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Paleontology & Fossils news
Scientists use fossils to assess the health of Florida's largest remaining seagrass bed
The seagrass is greener along Florida's Nature Coast … figuratively, that is. A new study published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series shows that seagrass ecosystems along the northern half of Florida's Gulf ...
Ecology
May 15, 2025
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Finger bone analysis uncovers how ancient human relatives in South Africa used their hands
Scientists have found new evidence for how our fossil human relatives in South Africa may have used their hands.
Evolution
May 14, 2025
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Earliest reptile footprints rewrite the timeline of tetrapod evolution
New discoveries of fossil clawed footprints from Australia, published in Nature, push the origin of reptiles back in time by at least 35 million years and change the entire timeline for the origin of tetrapods (backboned ...
Evolution
May 14, 2025
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UV light and CT scans help scientists unlock hidden details in a perfectly-preserved fossil Archaeopteryx
Archaeopteryx is the fossil that proved Darwin right. It's the oldest known fossil bird, and it helps show that all birds— including the ones alive today—are dinosaurs. And while the first Archaeopteryx fossil was found ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 14, 2025
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X-ray scanning reveals secrets of fossil formation without disturbing natural decay process
A new study published in Palaeontology has confirmed that X-ray computed tomography (XCT scanning) can be used to monitor decomposing organisms without altering the natural decay process—a vital step in understanding how ...
Biotechnology
May 14, 2025
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Fossil discovery pushes origin of Australian tree frogs back 22 million years
Newly discovered evidence of Australia's earliest species of tree frog challenges what we know about when Australian and South American frogs parted ways on the evolutionary tree.
Evolution
May 14, 2025
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Fossil discovery in India extends the timeline of early dinosaurs
Sun filters through dense stands of cycads and conifers of Gondwana, where a lithe, bipedal predator slowly moves through the Upper Triassic undergrowth. Standing just over a meter tall and measuring about two meters from ...
Digital reconstruction reveals 80 steps of prehistoric life
A dinosaur's 40-second journey more than 120 million years ago has been brought back to life by a University of Queensland-led research team using advanced digital modeling techniques.
Paleontology & Fossils
May 14, 2025
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Paleontologists discover 506-million-year-old predator
Paleontologists at the Manitoba Museum and Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) have discovered a remarkable new 506-million-year-old predator from the Burgess Shale of Canada. The results are announced in a paper in the journal Royal ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 13, 2025
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Paleontologists identify 12 new dinosaur teeth in China's Nenjiang Formation
A recent study by Keifeng Yu and his colleagues, published in Acta Geologica Sinica, describes the discovery and identification of 12 new dinosaur teeth from the Upper Cretaceous Nenjiang Formation. The Cretaceous dinosaurs ...
From prehistoric resident to runaway pet: First tegu fossil found in the US
Originally from South America, the charismatic tegu made its way to the United States via the pet trade of the 1990s. After wreaking havoc in Florida's ecosystems, the exotic lizard was classified as an invasive species. ...
Plants & Animals
May 12, 2025
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First fossil evidence of endangered tropical tree discovered
For the first time, scientists have discovered fossil evidence of an endangered, living tropical tree species. The unprecedented find was made in Brunei, a country on the large island of Borneo, and reveals a critical piece ...
Plants & Animals
May 9, 2025
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Scientists solve 500-million-year fossil mystery
A peculiar spiny fossil, once thought to represent one of the earliest mollusks, has now been conclusively reclassified by scientists from Durham University and Yunnan University as something entirely different—a distant ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 8, 2025
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Cultural burning by Indigenous peoples increased oak in forests near settlements, study suggests
A debate continues among scientists over whether tree composition in forests in eastern North America historically have been influenced more by climate or by cultural burning, which is the intentional and controlled use of ...
Ecology
May 8, 2025
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Forest home of 'polar dinosaurs' 120 million years ago in southern Australia recreated in detail for the first time
Roughly 140 million to 100 million years ago, the piece of land that is modern day Australia was located much further south on Earth. In fact, what is now Victoria was once within the polar circle, up to 80 degrees south ...
Ecology
May 8, 2025
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Triassic fossil reveals nature's best jaw for hunting fast fish
The best jaw for hunting fast fish is long and full of sharp teeth. This makes sense to us, but it also makes sense in nature: New fossil evidence from Virginia Tech geoscientists revealed that different species of predatory ...
Evolution
May 7, 2025
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New fossil shark named from ancient skeleton discovered in southern England
A previously unknown shark once swam around the shores of the U.K. more than 70 million years ago. The new species, named Pararhincodon torquis, is a distant relative of the collared carpet sharks that today live around Australia ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 7, 2025
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Arctic fossils reveal world's oldest salmon and carp relatives
Most people picture the time of dinosaurs as a steamy, tropical world. But during the Late Cretaceous period, northern Alaska was a different kind of wild. Located far above the Arctic Circle, it endured months of winter ...
Paleontology & Fossils
May 7, 2025
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T. rex's direct ancestor crossed from Asia to North America, new study finds
Tyrannosaurus rex evolved in North America, but its direct ancestor came from Asia, crossing a land bridge connecting the continents more than 70 million years ago, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.
Evolution
May 7, 2025
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Research links trilobite body size changes in early Paleozoic with marine oxygen levels
A recent study shows that marine oxygen levels were crucial to the evolution of early Paleozoic trilobite body size, suggesting that oxygen may have influenced the evolution of other animals' body size as well.
Evolution
May 6, 2025
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More news
'Extremely rare' unidentified fossil sitting in museum is a new extinct species
First fossil cicada discovered in the Messel pit
Marine fossil found in South Africa is one of a kind, thanks to unusual preservation
New Jurassic mammalian fossil discovered with an unusual tooth replacement pattern
Ptero firma: Footprints pinpoint when ancient flying reptiles conquered the ground
Size and chemical makeup determine which ancient animals fossilize, study reveals
How mid-Cretaceous events affected marine top predators
Giant croc-like carnivore fossils found in the Caribbean
Here's what makes California's Central Valley a fossil hot spot: Q&A
First fossil pangolin tracks discovered in South Africa
Giant kangaroos perished during 'climate upheaval'
Huge fossil from one of the largest dinosaurs found in Texas national park
Mystery molars lead to discovery of giant crayfish in ancient Aotearoa
Other news
Synthetic materials mimic seashells to enhance energy absorption
Ocean microbes offer clues to environmental resilience
GPS for proteins: Tracking the motions of cell receptors
Scientists map activation of prostaglandin E₂ receptor EP1 at atomic level
Structural mechanism reveals how antibiotic resistance to fusidic acid works
First Caribbean 'dirt ant' found in 16-million-year-old amber
Footprints of tail-clubbed armored dinosaurs found for the first time
