News
Botanical Pompeii" shows plants thrived before dinosaur extinction
2+ hour, 28+ min ago (936+ words) (Brian Engh via SWNS) The discovery of a "botanical Pompeii" has rewritten a long-held theory that flowering plants only flourished after the dinosaurs. The "unique" fossil find shows they were in fact blooming 10 million years before dinosaurs were wiped out,…...
Ancient squirrel poop reveals "remarkable" details about Arctic
2+ week, 1+ day ago (598+ words) Squirrel droppings dating back up to 700, 000 years have revealed "remarkable" new details about the Arctic's evolutionary history. (Duane Froese via SWNS) Researchers analyzed permafrost samples collected from ground squirrel burrows that span several glacial periods and can remain frozen and…...
Most complete T. rex fossil to fetch up to $30 million at auction
4+ week, 5+ hour ago (313+ words) A T. rex named Gus is set to be auctioned with the highest estimate ever placed on a dinosaur. (Matthew Sherman/Sotheby's via SWNS) The fossil was discovered by Thomas Heitkamp and his team on land owned by the late Gary…...
World's oldest crocodile fossil discovered during walk on beach
2+ mon, 2+ day ago (337+ words) Amateur fossil hunter Heather Salt holding the world's oldest crocodile fossil. (Lyme Regis Museum via SWNS) The world's oldest crocodile fossil has been found during a walk on the Jurassic Coast. Amateur fossil hunter Heather Salt initially mistook the find…...
Treasure trove" reveals animal diversity began earlier than thought
2+ mon, 3+ week ago (983+ words) Reconstruction of Jiangchuan biota (~554-539 million years ago). (Xiaodong Wang via SWNS) The discovery of a fossil "treasure trove" has pushed back the origins of animals at least four million years. The "exciting" find in China includes the remains of a…...
Scientists solve 75-million-year-old dinosaur "murder mystery
2+ mon, 3+ week ago (730+ words) Visualization of a tyrannosaur scavenging on a larger conspecific. (Josephine Nielsen / Aarhus University via SWNS) Tyrannosaurus rex was the ultimate cannibal " feeding on the carcasses of dead relatives, new research reveals. While tyrannosaurs are often portrayed as fearsome apex predators,…...
New ape discovery "reshaping" understanding of evolution
2+ mon, 4+ week ago (901+ words) The discovery of a new ape species that lived in Egypt 17 million years ago is "reshaping" the understanding of evolution. The fossil find suggests that the closest ancestors to modern apes may have emerged in northern Africa rather than in…...
Brain of flying reptile's ancestor rebuilt to find out how they took flight
3+ mon, 2+ day ago (749+ words) Paleontologist L'sie V. S. Damke holding an enlarged model of the brain of Venetoraptor gassenae. (Rodrigo Temp M'ller via SWNS) The brain of a 233-million-year-old ancestor of the first flying reptiles has been reconstructed in a bid to work out how they…...
Adorable baby dinosaur so cute it's named after Korean cartoon
3+ mon, 5+ day ago (425+ words) An artist's interpretation of a juvenile Doolysaurus huhmini. It is depicted alongside birds and other dinosaurs that lived during the Cretaceous in what is now South Korea. (Jun Seong Yi / SWNS) A newly discovered baby dinosaur is so cute it…...
Study finds crocodile-like predator preyed on man's ancestors
3+ mon, 1+ week ago (752+ words) Researchers led by the University of Iowa have described and named a new crocodile species that roamed a region in Africa more than 3 million years ago. (Tyler Stone, University of Iowa via SWNS) A "dominant" crocodile-like predator with a big…...