5+ hour, 56+ min ago   (592+ words) A new study reveals that tunas evolved their signature size, speed, and warm-bloodedness gradually over 50 million years rather than in rapid response to the mass extinction that ended the age of dinosaurs. A long-held theory suggests that the asteroid strike…...

2+ mon, 3+ week ago   (645+ words) An illustration of Cimolodon desosai on the tree with a fruit in its mouth. It was about the size of a golden hamster. It likely scampered on the ground and in the trees and ate fruits and insects. (Credit: Andrey…...

6+ mon, 3+ week ago   (559+ words) 3D models of the jaw and associated middle ear bones of the Triassic mammal ancestor "Thrinaxodon" show that the switch to mammal-like hearing with an eardrum evolved much earlier than previously thought. (Credit: U. Chicago) A new study rewrites the timeline of…...

6+ mon, 3+ week ago   (655+ words) Fossilized elephant dentine (scale: 1.5 mm across), with rock seen in the lower right and dentine in the upper left. The white dentine is intact collagen. (Credit: Timothy Bromage and Bin Hu/NYU Dentistry) For the first time, scientists have analyzed…...

7+ mon, 1+ week ago   (487+ words) Pterosaurs rapidly evolved flight, in contrast to modern birds, a new study suggests. The study of fossils suggests that a group of giant reptiles alive up to 220 million years ago may have acquired the ability to fly when the animal…...

8+ mon, 1+ week ago   (1032+ words) "We show how the actions of different glands collectively help to produce a complex bodily fluid—our saliva," says Marie Saitou. (Credit: Getty Images) A new study tracks evolution of human saliva back to primates. Saliva is a bodily fluid…...

8+ mon, 2+ week ago   (403+ words) A pack of Nanotyrannus brazenly attacks a juvenile T. rex. (Credit: Anthony Hutchings) A complete tyrannosaur skeleton has just ended one of paleontology’s longest-running debates—whether Nanotyrannus is a distinct species, or just a teenage version of Tyrannosaurus rex. The fossil,…...

9+ mon, 2+ week ago   (487+ words) Inside the Deban Laboratory at the University of South Florida, biology and engineering are colliding to reveal how nature’s designs could one day help solve challenges on Earth and beyond. Postdoctoral researcher Yu Zeng and integrative biology Professor Stephen Deban’s…...

9+ mon, 3+ week ago   (797+ words) Young Zavacephale duel for territory along a lakeshore 108 million years ago. (Credit: Masato Hattori) A “teenaged” pachycephalosaur from Mongolia’s Gobi Desert may provide answers to lingering questions around the dinosaur group, according to new research. The fossil represents a new…...

10+ mon, 4+ day ago   (796+ words) New research shows how the death of dinosaurs reengineered Earth. Dinosaurs had such an immense impact on Earth that their sudden extinction led to wide scale changes in landscapes—including the shape of rivers—and these changes are reflected in…...