Paleontology

160 million years later: This rare fossil is overturning everything we knew about how birds evolved

Research on the Anchiornis specimen reveals hidden feather structures that contradict old theories on dinosaur flight. Scientists are now re-evaluating how and when animals first took to the skies.

160-million-year-old Anchiornis fossils.
Dinosaur, edmontosaurus close up with open mouth. Ukraine, Khmelnitsky, October 2021.

'Medusa,' possible 'dinosaur mummy' discovered in Badlands, transferred for further research

People in protective suits examine a frozen woolly mammoth from Siberia named "Yuka" during a media preview at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei November 6, 2013.

Scientists discover RNA molecules from a mammoth that went extinct 40,000 years ago

 an illustration of a shark being eaten by an even larger shark Scientists have long assumed megalodons looked like big great white sharks, but new research suggests this is not the case

Megalodon shark may have reached 80 feet, new study finds


Megalodons were slow-swimming, warm-blooded predators – study

The placoid scales are not seen on speedier shark species, as those species have scales with spaced ridges. 

 An artistic illustration of the megalodon shark, one of the largest sharks to ever lurk in Earth's oceans.

Humans' ancestors, dogs, bats may have coexisted with dinosaurs – study

Primates, whom humans evolved from, rabbits and hares, dogs and cats were shown to have evolved just before the mass extinction, so they coexisted with dinosaurs.

 Life reconstruction of Brontosaurus excelsus, a type of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur (Illustrative).

The king takes flight: New pterosaur 'Elvis' receives scientific name

The pterosaur was nicknamed after the king of rock and roll due to a giant pompadour-like bony crest on its skull.

 Photograph of the whole specimen of Petrodacyle wellnhoferi.

Newly discovered toothed whale was an early ancestor of dolphins - study

The study was made after the fossilized remains of three odontocetes were found in the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.

 A giant blue whale skeleton is unveiled in the Hintze Hall at the Natural History Museum, London, Britain July 13, 2017.

Look ma, no toes! How the modern horse evolved to have hooves

An analysis of footprints by the prehistoric three-toed equid Hipparion sheds light on the evolution of horses, and especially their toes.

 How did the modern horse evolve? (illustrative)

New dinosaur species discovered in China after fossilized paw found

The fossilized theropod remains are thought to be 121 million years old, placing their origin in the early Cretaceous period. 

 An illustrative image of a dinosaur's foot.

Step this way: When did humans learn how to walk upright? - study

Through digitally recreating the muscles of an early human ancestor, research has shed new light on how humans evolved to walk upright.

 Illustrative depiction of the Australopithecus Afarensis

New species of duck-billed dinosaur discovered in Chile - study

The dinosaur, now dubbed Gonkoken nanoi, inhabited the earth 72 million years ago in the Chilean Patagonia.

 A paleontologist checks fossilized bones of the 'Gonkoken nanoi', a newly identified duck-billed dinosaur, that inhabited the Chilean Patagonian area, at El valle del rio de las Chinas, near Torres del Paine, Magallanes and Antarctic region, Chile, in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters

After nearly 100 years, scientists solve puzzle of ancient predator's skull

Crassigyrinus would have likely been a feared predator in its day, as it would have behaved somewhat like a modern crocodile.

3D reconstruction of the cranium and lower jaws of Crassigyrinus scoticus in articulation.

Pucker up! T. rex, other predatory dinosaurs lizard-like lips - study

This study also applies to other theropod dinosaurs such as the velociraptor.

 An artist's reconstruction of the Cretaceous Period meat-eating dinosaur Meraxes gigas.