Paleontology

A dinosaur egg sampled for geochronology. Photo: Dr. Bi Zhao

Atomic clock for fossils: Direct dating of dinosaur eggs from China reveals an age of about 85 million years

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Researchers have applied U-Pb carbonate dating directly to eggshells from the Qinglongshan site in Yunyang for the first time, determining an Upper Cretaceous age and offering a new window into ancient climate and dinosaur diversity dynamics
Late Permian of the Luangwa Basin, Zambia An artist's impression of a scene from about 252 million years ago, during the Late Permian period, in the Luangwa Basin of Zambia. The scene includes a number of gorgonopsians (saber-toothed predators) and beaked dicynodonts. Credit: Gabriel Ugueto

The Forgotten Creatures Who Ruled Before the “Great Death”

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Researchers have uncovered in "Southern Pangaea" (now the southern part of Africa) fossils of creatures that lived shortly before the event known as the "Great Dying," which wiped out about 70% of terrestrial species and an even larger proportion of species
Photo 1 of a seed fern from the pre-extinct tropical rainforest, Gigantopteris (giant leaves), courtesy of Dr Zhen Xu.

New fossils reveal: Tropical forest collapse caused extreme warming after the Great Extinction

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New study finds that the extinction of vegetation during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction limited carbon absorption and led to a long-term increase in temperatures
A giant sloth at the entrance to a cave it dug. Illustration: Avi Blizovsky, via DALEE

They were three-and-a-half-ton sloths with claws and armor – and then humans arrived

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New research reveals how ancient giant sloths dug caves, thrived in the oceans and moved between diverse environments – until climate change and the arrival of humans led to their extinction
Using meticulous and detailed collection methods, a research team led by the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities was able to place the remains of fossilized apes, such as Morotopithecus, within detailed reconstructions of habitats. Credit: Corbin Rainbolt

Rewriting human evolution: Great apes lived in open habitats 10 million years earlier than expected

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Using rigorous and detailed collection methods, the researchers were able to place the remains of fossilized apes, such as Morotopithecus, in detailed reconstructions of habitats. Credit: Corbin Rainbolt
Analysis of 10,000-year-old skeleton findings in the Judean Desert in the laboratory of Prof. Israel Hershkowitz, Tel Aviv University

Talking bones

Complete human skeletons may testify to the existence of different human groups in the Land of Israel 100,000 years ago and more
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