PALEONTOLOGY

Dinosaur wrist bone discovery reshapes understanding of flight evolution

An analysis of two theropod dinosaur fossils has shown that they had a type of carpal bone (pisiform) in their wrists—a bone considered important...

Eggs en Provence: France’s unique dinosaur egg trove

At the foot of Sainte Victoire, the mountain in Provence immortalized by Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne, a paleontologist brushes meticulously through a mound of...

Shaped by paleogeography: A new world map of marine mollusks

Biogeographical regions of marine organisms, i.e., their distribution across different habitats, often overlap well with the major global ocean currents. The geological age of...

Ancient organisms stored arsenic to survive early Earth’s toxic oceans, study suggests

Earth's earliest life forms developed ways to survive the harmful effects of arsenic to cope with dramatic changes in their environment, a new study...

7000-year-old fossilized reefs reveal how human fishing reshaped Caribbean food webs

A study of 7000-year-old exposed coral reef fossils reveals how human fishing has transformed Caribbean reef food webs: as sharks declined by 75% and...

500-million-year-old fossil reveals how starfish got their shape

A 500-million-year-old fossil from Morocco, discovered by Natural History Museum scientists, is offering extraordinary new insights into one of evolution's most puzzling transformations: how...

How night lizards survived the asteroid that ended the dinosaurs

Yale University ecologists reveal a lizard lineage that rode out the dinosaur-killing asteroid event with unexpected evolutionary survival traits. Night lizards (family Xantusiidae) survived...

Ancient squids dominated the ocean 100 million years ago, fossil discovery technique reveals

Squids first appeared about 100 million years ago and quickly rose to become dominant predators in the ancient oceans, according to a study published...

Fossil fungi trapped in amber reveal ancient origin of parasitic zombie-ants

Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers report that fossilized entomopathogenic fungi from mid-Cretaceous amber reveal some of the oldest direct evidence of parasitic relationships between...

These Canadian rocks may be the oldest on Earth

Scientists have identified what could be the oldest rocks on Earth from a rock formation in Canada. The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt has long been...

A new look at Colorado’s Dinosaur Ridge reveals what may be the largest known dinosaur mating dance arena

A team of paleontologists and researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. has discovered what may be the largest known dinosaur mating dance...

New species of ‘mystery’ dinosaur unveiled at the Natural History Museum

A small dinosaur that once dashed along North American riverbanks has found a new home in London. The new species, named Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, is...

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