and more.
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 17, 2025
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The first fossil thrips in Africa: this tiny insect pest met its end in a volcanic lake 90 million years ago
Thrips are tiny insects—their sizes range between 0.5mm and 15mm in length and many are shorter than 5mm. But the damage they cause to crops is anything but small. A 2021 research paper found that in Indonesia "the damage ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 17, 2025
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More news
Western Europe's oldest human face discovered in Spain
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Unnoticed for decades, dinosaur footprints at Australian school reveal ancient secrets
Terrestrial 'life oasis' from end-Permian mass extinction period discovered in China
'Old stump' spotted by deer hunter is actually a mammoth tusk, Texas researchers say
A 62-million-year-old skeleton sheds light on an enigmatic mammal
Fossil evidence found of humans domesticating avocados 7,500 years ago
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