Last update:

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 ...

More news

Paleontology & Fossils
A fossilized gathering of ancient crustacean reveals new insights into their lives
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

Other news

Earth Sciences
Mercury concentrations in tree rings may enable trees to be 'witnesses' of illegal gold mining activities in the Amazon
Condensed Matter
Physicists uncover a metallic altermagnet with d-wave spin splitting at room temperature
Planetary Sciences
Methane detected in the atmosphere of the nearest T dwarf
Archaeology
Revealing the rhythms of ancient Arabia: Music connected cultures in the prehistoric Arabian Gulf
Plants & Animals
Bird species that do well in urban areas are more colorful and less brown, study finds
Polymers
Q&A: Scientists uncover process behind plastic's dangerous fragment shedding
Archaeology
Prehistoric skis: Melting glaciers reveal clues to climate adaptation in Norway's mountains
Ecology
Zebrafish ovulation hormone discovery could impact fertility research
Political science
Transparency in government: A powerful tool for global health and cleaner air
Ecology
Hantavirus in Madagascar linked to black rats in agricultural areas
Earth Sciences
Dust in the wind: How cities alter natural airborne particles
Biochemistry
RNA transformed into biosensor for detecting health-related chemicals
Environment
'Thirstwaves' are growing more common across the United States
Cell & Microbiology
Spinning into antibiotic resistance: The flagella's hidden role
Quantum Physics
Driven to succeed: Physicists explore a new way to control quasiparticles
Archaeology
A large, sustainable and egalitarian community at the height of the Copper Age
General Physics
Quantum cosmology with final states can explain the accelerated expansion of the universe
Environment
NASA laser tech reveals climate impact on tropical forest canopies
Cell & Microbiology
Avian flu in raw milk found to be broadly sensitive to heat
Soft Matter
From ketchup to concrete, rolling particles make suspensions more fluid

Earliest evidence of cave lions in southern Europe discovered

Cave lions lived in what is now Italy around 660,000 to 610,000 years ago. This is confirmed by a metatarsal bone from the Notarchirico site near Venosa in the Basilicata region, which was discovered during a re-examination ...

New, small, ancient crocodile-like reptile described in Brazil

The discovery of a new, ancient, predatory reptile dubbed Parvosuchus aurelioi—part of a group of crocodile-like reptiles called pseudosuchians—in Brazil is described in a paper in Scientific Reports. The specimen, which ...

250-million-year-old fossil seen anew with modern technology

Details of an ancient cousin of modern-day mammals are being revealed for the first time. Hi-tech scanning of an ancient fossil, which was captured in sandstone around 252–254 million years ago, is giving experts valuable ...