Ancient DNA can be a powerful tool for helping us reconstruct the long-dead past. Most surviving genetic material comes from the bones and teeth of animals that lived in cold environments, where freezing temperatures help ...
Over 300 million years ago, a minnow-sized fish died and fell to the bottom of a prehistoric swamp near the village of Trawden, Lancashire, in northwest England. The remains of this tiny fish—known as Trawdenia planti—became ...
Evolution
Jun 30, 2026
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About 22,000 years ago, a giant brown bear lumbered across what is now Portugal. The creature weighed around 385 kg (about 850 pounds), making it one of the largest of its kind ever found, towering over the Iberian brown ...
Arguably one of the most curious ancient human relatives is Homo floresiensis, a 3-foot-tall species that lived on the Indonesian island of Flores and has been nicknamed "hobbit" for its diminutive stature. Even though they ...
Museums are supposed to be havens for the collective cultural and scientific heritage of the planet, but specimens sometimes go missing.
Evolution
Jul 3, 2026
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How life started on our own planet may not seem as interesting as finding evidence of life on Mars or the icy moons Europa or Enceladus. But the search for the first eukaryotes on Earth remains as important to astrobiology ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 20, 2026
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Roughly 50,000 years ago, a kangaroo unlike any alive today lived in the mountain rainforests of New Guinea.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 10, 2026
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A research team from Okayama University of Science, Tokyo City University, the Natural History Museum, Kishiwada City (Osaka Prefecture), and other institutions has identified four previously unrecognized fossil bones from ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 20, 2026
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Human evolution is generally explained through changes in brain size, locomotion or tool use, but new research from Wits University suggests that gum disease and changes in facial structure may have been important factors ...
Evolution
Jul 1, 2026
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Around 80 million years ago, a stretch of tropical coastline in what is now northeastern Italy was lashed by monsoon rains and tropical cyclones. Those storms swept dinosaur carcasses, crocodiles, plants and river mud onto ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 22, 2026
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