Showing 20 articles starting at article 1

Next 20 articles >

Categories: Ecology: Animals, Paleontology: Fossils

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study shows how the mismatch between where fossils are preserved and where humans likely lived may influence our understanding of early human evolution.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have sequenced the largest genome of all animals, the lungfish genome. Their data help to explain how the fish-ancestors of today's land vertebrates were able to conquer land.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Ancient fossil beans about the size of modern limes, and among the largest seeds in the fossil record, may provide new insight into the evolution of today's diverse Southeast Asian and Australian rainforests, according to researchers who identified the plants.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

What distinguishes the growth and development patterns of early mammals of the Jurassic period? Paleontologists have been able to gauge the lifespan and growth rates of these ancient animals, and even when they reached maturity, by studying growth rings in fossilized tooth roots.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Markings on a stone pillar at a 12,000 year-old archaeological site in Turkey likely represent the world's oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet strike, experts suggest.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study reports the discovery of extremely rare early human fossils from the Indonesian island of Flores, including an astonishingly small adult limb bone. Dated to about 700,000 years old, the new findings shed light on the evolution of Homo floresiensis, the so-called 'Hobbits' of Flores whose remains were uncovered in 2003 at Liang Bua cave in the island's west.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A tiny fossil penguin plays a huge role in the evolutionary history of the bird, an international study shows.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Shifts in the Earth's continental plates that drove long-term changes in sea level set the stage for the evolution of the earliest animals on Earth, a study suggests.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Exceptional fossils with preserved soft parts reveal that the earliest mollusks were flat, armored slugs without shells. The new species, Shishania aculeata, was covered with hollow, organic, cone-shaped spines. The fossils preserve exceptionally rare detailed features which reveal that these spines were produced using a sophisticated secretion system that is shared with annelids (earthworms and relatives).

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The atmosphere, the ocean and life on Earth interacted over the past 500-plus million years in ways that improved conditions for early organisms to thrive. Now, an interdisciplinary team of scientists has produced a perspective article of this co-evolutionary history.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study looks at the maximum possible sizes of dinosaurs, using the carnivore, Tyrannosaurus rex, as an example. Using computer modelling, experts produced estimates that T. Rex might have been 70% heavier than what the fossil evidence suggests.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Palaeontologists are helping resolve the evolution and ecology of Odaraia, a taco-shaped marine animal that lived during the Cambrian period. Fossils reveal Odaraia had mandibles. Palaeontologists are finally able to place it as belonging to the mandibulates, ending its long enigmatic classification among the arthropods since it was first discovered in the Burgess Shale over 100 years ago and revealing more about early evolution and diversification.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A pilot study shows that nanoscopic 3-D imaging of ancient bone not only provides further insight into the changes soft tissues undergo during fossilization, it also has potential as a fast, practical way to determine which specimens are likely candidates for ancient DNA and protein sequence preservation.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research reveals that Earth's largest iron ore deposits -- in the Hamersley Province of Western Australia -- are about one billion years younger than previously believed, a discovery which could greatly boost the search for more of the resource.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Some species of fish can evolve their egg-laying habits in response to predators in the area in order to survive, according to new research.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new species of fossil snake unearthed in Wyoming is rewriting our understanding of snake evolution. The discovery, based on four remarkably well-preserved specimens found curled together in a burrow, reveals a new species named Hibernophis breithaupti. This snake lived in North America 34 million years ago and sheds light on the origin and diversification of boas and pythons.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A multitude of new genomic sequence data fills major gaps in the fruit fly tree of life, researchers report.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By harnessing the power of machine learning, researchers have constructed a framework for analyzing what factors most significantly contribute to a species' genetic diversity.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research is shedding light on how viruses ensure their survival by precisely timing the release of new viruses. The discovery offers a new theoretical framework for understanding these dynamic biological phenomena.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A pioneering study has unveiled the first paired observations of sexual behavior and vocalizations in wild leopard seals. The study on the mysterious leopard seal represents a major advance in understanding the behavior of one of the most difficult apex predators to study on Earth.