Paleontology
462-Million-Year-Old Fossil Trove Holds Miniature World of Marine Creatures
Paleontologists have uncovered a miniature world of sea creatures whose tiny guts, eyes and even brains remain visible 462 million years after they perished
Paleontology30 articles archived since 1845
Paleontology
Dinosaurs' Air Sacs Evolved Many Times and Let Them Take Over the World
An extensive system of air sacs, evolved over and over, let dinosaurs grow larger without sacrificing strength
Paleontology
Five-Eyed, Nozzle-Nosed Oddity Lingered Far beyond the Cambrian Period
This ancient creature swam in surprisingly modern seas
Paleontology
Monkeylike Animals Once Lived in the Arctic, New Fossils Show
Two newly identified primatelike mammals once lived in the Arctic, which could help us understand how species there today may adapt as the climate heats up
Plants
See the Largest Flower Ever Found Encased in Amber
A rare flower encased in amber is the largest one ever found and dates from around 40 million years ago
Paleontology
Tiny Tyrannosaurs Used the Buddy System
Fossil trackways may show tyrannosaur tykes teaming up
Genetics
World’s Oldest DNA Discovered, Revealing Ancient Arctic Forest Full of Mastodons
Two-million-year-old DNA, the world's oldest, reveals that mastodons once roamed forests in Greenland’s far northern reaches
Paleontology
Scientists Ruin Delicious Seabass to Probe Why Some Organs Don’t Fossilize
Watching fish rot for more than two months disproves a long-standing fossilization theory
Paleontology
Ancient Panda ‘Thumb’ Matches Modern Version
Walking on all fours helped shape the panda's “thumb”
Paleontology
Nobel Winner Svante Pääbo Discovered the Neandertal in Our Genes
Geneticist Svante Pääbo reconstructed the genome of long-extinct human relatives, showing we have more in common with Neandertals than previously thought
Anthropology
Discoveries about Ancient Human Evolution Win 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Svante Pääbo’s work on sequencing the DNA of Neandertals and Denisovans, which won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, revealed surprising interbreeding among human species...
Paleontology
The Oldest 3-D Heart from Our Vertebrate Ancestors Has Been Discovered
Fish fossils from Western Australia preserve the oldest 3-D hearts, livers, stomachs and intestines in a jawed vertebrate
Paleontology
Exquisite Fossils Show an Entire Rain Forest Ecosystem
The fossil-filled volcanic crater Foulden Maar was almost destroyed. A new book documents its ancient-ecosystem wonders
Paleontology
New Dinosaur Species Is Oldest Ever Found in Africa
A small, speedy, omnivorous dinosaur was a forerunner of Brachiosaurus and other giant plant-eaters
Paleontology
Little Pterosaur Could Have ‘Pole-Vaulted’ into Flight from the Water
New fossil analysis offers the first physical evidence of this launch strategy
Dinosaurs
Feathers May Have Helped Dinosaurs Survive Their First Apocalypse
Geologic evidence for a freezing arctic suggests dinosaurs could have weathered an epoch-ending volcanic winter
Paleontology
Dinosaur Diets May Help Explain Dramatic Diversity
Some species were constrained by their food sources, while others ranged widely
Paleontology
Sex Life of One of Earth’s Earliest Animals Exposed
The first known male appendage from trilobites has been found in a 508-million-year-old fossil
Paleontology
How Mammals Conquered the World after the Asteroid Apocalypse
They scurried in the shadows of dinosaurs for millions of years until a killer space rock created a new world of evolutionary opportunity
Paleontology
Pterosaurs May Have Had Brightly Colored Feathers, Exquisite Fossil Reveals
An amazingly well-preserved fossil suggests the common ancestor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs also had some type of feather or feather precursor
