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Paleontology & Fossils news
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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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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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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124
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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Western Europe's oldest human face discovered in Spain
The research team at the Atapuerca archaeological sites in Burgos, Spain, has just broken its own record by discovering, for the third time, the oldest human in Western Europe.
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 16, 2025
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Melanosome patterns in Mesozoic mammals suggest they had dark, uniformly dull fur coloring
An international team of paleontologists, geoscientists and biologists has found via analysis of melanosome patterns in fossilized Mesozoic mammals, that they most likely had dark, uniformly dull fur coloring. In their paper ...
Dinosaur tracks, made 140 million years ago, have been found for the first time in South Africa's Western Cape
Dinosaurs have captured people's imagination ever since their bones and teeth were first scientifically described in 1822 by geologist and paleontologist Gideon Mantell in England.
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 13, 2025
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DNA and 90 million-year-old pollen fossils reveal new insights into evolution of Asian tropics
In a new study published today in Science, researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew), together with global partners, combine results from two newly discovered prehistoric palm fossils with DNA from global ...
Evolution
Mar 13, 2025
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We modeled how early human ancestors ran—and found they were surprisingly slow
Imagine the scene, around 3 million years ago in what is now east Africa. By the side of a river, an injured antelope keels over and draws its last breath. The carcass is soon set on by hyenas, who tussle with a crocodile. ...
Evolution
Mar 13, 2025
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Rare aardvark trace fossils discovered in South Africa
A recent study published in Quaternary Research describes the discovery and identification of possible aardvark tracks and burrow sites in Pleistocene aeolianites on the South African Cape coast.
More news
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
Eocene mudflat fossils reveal ancient waterbird foraging behaviors and four new species
Digitization as the key to processing colonial natural history collections
Other news
Engineers redefine how heat transfers on advanced surfaces
Might the proton decay in other places or at other times?
Analytical model predicts how bacteria navigate obstacles to spread
Utah dig site reveals increased diversity of fossilized eggshells
How paleontologists are uncovering dinosaur behavior
A 380-million-year-old fossil 'fish' from Scotland has been discovered in Australia
New sauropod species from Romania transforms understanding of dinosaur island life in Europe
The origin of feathers remains a mystery
Decades-long quest leads to new antibiotic compounds
Scientists engineer starfish cells to shape-shift in response to light
Researchers unveil unidirectional light focusing using diffractive optics
Guardians of the vineyard: Canines and chemistry work to combat powdery mildew
