News
Complex animals evolved up to 10 million years earlier than previously thought, fossil discovery shows
3+ hour, 32+ min ago (370+ words) Trove of fossils discovered in Canada sheds light on "when life first became large, complex and unmistakenly animal." A trove of fossils uncovered in northwestern Canada suggests that complex animals evolved in North America earlier than previously thought. The site…...
'Last titan' of Thailand discovered, and it's the longest-necked dinosaur on record from Southeast Asia
3+ day, 11+ hour ago (457+ words) A newfound species of long-necked dinosaur from Thailand lived up to 120 million years ago, and it's the largest known of its kind from Southeast Asia. Gigantic fossils discovered in Thailand reveal the "last titan," a long-necked dinosaur that lived up…...
'Their greatest challenge since they stared down the asteroid': Paleontologist Steve Brusatte on why birds are facing their biggest existential threat since the dino-killing asteroid
3+ week, 1+ day ago (1197+ words) In a new book, paleontologist Steve Brustatte tells the wild story of how birds evolved during the Jurassic and took to the skies, surviving the asteroid strike that killed their fellow dinosaurs. Birds have spread their wings the world over,…...
'He began to cry, and almost fell to the floor': The fluffy fossil that finally showed the world that birds are dinosaurs
3+ week, 1+ day ago (673+ words) In this excerpt from "The Story of Birds", author Steve Brusatte explores the moment where paleontologists realized they had critical evidence to show birds came from dinosaurs " a fluffy fossil from China. In the 1970s, paleontologist John Ostrom revived the theory…...
'Kraken' octopus that lived at the time of the dinosaurs was a 62-foot-long apex predator of the ocean
3+ week, 6+ day ago (632+ words) A close inspection of 27 fossil jaws from finned octopuses challenge the longstanding belief that the apex oceanic predators of the Cretaceous were all vertebrates. Scientists have identified enormous finned "kraken" octopuses that may have reached up to 62 feet (19 meters) long....
Complex life emerged before the Cambrian explosion
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (379+ words) A site in southwestern China holds a wide array of strange life-forms that emerged prior to the Cambrian explosion, and it pushes back the origin of complex life by millions of years. A newly discovered trove of fossils in southwestern…...
18 million-year-old fossils of ape found in Africa, but in an unexpected place
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (729+ words) The ancestor of apes was long thought to come from East Africa, but newly discovered fossils in Egypt may prompt a rethink. The discovery of an enigmatic ape's 18 million year-old fossils in Egypt hints that the ancestors of all living…...
Human ancestors butchered and ate elephants 1. 8 million years ago, helping to fuel their large brains
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (548+ words) A professor of anthropology explores how early hominids ate prehistoric elephants to survive. Imagine a creature nearly twice the size of a modern African elephant (which can weigh up to 6, 000kg [13, 000 lbs]). This was Elephas (Paleoxodon) recki, a prehistoric titan that…...
Homo habilis is the earliest named human. But is it even human?
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (665+ words) Between 2 million and 3 million years ago, humans appeared in Africa " but identifying them in the fossil record is turning out to be surprisingly difficult. For 60 years, the earliest known human species has also been one of the most mysterious. Homo…...
'It blew my mind': Long-lost ice-age ecosystem, including fossils of lion-size armadillo and giant ground sloth, discovered in Texas 'water cave"
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (371+ words) Two researchers snorkeling in a subterranean stream in Texas discovered fossils from the Late Pleistocene epoch, revealing new details about what lived in this ancient ecosystem. While exploring a cave in central Texas, scientists unearthed a long-lost ice-age ecosystem, including…...