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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 ...

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Ecology
New Zealand once home to southern elephant seals
Cell & Microbiology
Unusual desert rocks suggest unknown microorganism that uses marble and limestone as a habitat
Paleontology & Fossils
New report calls for return of human remains—but UK museums lack the resources to act
Paleontology & Fossils
Oldest cerapodan ornithischian dinosaur discovered in Morocco
Ecology
Discovery of a new species of fossil tree helps paint picture of ancient African forest
Paleontology & Fossils
Ancient seafloor creature grew like modern marine invertebrates, study suggests
Paleontology & Fossils
Vulture fossil discovery reveals how volcanic deposits can preserve the microscopic details of animal tissues
Paleontology & Fossils
A 15-million-year-old fossilized freshwater fish with preserved stomach contents is a newly discovered species
Evolution
How big brains and flexible skulls led to the evolution of modern birds
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
Paleontology & Fossils
Dinosaur tracks, made 140 million years ago, have been found for the first time in South Africa's Western Cape
Evolution
We modeled how early human ancestors ran—and found they were surprisingly slow
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

Other news

Astronomy
Astronomers discover doomed pair of spiraling stars on our cosmic doorstep
Space Exploration
Rising odds asteroid that briefly threatened Earth will hit moon
Astronomy
HD 144812 is a rare post-red supergiant star in a binary system, observations find
Planetary Sciences
Perseverance rover witnesses one Martian dust devil eating another
Plants & Animals
Prey size plays surprising role in competition among wolves, bears and cougars
Mathematics
Quantum statistical approach quiets big, noisy data
Optics & Photonics
Infrared heavy-metal-free quantum dots deliver sensitive and fast sensors for eye-safe LIDAR applications
Cell & Microbiology
Marine microbes reveal new gene clusters for hydrogen production
Bio & Medicine
Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for a one-two knockout punch
General Physics
Intriguing excess of top-quark pairs hints at discovery of smallest composite particle
Analytical Chemistry
Common catalyst works by cycling between two different forms, upending a long-held supposition
Molecular & Computational biology
The fungal circadian clock: A potential target for combating plant diseases
Cell & Microbiology
Firefly light gives rise to sensor that detects cellular alterations
Plants & Animals
Bonobos combine calls in similar ways to human language, study finds
General Physics
Theoretical physicists unveil 'supermazes' to decode black-hole microstructure
Archaeology
Climate change and prehistoric human populations: Study finds eastward shift of settlement areas at end of last Ice Age
Evolution
Molecular clock analysis shows bacteria used oxygen long before widespread photosynthesis
Condensed Matter
Physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves
Plants & Animals
Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity
Astronomy
When a black hole winks at you: Variability identified in supermassive black hole in Andromeda galaxy

Mysterious 50-million-year-old fish to get a new genus

A pair of paleontologists, one with the Museum für Naturkunde, in Germany, the other from the Università degli Studi di Torino, in Italy, has found new evidence that an ancient fish, which has defied categorization for ...

What fur development can tell us about our ancient ancestors

When the hot summer weather kicks in you may find yourself feeling concerned about furry pets and other animals we live close by to. But fur and hair are ancient adaptations that allowed human ancestors to develop more active ...