Did oviraptoridchicks hatch at the same time? Researchers at the University of Bonn and the TU Munich provide presumptive evidence
Tag: PALEONTOLOGY
The little auks that lived in the Pacific
Fossil from Japan reveals unexpected distribution of ‘Atlantic’ seabirds
A chronicle of giant straight-tusked elephants
About 800,000 years ago, the giant straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon migrated out of Africa and became widespread across Europe and Asia. It divided into many species, with distinct types in Japan, Central Asia and Europe — even some dwarf forms as…
The little auks that lived in the Pacific
Fossil from Japan reveals unexpected distribution of ‘Atlantic’ seabirds
A chronicle of giant straight-tusked elephants
About 800,000 years ago, the giant straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon migrated out of Africa and became widespread across Europe and Asia. It divided into many species, with distinct types in Japan, Central Asia and Europe — even some dwarf forms as…
Climate (not humans) shaped early forests of New England
Historical insight alters rationale for modern land management
Climate (not humans) shaped early forests of New England
Historical insight alters rationale for modern land management
Study traces evolution of acoustic communication
A study tracing acoustic communication across the tree of life of land-living vertebrates reveals that the ability to vocalize goes back hundreds of millions of years, is associated with a nocturnal lifestyle and has remained stable
Paleontology: New species of prehistoric scorpion may have been early land explorer
A new species of prehistoric scorpion from the early Siluarian period (approximately 437.5 to 436.5 million years ago) is described in a study in Scientific Reports . The findings suggest that Parioscorpio venator is the oldest-known scorpion reported to date…
In death of dinosaurs, it was all about the asteroid — not volcanoes
New Haven, Conn. — Volcanic activity did not play a direct role in the mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs, according to an international, Yale-led team of researchers. It was all about the asteroid. In a break from a…
Machine learning greatly reduces uncertainty in understanding of paleozoic biodiversity
Previous analyses of global paleobiodiversity have been coarsely resolved to roughly 10 million years, obscuring the effects of ecological processes and events that operate at shorter timescales. Now, by combining ancient marine fossils with modern machine learning and one of…
Paleontology: New species of prehistoric scorpion may have been early land explorer
A new species of prehistoric scorpion from the early Siluarian period (approximately 437.5 to 436.5 million years ago) is described in a study in Scientific Reports . The findings suggest that Parioscorpio venator is the oldest-known scorpion reported to date…
Machine learning greatly reduces uncertainty in understanding of paleozoic biodiversity
Previous analyses of global paleobiodiversity have been coarsely resolved to roughly 10 million years, obscuring the effects of ecological processes and events that operate at shorter timescales. Now, by combining ancient marine fossils with modern machine learning and one of…
In death of dinosaurs, it was all about the asteroid — not volcanoes
New Haven, Conn. — Volcanic activity did not play a direct role in the mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs, according to an international, Yale-led team of researchers. It was all about the asteroid. In a break from a…
Machine learning greatly reduces uncertainty in understanding of paleozoic biodiversity
Previous analyses of global paleobiodiversity have been coarsely resolved to roughly 10 million years, obscuring the effects of ecological processes and events that operate at shorter timescales. Now, by combining ancient marine fossils with modern machine learning and one of…
Paleontology: New species of prehistoric scorpion may have been early land explorer
A new species of prehistoric scorpion from the early Siluarian period (approximately 437.5 to 436.5 million years ago) is described in a study in Scientific Reports . The findings suggest that Parioscorpio venator is the oldest-known scorpion reported to date…
In death of dinosaurs, it was all about the asteroid — not volcanoes
New Haven, Conn. — Volcanic activity did not play a direct role in the mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs, according to an international, Yale-led team of researchers. It was all about the asteroid. In a break from a…
New dinosaur discovered in China shows dinosaurs grew up differently from birds
San Diego Natural History Museum paleontologist describes a dinosaur that is new to science, offers view into dinosaur-bird evolution
New dinosaur discovered in China shows dinosaurs grew up differently from birds
San Diego Natural History Museum paleontologist describes a dinosaur that is new to science, offers view into dinosaur-bird evolution
Inside story on cassowary evolution
3D scans confirm Australian bird’s link to South America
Inside story on cassowary evolution
3D scans confirm Australian bird’s link to South America
Inside story on cassowary evolution
3D scans confirm Australian bird’s link to South America
MU scientists find oldest-known fossilized digestive tract — 550 million years
A 550 million-year-old fossilized digestive tract found in the Nevada desert could be a key find in understanding the early history of animals on Earth. Over a half-billion years ago, life on Earth was comprised of simple ocean organisms unlike…
A ‘pivotal’ moment for understanding whale evolution
Scientists could soon better investigate the feeding behaviors of extinct dolphin and whale species. A third year student at Japan’s Nagoya University has found that the range of motion offered by the joint between the head and neck in modern-day…
A ‘pivotal’ moment for understanding whale evolution
Scientists could soon better investigate the feeding behaviors of extinct dolphin and whale species. A third year student at Japan’s Nagoya University has found that the range of motion offered by the joint between the head and neck in modern-day…
International team starts on drilling expedition
Focus on ancient warm climate clues
International team starts on drilling expedition
Focus on ancient warm climate clues
Ghost worms mostly unchanged since the age of dinosaurs
That size, shape and structure of organisms can evolve at different speeds is well known, ranging from fast-evolving adaptive radiations to living fossils such as cichlids or coelacanths, respectively. A team lead by biologists at the Natural History Museum (University…
Ghost worms mostly unchanged since the age of dinosaurs
That size, shape and structure of organisms can evolve at different speeds is well known, ranging from fast-evolving adaptive radiations to living fossils such as cichlids or coelacanths, respectively. A team lead by biologists at the Natural History Museum (University…
How fish fins evolved just before the transition to land
Research on fossilized fish from the late Devonian period, roughly 375 million years ago, details the evolution of fins as they began to transition into limbs fit for walking on land. The new study by paleontologists from the University of…
Fossil research unveils new turtle species and hints at intercontinental migrations
New 96-million-year old turtles from Texas connect North America with Asia and the Southern Hemisphere, suggesting vast intercontinental migrations during this time
Fossil expands ancient fish family tree
Second African lungfish found far south
Fossil soils reveal emergence of modern forest ecology earlier than previously thought
While sifting through fossil soils in the Catskill region near Cairo, New York, researchers uncovered the extensive root system of 386-million-year old primitive trees. The fossils, located about 25 miles from the site previously believed to have the world’s oldest…
Scientists uncover world’s oldest forest
Fossils of trees dating back 386 million years found on the bottom of a New York quarry
A ‘Jackalope’ of an ancient spider fossil deemed a hoax, unmasked as a crayfish
LAWRENCE — Earlier this year, a remarkable new fossil specimen was unearthed in the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China by area fossil hunters – possibly a huge ancient spider species, as yet unknown to science. The locals sold the…
Fossil expands ancient fish family tree
Second African lungfish found far south
Fossil soils reveal emergence of modern forest ecology earlier than previously thought
While sifting through fossil soils in the Catskill region near Cairo, New York, researchers uncovered the extensive root system of 386-million-year old primitive trees. The fossils, located about 25 miles from the site previously believed to have the world’s oldest…
Scientists uncover world’s oldest forest
Fossils of trees dating back 386 million years found on the bottom of a New York quarry
New study identifies last known occurrence of Homo erectus
Research by an international team of scientists suggests Homo erectus went extinct between 117,000 and 108,000 years ago
A ‘Jackalope’ of an ancient spider fossil deemed a hoax, unmasked as a crayfish
LAWRENCE — Earlier this year, a remarkable new fossil specimen was unearthed in the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China by area fossil hunters – possibly a huge ancient spider species, as yet unknown to science. The locals sold the…
New study identifies last known occurrence of Homo erectus
Research by an international team of scientists suggests Homo erectus went extinct between 117,000 and 108,000 years ago
Fossils of the future to mostly consist of humans, domestic animals
In a co-authored paper published online in the journal Anthropocene, University of Illinois at Chicago paleontologist Roy Plotnick argues that the fossil record of mammals will provide a clear signal of the Anthropocene era.
‘Like a video game with health points,’ energy budgets explain evolutionary body size
Budgeting resources isn’t just a problem for humans preparing a holiday dinner, or squirrels storing up nuts for the winter. A new model of how animals budget their energy sheds light on how they live and explains why they tend…
‘Like a video game with health points,’ energy budgets explain evolutionary body size
Budgeting resources isn’t just a problem for humans preparing a holiday dinner, or squirrels storing up nuts for the winter. A new model of how animals budget their energy sheds light on how they live and explains why they tend…
Fossil shells reveal both global mercury contamination and warming when dinosaurs perished
ANN ARBOR–The impact of an asteroid or comet is acknowledged as the principal cause of the mass extinction that killed off most dinosaurs and about three-quarters of the planet’s plant and animal species 66 million years ago. But massive volcanic…
Connecting the prehistoric past to the global future
Research on global biodiversity has long assumed that present-day biodiversity patterns reflect present-day factors, namely contemporary climate and human activities. A new study shows that climate changes and human impacts over the last 100,000 years continue to shape patterns of…
Fossil shells reveal both global mercury contamination and warming when dinosaurs perished
ANN ARBOR–The impact of an asteroid or comet is acknowledged as the principal cause of the mass extinction that killed off most dinosaurs and about three-quarters of the planet’s plant and animal species 66 million years ago. But massive volcanic…
Connecting the prehistoric past to the global future
Research on global biodiversity has long assumed that present-day biodiversity patterns reflect present-day factors, namely contemporary climate and human activities. A new study shows that climate changes and human impacts over the last 100,000 years continue to shape patterns of…
Canadian tundra formerly covered in rich forest: Ancient plant fossil record shows
SASKATOON–The heady aroma of magnolia blossoms and lotus flowers might have wafted to your nostrils if you had gone for a walk 56 million years ago in the lush green forest which covered Canada’s northernmost islands. Now covered in ice…
Carolina parakeet extinction was driven by human causes, DNA sequencing reveals
The lack of signals of population decline found on its genome points to a human-mediated, abrupt extinction