50 Million-Year-Old Fossil Assassin Bug Has Unusually Well-Preserved Genitalia
The fossilized insect is tiny and its genital capsule, called a pygophore, is roughly the length of a grain of rice.
Dinosaur-Era Sea Lizard Had Teeth Like a Shark
New study identifies a bizarre new species suggesting that giant marine lizards thrived before the asteroid wiped them out 66 million years ago.
Cretaceous Amber Fossil Sheds Light on Bioluminescence in Beetles
Bioluminescence has fascinated people since time immemorial. The majority of organisms able to produce their own light are beetles, specifically fireflies, glow-worm beetles, and their relatives.
New Discovery Sheds Light on Sabre-toothed Tiger
New research indicates adolescent offspring of the menacing sabre-toothed predator, Smilodon fatalis, were more momma's cubs than independent warriors.
Research Explains Why Crocodiles Changed so Little Since Age of Dinosaurs
New research by scientists at the University of Bristol explains how a 'stop-start' pattern of evolution, governed by environmental change, could explain why crocodiles have changed so little since the age of the dinosaurs.
Leaf Fossils Show Severe End-Cretaceous Plant Extinction
The asteroid impact 66 million years ago that ushered in a mass extinction and ended the dinosaurs also killed off many of the plants that they relied on for food.
Early Mammal With Remarkably Precise Bite
Palaeontologists at the University of Bonn (Germany) have succeeded in reconstructing the chewing motion of an early mammal that lived almost 150 million years ago.
The ‘Crazy Beast’ That Lived Among the Dinosaurs
New research published today in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology describes a bizarre 66 million-year-old mammal that provides profound new insights into the evolutionary history of mammals from the southern supercontinent Gondwana - recognized today as Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, the Indian subcontinent, and the Arabian Peninsula.
First-Known Fossil Iguana Burrow Found in The Bahamas
The discovery of the first known fossil iguana nesting burrow, on an outer island of the Bahamas, fills in a gap of scientific knowledge for a prehistoric behavior of an iconic lizard.
Archaeopteryx Fossil Provides Insights Into The Origins of Flight
Flying birds moult their feathers when they are old and worn because they inhibit flight performance, and the moult strategy is typically a sequential molt.
Newly Discovered Fossils Prove ‘Shangri-La’-Like Ecosystem in Central Tibet
Despite decades of investigation, Tibet's ancient topography and its role in climatic and biotic evolution remain speculative due to a paucity of quantitative surface height measurements through time and space, and sparse fossil records.
Incredible Vision in Ancient Marine Creatures Drove an Evolutionary Arms Race
Ancient deep sea creatures called radiodonts had incredible vision that likely drove an evolutionary arms race according to new research published today.
Rare Cretaceous-Age Fossil Opens New Chapter in Story of Bird Evolution
A Cretaceous-age, crow-sized bird from Madagascar would have sliced its way through the air wielding a large, blade-like beak and offers important new insights on the evolution of face and beak shape in the Mesozoic forerunners of modern birds.
Water-to-Land Transition in Early Tetrapods
The water-to-land transition is one of the most important and inspiring major transitions in vertebrate evolution.
T. Rex Had Huge Growth Spurts, But Other Dinos Grew “Slow and Steady”
Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the biggest meat-eating dinosaurs of all time--it measured up to 42 feet long from snout to tail and would have weighed in at around 16,000 pounds.
