News
The 'oldest fossil octopus' is probably another animal
44+ min ago (367+ words) The over 300-million-year-old Pohlsepia may be a nautilus called Paleocadmus A'Paleocadmus'nautilus decays on the seafloor more than 300 million years ago in what will become Illinois. The separated shell is visible in the background. Other animals are visible, such as the…...
Fossil reveals that an early relative of spiders had claws
6+ day, 9+ hour ago (267+ words) The fossil helps show how the front appendages of spiders" kin may have evolved An early relative of modern spiders and scorpions (illustrated) lived in water, was about the size of a human hand " and already had the characteristic claws…...
Modern apes may have actually evolved in North Africa or the Middle East
1+ week, 5+ day ago (755+ words) A fossil jawbone suggests apes like gorillas, gibbons and humans may arise from Africa's north Masripithecus moghraensis (illustrated here) lived in Egypt around 17 million years ago. The ancient primate's discovery is a new wrinkle in the evolutionary story of apes....
A large fossil leg bone hints at T. rex’s origins, but scientists disagree
3+ week, 5+ day ago (478+ words) The shinbone suggests the dino's forebears came from North America A large tyrannosaur stomps near a herd of duckbill dinosaurs in this artist's conception of a scene from around 74 million years ago. When it comes to identifying fossil species, a…...
The ancient human ancestor ‘Little Foot’ gets a new face
1+ mon, 5+ day ago (408+ words) High-resolution scans of a crushed skull reveal unexpected links to East African fossils The original skull (left), digital scan (middle) and reconstructed face of Little Foot offer a closer look at this enigmatic ancient human relative. Scientists have finally come…...
A mouth built for efficiency may have helped the earliest bird fly
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (615+ words) The 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx had mouth features similar to those of birds today Fleshy "teeth" on the roof of Archaeopteryx's mouth, a sensory organ at the end of the beak and a highly mobile tongue (all illustrated) may have helped the…...
Evolution didn’t wait long after the dinosaurs died
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (690+ words) Marine ecosystems began recovering within just a few thousand years after the asteroid strike This artist's rendition depicts three forms of new plankton species (top left) and algae (middle left) that arose within a few thousand years after the Chicxulub…...
Fossilized vomit reveals 290-million-year-old predator’s diet
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (401+ words) Regurgitated material contains the prey of a hunter that lived before the dinosaurs This illustration depicts the early Permian apex predator Dimetrodon teutonis regurgitating the remains of prey animals. Two smaller prey animals identified in the fossil vomit, Eudibamus cursoris…...
Queen bumblebees are poor foragers thanks to sparse tongue hair
2+ mon, 3+ week ago (288+ words) Dense, fine hairs on the tongues of bumblebees allow them to pick up nectar with each slurp A bumblebee worker (left) and a queen (right) drink a sugar solution in a laboratory. The larger queens are less efficient foragers, due…...
These fossil finds shed new light on the past in 2025
3+ mon, 1+ week ago (332+ words) New details emerged about Earth's most ancient bird, a penis worm (yes, we went there) and more What did a teenage T. rex look like? Not like Nanotyrannus, a relatively diminutive and distinct species. That's just one of this year's fun…...