News
The Age of Fishes began with mass death
1+ day, 1+ hour ago (870+ words) The Age of Fishes began with mass death'EurekAlert! A pair of Sacabambaspis fish, around 35 cm in length, which had distinct, forward-facing eyes and an armored head. No fossils of animals like Sacabambaspis from after the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction event…...
Anthropologists offer new evidence of bipedalism in long-debated fossil discovery
1+ week, 1+ day ago (404+ words) Analysis centers on point of attachment of ligament vital to walking upright image:Crania, ulnae, and femora of (left to right): a chimpanzee, Sahelanthropus, and Australopithecus. view more In recent decades, scientists have debated whether a seven-million-year-old fossil was bipedal'a…...
A new fossil face sheds light on early migrations of ancient human ancestor
3+ week, 4+ day ago (436+ words) image:Map showing potential migration routes of the human ancestor, Homo erectus, in Africa, Europe and Asia during the early Pleistocene. Key fossils of Homo erectus and the earlier Homo habilis species are shown, including the new face reconstruction of…...
New face reconstruction from Ethiopia provides insights into origins and early migration of human ancestors
3+ week, 4+ day ago (121+ words) Map showing potential migration routes of the human ancestor, Homo erectus, in Africa, Europe and Asia during the early Pleistocene. Key fossils of Homo erectus and the earlier Homo habilis species are shown, including the new face reconstruction of the…...
New study confirms Nanotyrannus holotype was distinct species from T. rex
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (487+ words) Novel approach using hyoid bone revealed growth patterns New study confirms Nanotyrannus holotype was diminutive, distinct species from T. rex New research from a team including the University of Nebraska State Museum's Ashley Poust further moves a decades-long scientific debate toward…...
Return of the short (tyrant) king: A new paper by Dinosaur Institute researcher shows Nanotyrannus was not a juvenile T. Rex
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (115+ words) Dinosaur Institute researcher shows throat bones accurately record maturity in dinosaurs, establishing Nanotyrannus was a fully grown, entirely distinct species from T. rex image:A Late Cretaceous face-off between an adult Nanotyrannus (left) and two juvenile T. rex, with a sub-adult T. rex…...
‘Free-range’ dinosaur parenting may have created surprisingly diverse ancient ecosystems
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (718+ words) New University of Maryland research suggests that dinosaur parenting strategy fundamentally reshaped the Mesozoic world, with "latchkey kid dinosaurs" filling ecological niches their parents did not image:An image of University of Maryland geologist Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. holding a baby…...
Ten-thousand-year-old genomes from southern Africa change picture of human evolution
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (476+ words) Homo sapiens has been around for at least 300,000 years. But exactly where on the African continent our species originated has not been known. According to some theories, Homo sapiens evolved in eastern Africa and only spread southwards around 50,000 years ago....
Fossils reveal anacondas have been giants for over 12 million years
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (606+ words) image:The team measured 183 fossilised anaconda backbones, representing at least 32 snakes, discovered in Falc'n State in Venezuela, South America. view more A University of Cambridge-led team has analysed giant anaconda fossils from South America to deduce that these tropical snakes…...
115 million year old sea floor deposits exposed near Darwin in northern Australia
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (65+ words) 115 million year old sea floor deposits exposed near Darwin in northern Australia. These rocks produce fossils of an ancient marine ecosystem that included the earliest modern shark mega-predator. 115 million year old sea floor deposits exposed near Darwin in northern Australia....