Tag: Fossils
The rise of the giant prehistoric bugs
Insects and terrestrial arthropods have inhabited the Earth since before the time of the dinosaurs, growing much larger to their contemporary equivalents during the Carboniferous period, due in part to a surplus of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere.
A 520-Million-Year-Old Five-Eyed Fossil Reveals Arthropod Origin
The arthropods have been among the most successful animals on Earth since the Cambrian Period, about 520 million years ago.
Scientists Reconstruct Beetles From the Cretaceous
About a year ago, researchers found fossil specimens of beetles in an amber deposit in Myanmar, thereby describing a new beetle family that lived about 99 million years ago.
Past Tropical Forest Changes Drove Megafauna and Hominin Extinctions
Researchers have found that the loss of these grasslands was instrumental in the extinction of many of the region's megafauna, and probably of ancient humans too.
Study Reveals How Reptiles Divided Spoils in Ancient Seas
While dinosaurs ruled the land in the Mesozoic, the oceans were filled by predators such as crocodiles and giant lizards, but also entirely extinct groups such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs.
Specimens From Ice Age Provide Clues to Origin of Pack-Hunting in Modern Wolves
Wolves today live and hunt in packs, which helps them take down large prey. But when did this group behavior evolve?