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…

‘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…

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…

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…