fossils

Anchiornis simulation using artificial intelligence

The dinosaurs that forgot how to fly: 160 million-year-old fossils suggest they lost flight

160-million-year-old dinosaur fossils reveal surprising turn in flight evolution
Reconstruction of a landscape from the Late Triassic (about 215 million years ago). A Lagerpetid reptile, a relative of pterosaurs, sits on a rock and watches pterosaurs flying above it. Credit: Matheus Fernandes

Study: Ancient pterosaurs took off with smaller brains than expected

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New research using advanced fossil imaging shows that early pterosaurs – the first flying reptiles – may have mastered flight almost immediately upon their appearance, without needing a large brain like birds.
Mollusks at the beginning of the dinosaur era. The oldest known oceanic tetrapod system, from about 249 million years ago. A school of small-bodied ichthyopterygians of the genus Grippia longirostris hunts squid-like ammonites (center). In the distance, schools of graminear fish Boreosomus and Saurichthys feed. Credit: Robert Back

249-million-year-old fossil shakes up evolutionary timeline

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Reanalyzed Arctic fossils show marine ecosystems recovered with astonishing speed after the 'Great Dying'
Turkey ear fungus. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Fungi dominated the Earth hundreds of millions of years before plants.

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New research reveals that fungi created ancient soils and prepared the continents for the arrival of plants, through early collaboration with algae
A fossil of a trilobite, one of the first animals to appear during the Cambrian period, when there was an explosion of complex life. Illustration: depositphotos.com

545-million-year-old footprints may rewrite the story of the origin of complex life

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Collagen stability is made possible by a chemical reaction that prevents water from attacking the chemical bonds that hold the collagen fibers together. The chemical reaction against a dinosaur background | From the article Yang et al. 2024

Collagen in fossils: proteins as a biological archive of the past

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Unlike DNA, proteins like collagen can sometimes survive for millions of years in fossils. Scientists use this ability to learn a lot about the biology of ancient creatures.
A tiny life form that penetrated the sedimentary rocks and fed on the minerals therein created thin, parallel tubes between two channels. Marble sample from Namibia | Source: Cees Passchier

Thin tubes to the distant past

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Unusual structures found in marble and limestone rocks in Namibia were probably created millions of years ago by tiny animals that fed on the minerals in the rocks.
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
The discovery of the 555-million-year-old fossil *Uncus dzaugisi* in South Australia confirms their origins in the Precambrian period of the ecdysozoans, and bridges an important evolutionary gap. Photo courtesy of Harvard University

A 555-million-year-old fossil sheds light on one of the great mysteries of evolution

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The discovery of the oldest fossil from the Ecdysozoa family (Uncus dzaugisi), a group of animals characterized by shedding their skin and including insects, crustaceans and nematodes, sheds light on the early evolution of animals
Terrestrial animals display a wide range of limb structures - from 'spread', in which the limbs are held alongside the body, as in lizards, to 'upright', in which the limbs are held below the body and close to the midline of the animal, as in dogs, cats and horses . An upright body structure is a characteristic of most modern mammals, but when did this key feature evolve? Credit: Peter Bishop 

How mammals achieved their upright posture 

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A new study reveals the twists and turns and complexities in the evolution of mammals, from a spread body structure (legs tending to the sides like in reptiles) to an upright body structure where the feet are stable on the ground
The climate swing. The illustration was prepared using DALEE and should not be considered a scientific image

The CO2-Driven Climatic Roller Coaster: A 485-Million-Year Journey

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A new study published in the journal Science detailed the fluctuations in the Earth's temperature over the past 485 million years, and highlighted the significant relationship between the Earth's temperature and the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
Woolly rhinos were once common throughout northern and central Eurasia, before becoming extinct about 10,000 years ago. Credit: Mauricio Anton 

Solving an ancient mystery: paleontologists shed new light on the causes of the extinction of the woolly rhinoceros

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Advanced computer models estimate that continued hunting by humans contributed to the extinction of the woolly rhinoceros by preventing their migration to new habitats during post-Ice Age warming, highlighting the ongoing impact
A fossil of Douglassarachne acanthopoda, known for its spiny legs, may resemble modern harvestman spiders, but with a more robust body structure. Credit: Paul Selden

Scientists have discovered a strange creature with spiny legs that lived 308 million years ago

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"This little arachnid has a body length of about 1.5 centimeters and is characterized by its particularly strong spiny legs - so it is completely different from any other known arachnid, living or extinct."
Artist's rendering of a group of G. blacki within a forest in southern China. Credit: Garcia/Juan-Boyo (Southern Cross University)

3 meter tall apes in East Asia became extinct because they were overspecialized

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In the spectacular karst landscapes of southern China, giant apes, known as Gigantopithecus blacki, once roamed. They were three meters tall and weighed about 250 kilograms. They became extinct about 300 thousand years ago. The reasons for the extinction of
Mediterranean. Illustration: depositphotos.com

A historical window to the Mediterranean Sea

Following the drying up of the Mediterranean Sea about five million years ago, valleys developed in its southeast that are about eight kilometers wide and about 1,000 meters deep
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
Mycelia's jaw. Courtesy of Tel Aviv University.

The oldest human fossil outside of Africa is found in Israel

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A skull from Jebel Ayehud. Source: Ryan Somma.

Fossils from Morocco complicate the story of the origin of modern man

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Most types of corals can only exist at depths where sunlight penetrates. Photo: National Park Service.

The corals reveal: the sea will rise, and quickly

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Simulation of the feathered dinosaur Zhenyuanlong. Image: Emily Willoughby/Wikimedia.

How dinosaurs became birds

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The extinct rodent Sayimis negevensis was the distant forerunner of the gondii (also called the comb rats) that exist today in North and East Africa. Photo: The Hebrew University

Fossils of a rodent that went extinct 18 million years ago were found in Israel

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Israel's Fossil Guide. Photo of Arava R&D PR

The first website in Israel and in the world for identifying fossils was launched

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Close-up of potential red blood cells within a fossil deployed using a focused ion beam. Photo: Imperial College

Researchers in the UK: we discovered soft tissue fossils of dinosaurs

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Ichthyosaurs from the Jurassic period. Illustration: shutterstock

Marie Anning - the best dinosaur museum in history

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Reconstruction of a 300-million-year-old tiny carnivore known as Eocasea, within a footprint of the largest herbivore of the period 270 million years ago, the Cotylorhynchus. Illustration: Daniel Dufo

The ancestor of the herbivores was discovered

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Tyrannosaurus. Illustration: shutterstock

The first dinosaurs discovered in Saudi Arabia

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Artist's illustration showing the new horned dinosaur Nasutoceratops titus discovered at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. Photography by Lucas Panzan.

A dinosaur fossil with horns and a big nose was discovered

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Tyrannosaurus rex tries to bite the tail of a vegetarian dinosaur - an artist's description of a discovery that a fossilized tooth of a T. rex was found in the body of a drosaur, proof that the T. rex tried to kill its prey itself. Photo: University of Kansas and the Museum of Natural History in Palm Beach

T rex was a hunter and not a scavenger

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Skill-like microstructures inside a 3.4-billion-year-old Halamish stone found in Western Australia. Photo: Christopher House, Penn State University

Early life: Plankton fossils have been discovered in three billion year old rocks

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A fossil of Eunotosaurus, one of the ancestors of the modern turtle that allowed researchers to decipher the evolution of the turtle's shell

How did turtles get their shells?

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Ultraviolet (UV) photograph of Keuppia arms

Eight BC

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This is a flesh reconstruction of an embryonic dinosaur inside an egg. (Credit: ArtworReconstruction of a dinosaur embryo inside the egg. (Credit: Artwork by D. Mazierski)k by D. Mazierski)

Scientists have managed to extract organic remains from 160 million year old fossilized dinosaur embryos

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Ukhaatherium nessovi, a giant Cretaceous-age animal discovered in 1994 in Mongolia's Gobi Desert by the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and the American Museum of Natural History, is one of the many mammals used to study the placental mammal tree of life. When the tiny creature's remarkably well-preserved skeleton was discovered This time, the researchers were surprised to find the presence of epipubic bones, which were attached to both sides of the groin. Today this feature is only found in egg-laying mammals such as the duck and marsupial mammals such as the kangaroo. But their presence in this fossil showed that the first placental mammals also shared the same feature.

The oldest placental mammals, lived right after the end of the dinosaur period

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An illustration comparing a modern man (on the right) with an ancient man (next to him, reminiscent of a monkey), next to an ancient crocodile - the larger of the two and a Yaor crocodile. Illustration: Chris Brochu, University of Iowa.

The largest crocodile that ever lived could swallow a man

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Australopithecus sediva, from Wikipedia

New great grandmother? Science reports the discovery of an important link in human evolution

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3.4 billion year old microscopic fossils discovered in Western Australia. Photo: University of Western Australia and University of Oxford

The oldest fossil was discovered - bacteria 3.4 billion years old

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Jurassic spider fossil discovered in China

Largest fossil spider

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Common European viper

How did snakes' venomous teeth develop? Finally the answer was found

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Reconstruction of the Anomalocaris skeleton. From Wikipedia

The Predator - the controversial figure of a half-billion-year-old biological terrorist

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Microraptor zhaoianus - the smallest dinosaur fossil in the world. Photographed at the Hong Kong Science Museum, from Wikipedia (GNU license)

The fake fossil that was discovered as two fossils each is a scientific discovery in itself

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Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

A 47-million-year-old fossil may be the common ancestor (or common mother) of today's humans and apes

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Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

With the DNA hunters in Canada

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A prehistoric scene of Titanoboa the largest snake that ever lived

Fossils of the longest snake in the world have been found

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Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

First turtle

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Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

Ancient fingers discovered in fish

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Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

The Tyrannosaurus rex is closer to a chicken than an alligator

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Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

A fossil of the oldest rabbit has been discovered

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Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

A fossil of a giant marine reptile - a "monster" was discovered in Norway

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Cosmic scene with DNA, stars, solvents and atomic circles in oral flow.

Prehistoric crocodile fossils in Brazil point to a land bridge between South America and India

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