https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. They can't fly or swim, so why do their closest relatives appear on different continents? Grey Gustafson, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, discovered through DNA sequencing that the ancestors of some of today's tiger beetles existed in South America and Africa before the two continents separated. What's more, North America's largest tiger beetles are related to these ancestral South American giant tiger beetles. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mystery-flightless-beetle-transatlantic-journey.html Evolution Thu, 15 Oct 2026 11:20:11 EDT news711279724 In the Triassic, the modern animals we know were just beginning to diversify into a menagerie of forms and body plans that rhyme with the lifestyles of extinct and living animals better known to the public, but nested in groups that ended up taking wildly divergent paths. Case in point: Labrujasuchus expectatus. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-toothless-legged-crocodile-cousin-reveals.html Evolution Tue, 26 May 2026 08:00:01 EDT news698921148 The south coast of South Africa's Western Cape province is a rich source of fossil tracks and traces—clues suggesting what this environment may have been like many thousands of years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-bird-tortoise-fossil-tracks-south.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:00:09 EDT news695567462 Powerful, fierce and the king of the Cretaceous world, Tyrannosaurus rex was the ultimate apex predator. But it was also surprisingly dainty on its feet, according to new research. Findings published in the journal Royal Society Open Science show that when these giant beasts walked and ran, they did so on tiptoes. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-flatfooted-lumbering-rex-tiptoes.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 25 Feb 2026 13:00:06 EST news691238439 At several archaeological sites in southern Africa, hundreds of highly unusual fragments of ostrich eggs have been found. Dating back more than 60,000 years, the shells were engraved by groups of Homo sapiens who lived in that region. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-humanity-oldest-geometries-engraved-ostrich.html Archaeology Wed, 25 Feb 2026 11:40:04 EST news691236296 Endangered penguins living off South Africa's coast have likely starved en masse due to food shortages, a study said, with some populations dropping by 95% in just eight years. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-african-penguins-starved-en-masse.html Plants & Animals Thu, 25 Dec 2025 10:30:01 EST news684130910 A new study led by a researcher from the School of Zoology and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University examined dinosaur fossils preserved with their feathers and found that these dinosaurs had lost the ability to fly. According to the researchers, this is an extremely rare finding that offers a glimpse into the functioning of creatures that lived 160 million years ago, and their impact on the evolution of flight in dinosaurs and birds. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-dinosaurs-forgot-fly.html Evolution Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:01:35 EST news685098061 Penguins living off the coast of South Africa have likely starved to death en masse during their molting season as a result of collapsing food supplies. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-penguins-starved-death-en-masse.html Plants & Animals Thu, 04 Dec 2025 19:00:01 EST news683998398 Egg whites may be perfect for a health-conscious breakfast, but egg yolks turned out to be the key ingredient for cultivating bird embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in the lab. Using a growing medium of egg yolk along with a few other key factors, a USC Stem Cell-led team of scientists has succeeded in deriving and maintaining authentic ESCs from chickens and seven other bird species. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-egg-yolk-key-authentic-embryonic.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:07:04 EDT news678452821 How did the ostrich cross the ocean? It may sound like a joke, but scientists have long been puzzled by how the family of birds that includes African ostriches, Australian emus and cassowaries, New Zealand kiwis and South American rheas spread across the world—given that none of them can fly. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ostrich-emu-ancestor-fly-scientists.html Evolution Wed, 17 Sep 2025 10:51:38 EDT news677325070 A new study from North Carolina State University identifies vertebrate hemoglobin in bone extracts from two dinosaurs and shows that this molecule is original to those animals. The work also shows how heme, a small molecule that gives hemoglobin the ability to transport oxygen in blood, degrades over time. The study both adds to the body of evidence that biological remains can and do persist across deep time in some fossils and provides further insight into the process of fossilization. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-precise-imaging-technique-hemoglobin-dinosaur.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 10 Sep 2025 12:11:04 EDT news676725061 The snow petrel, a strikingly white bird with black eyes and a black bill, is one of only three bird species ever observed at the South Pole. In fact, the Antarctic is the only place on Earth where this bird lives. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-southern-hemisphere-full-birds-earth.html Plants & Animals Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:40:06 EDT news671800166 A recent study by Dr. Esther Jacobson-Tepfer, published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal, explores the transformation of elk rock art in the Mongolian Altai. Her research sheds light on the possible factors that influenced these changes, leading to realistic elk images devolving into warped wolf-like beasts. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-reveals-ancient-elk-art-realistic.html Archaeology Sun, 13 Jul 2025 08:30:01 EDT news671426690 An interdisciplinary study led by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) reveals that women living in the region of Nubia (present-day Sudan) developed skeletal changes adapted to bearing heavy loads on their heads starting in the Bronze Age more than 3,500 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-women-bronze-age-heavy-skeletal.html Archaeology Wed, 23 Apr 2025 12:23:03 EDT news664629781 Following a recent study, Dr. Przemysław Bobrowski and his colleagues published new radiocarbon dates on Holocene (11,700 years ago to the present) sites located in the Tsakhiurtyn Hundi (Flint Valley) region of Mongolia. The work has been published in the journal Radiocarbon. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-radiocarbon-dating-reveals-mongolia-earliest.html Archaeology Wed, 23 Apr 2025 08:00:01 EDT news664537982 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 and keen eyesight, and the similarities to small theropod dinosaurs like the velociraptors of "Jurassic Park" fame are striking. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-big-brains-flexible-skulls-evolution.html Evolution Mon, 17 Mar 2025 15:00:01 EDT news661427158 More than 99% of birds can fly. But that still leaves many species that evolved to be flightless, including penguins, ostriches, and kiwi birds. In a study in the journal Evolution, researchers compared the feathers and bodies of different species of flightless birds and their closest relatives who can still fly. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-birds-ability-fly-bodies-faster.html Evolution Thu, 27 Feb 2025 11:00:06 EST news659867521 Large birds—our closest relations to dinosaurs—are capable of technical innovation, by solving a physical task to gain access to food. This is the first time scientists have been able to show that palaeognath birds such as emus and rheas can solve tricky problems. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-dumb-birds-emus-rheas-technical.html Plants & Animals Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:00:06 EST news659264461 Soft tissue preservation in fossils does not seem to depend upon the species, age or burial environment of the fossils in question, according to new research from North Carolina State University. The work, published in Scientific Reports, provides further evidence for the preservation of soft tissues and structures through deep time and could also serve as a methodological framework for other researchers interested in pursuing these questions. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-age-burial-environment-dont-hinder.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 10 Feb 2025 12:28:53 EST news658412927 A team of geologists, paleontologists, and climate scientists with members from institutions in Mexico, the U.S., and Spain has identified a new genus and species within the Ornithomimidae family. In their paper published in the journal Cretaceous Research, the group describes their study of the ancient ostrich-like dinosaur, and where it fits in with its family tree. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-genus-species-ornithomimidae-dinosaur-family.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 03 Feb 2025 12:50:05 EST news657809140 In the global effort to combat climate change, large-scale, plant-based strategies such as planting forests and cultivating biofuels are an increasingly important part of countries' plans to reduce their overall carbon emissions, but a study in the journal Science finds that well-intended strategies could have unforeseen impacts on biodiversity and that, in general, restoring forests has the most beneficial effect on wildlife. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-reforestation-based-climate-mitigation-strategies.html Plants & Animals Fri, 24 Jan 2025 08:10:10 EST news656928602 Research led by the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at Ohio University has found evidence of hominin activity at a Romanian fossil site dating to at least 1.95 million years ago. This discovery pushes back the known date of European hominins by half a million years and establishes Grăunceanu as the oldest confirmed European evidence of hominin activity. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-romanian-fossils-hominins-europe-years.html Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 22 Jan 2025 14:44:50 EST news656779486 Archaeologists Dr. Wim van Neer, Dr. Bea De Cupere, and Dr. Renée Friedman have published a study on the earliest evidence of horn modification in livestock in the Journal of Archaeological Science. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-archaeological-uncovers-world-oldest-evidence.html Archaeology Sun, 15 Dec 2024 12:00:01 EST news653312060 Liverpool John Moores University, UK, and the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland, have found variations among Neolithic Middle Nile Valley populations with a shared material culture. https://phys.org/news/2024-12-dental-morphology-reveals-hidden-diversity.html Archaeology Tue, 10 Dec 2024 08:10:01 EST news652971466 Wings may be the obvious choice when studying the connection between dinosaurs and birds, but a pair of Yale paleontologists prefer drumsticks. That part of the leg, they say, is where fibular reduction among some dinosaurs tens of millions of years ago helped make it possible for peacocks to strut, penguins to waddle, and turkeys to trot. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-dinosaur-drumsticks-ray-videos-3d.html Evolution Wed, 20 Nov 2024 11:17:21 EST news651323837 A recent study by archaeologist Prof. Peter Mitchell and his colleagues published in Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa examines how ostrich eggshell (OES) beads moved across southeast southern African landscapes during the Pleistocene and Holocene. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-strontium-isotope-analysis-tracks-prehistoric.html Archaeology Mon, 11 Nov 2024 10:40:02 EST news650539022 Bats are incredibly diverse animals: They can climb onto other animals to drink their blood, pluck insects from leaves or hover to drink nectar from tropical flowers, all of which require distinctive wing designs. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-comparison-bird-wings-reveals-evolutionary.html Plants & Animals Fri, 01 Nov 2024 11:49:03 EDT news649680541 Archaeological fieldwork in Morocco has discovered the earliest previously unknown farming society from a poorly understood period of northwest African prehistory. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-previously-unknown-neolithic-society-morocco.html Archaeology Mon, 23 Sep 2024 19:10:01 EDT news646321861 Researchers have discovered that seabirds, including penguins and albatrosses, have highly-sensitive regions in their beaks that could be used to help them find food. This is the first time this ability has been identified in seabirds. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-highly-sensitive-beaks-albatrosses-penguins.html Evolution Tue, 17 Sep 2024 19:10:01 EDT news645784141 A pilot study from North Carolina State University shows that nanoscopic 3D imaging of ancient bone not only provides further insight into the changes soft tissues undergo during fossilization, it also has potential as a fast, practical way to determine which specimens are likely candidates for ancient DNA and protein sequence preservation. The work appears in iScience. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-nanoscopic-imaging-aids-protein-tissue.html Biotechnology Mon, 22 Jul 2024 15:12:02 EDT news640879921