For a billion years, single-celled eukaryotes ruled the planet. Then around 700 million years ago during Snowball Earth—a geologic era when glaciers may have stretched as far as the Equator—a new creature burst into existence: ...
Evolution
Jun 27, 2024
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9
New research by Swansea University and the University of Zurich has found that sharks retained high levels of functional diversity for most of the last 66 million years, before steadily declining over the last 10 million ...
Ecology
Jun 14, 2024
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167
Paleontologists from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP), the University of Edinburgh (UK), the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (Brazil), and the University of Toronto in (Canada) have shown that ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jun 14, 2024
0
190
Gobies or Gobioidei are one of the most species-rich groups of marine and freshwater fish in Europe. Spending most of their lives on the bottom of shallow waterbodies, they make substantial contributions to the functioning ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jun 13, 2024
41
126
Until about 45,000 years ago, Australia was home to a giant flightless bird called Genyornis newtoni, which was 2 meters tall and weighed up to 230 kilograms.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jun 8, 2024
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64
Humanity is ignoring major planetary vital signs as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels soar to all-time highs and Earth records its 12th consecutive month of record-breaking heat, international climate officials warned this ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 6, 2024
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78
At first glance, the simple sea sponge is no creature of mystery. No brain. No gut. No problem dating it back 700 million years. Yet convincing sponge fossils only go back about 540 million years, leaving a 160 million-year ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jun 5, 2024
0
102
An international team led by scientists from the University of Liège has investigated the evolutionary patterns behind the development of saber teeth, with some unexpected results along the way. Their study has been published ...
Evolution
May 16, 2024
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163
One of the wildest wonders of nature is the ability of some animals to reproduce by splitting in half. There is still so much we don't know about this process. So the discovery of a 155-million-year-old starfish fossil frozen ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 16, 2024
0
11
New research shows human activity is significantly altering the ways in which marine organisms are preserved, with lasting effects that can both improve and impair the fossil record. The findings are published in the journal ...
Ecology
May 8, 2024
0
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