3+ hour ago  (682+ words) The texture of the crest and the network of blood vessel channels inside it indicate that it was covered in keratin, the same material found in human fingernails. Researchers believe the crest was brightly colored during the dinosaur's lifetime and…...

5+ day, 2+ hour ago  (345+ words) Scientists from the CNRS and collaborating institutions made the discovery in China, where they uncovered the fossilized remains of a remarkably well preserved young iguanodontian. What makes this specimen extraordinary is not just its skeleton, but its preserved skin. Soft…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago  (1055+ words) Life began in the sea. Around 475 million years ago, plants started spreading from water onto dry ground. Roughly 100 million years later, vertebrate animals followed. Yet even after animals established themselves on land, they remained meat eaters for tens of millions…...

2+ week, 1+ day ago  (400+ words) Perfectly timed fossils from Morocco reveal a forgotten African population living near the very root of the human family tree. Precisely Dated Fossils From Coastal Morocco Decades of Fieldwork Lead to a Breakthrough Over time, this careful work revealed the…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago  (529+ words) "From the very first moment anybody sees this animal one is staggered by its extreme smallness," says Dieudonn. "And yet it preserves a highly derived cranium with unexpected anatomical innovations." The fossils come from at least five individuals and were…...

3+ week, 4+ hour ago  (632+ words) A new study led by a researcher from UCL (University College London) finds that baby and very young sauropods were critical to sustaining predators during the Late Jurassic. Sauropods were long necked, long tailed plant eaters that grew into the…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago  (720+ words) Creatures without hard shells or bones, such as jellyfish, almost never survive in the fossil record. Preservation becomes even more difficult in sandstone, a rock made of coarse grains that allow water to pass through easily and typically forms in…...

4+ week, 2+ day ago  (375+ words) To explore how these massive animals moved, Megan Jones and her colleagues examined the hindlimbs of 94 modern specimens and 40 fossil specimens representing 63 species of kangaroos and wallabies. Their sample included members of the extinct giant kangaroo group Protemnodon, which lived…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago  (1151+ words) Scientists studying the Great Salt Lake have identified at least one species of nematode that is completely new to science, with evidence suggesting there may be a second. Researchers from the University of Utah recently published a paper describing the…...

1+ mon, 2+ week ago  (539+ words) An international research team led by scientists from La Trobe University in Australia and the University of Cambridge is questioning how one of the most complete early human fossils has been classified. Their findings suggest the specimen may not belong…...