fossils

The connection of everything: the fossils beneath our feet, on the stairs and in the bathtub

The connection of everything: the fossils beneath our feet, on the stairs and in the bathtub

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Fossils of marine creatures tens or even hundreds of millions of years old are sometimes hidden in the polished limestone of stairs, floors, walls and bathrooms. This is how urban geology turns an ordinary building into a window to the sea.
The "American Cheetah" Wasn't a Cheetah – and in the North It Probably Ate Fish

The "American Cheetah" Wasn't a Cheetah – and in the North It Probably Ate Fish

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Ancient DNA from four Miracinonyx trumani individuals places the extinct predator closer to the puma than to the cheetah. Isotope analysis suggests northern populations fed primarily on aquatic sources, expanding its range
Proposal to rewrite the human family tree: expand the genus Homo to 5 million years ago

Proposal to rewrite the human family tree: expand the genus Homo to 5 million years ago

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A new article in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology argues that the conventional division into three genera – Homo, Australopithecus, and Paranthropus – no longer accurately reflects the evolutionary relationships emerging from fossils and phylogenetic analyses.
This is what the Jurassic forest sounded like: Insects communicated with ultrasound 165 million years ago

This is what the Jurassic forest sounded like: Insects communicated with ultrasound 165 million years ago

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Researchers analyzed 20 wing fossils from nine insect species, combining laser measurements, physical models, and artificial intelligence to reconstruct their calls. One species apparently produced sounds at frequencies above 20 kilohertz –
An artistic reconstruction of *Purussaurus neivensis* attacking the herbivorous mammal *Pericotoxodon platignathus* in the La Venta ecosystem of Colombia during the Miocene. The illustration is based on fossils and bite marks and is not a direct record of the event.

Million-year-old bite marks reveal: Giant crocodile preyed on rhinoceros-sized mammals

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Deep punctures, crushed bones, and cracks that spread around the impact site allow researchers to reconstruct violent encounters that occurred more than 10 million years ago. A new study of fossils from the La Venta region of Colombia provides evidence
Reconstruction of cainodonts from the Triassic period, including a pregnant female and a female nursing offspring

236-million-year-old fossil may predate the beginning of live birth by 95 million years

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A microscopic growth line preserved in the bones of a caenodont from Argentina, along with an estimated unusually high birth weight, suggests that early relatives of mammals were already giving birth live births during the Triassic period. However, the conclusion rests
Handaxes from the Sakhnin Valley suggest that early humans also chose stones for their appearance

Handaxes from the Sakhnin Valley suggest that early humans also chose stones for their appearance

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Hundreds of illusory stone tools have been discovered on the surface in the Lower Galilee. At least ten of them were carved so that fossils, crystals, and natural cavities remained visible and prominent—a choice that researchers interpret as possible evidence of aesthetic sensitivity.
The evolution of human body size was not a straight path of growth.

The evolution of human body size was not a straight path of growth.

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An analysis of 386 fossils from 21 hominin species found a combination of a gradual increase in body weight and a significant jump that occurred within the genus Homo about two million to two and a half million years ago. At the same time,
The interior of a fossilized skull of Trawdenia planti, showing signs of nervous tissue.

Brain tissue more than 300 million years old preserved in a tiny fish fossil

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Advanced scans of the ancient fish Trawdenia planti have revealed neural tissue that filled almost the entire skull cavity. The finding provides clues to the early evolution of fin rays and allows fossil skulls to be used to reconstruct structure
Reconstructing the environment of northern Alaska in the Late Cretaceous: The Arctic was forested and inhabited by dinosaurs and small mammals, but the animals had to cope with months of winter darkness. Credit: James Havens.

Mammal fossils from Alaska reveal: The Arctic was an evolutionary crossroads during the age of dinosaurs

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Tiny fossilized teeth, some 73 million years old, have led to the identification of three previously unknown mammal species. The findings point to a diverse Arctic ecosystem and an ancient migratory route that connected Asia
“Imagination of the giant octopus Nanaimoteuthis haggarti, which lived in the oceans of the Late Cretaceous.” Credit: Yohei Utsuki, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Hokkaido University.

Were giant octopuses super predators in the oceans of the age of dinosaurs?

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Jaw fossils from Japan and Canada suggest that ancient giant octopuses of the genus Nanaimoteuthis may have reached lengths of 7–19 meters and hunted hard-shelled prey, and their diet also included marine reptiles.
Graptolites, creatures that lived after the Cambrian explosion. Are they descendants of connected cell colonies from the Ediacaran period? Illustration: depositphotos.com

Did reproduction slow down the evolution of the first animals?

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The "Peking Man" statue near the site where it was discovered in Beijing. Illustration: depositphotos.com

400-year-old dental proteins hint: Homo erectus left traces in modern humans

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Proteins preserved in Homo erectus teeth from China, approximately 400 years old, indicate a possible connection to Denisovans and molecular traces that indirectly reached modern humans.
Fossilized structures of bacteria or algae, found in an ancient seabed now exposed in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Credit: Bruno Becker-Kerber/Harvard University

540-million-year-old fossils from Brazil change understanding of the origins of animals

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Structures previously thought to be footprints of tiny marine animals have turned out to be fossilized communities of bacteria and algae. The finding suggests that some of the Ediacaran oceans did not yet support such animals.
Artistic illustration of Nagatitan. Credit: Patchanop Boonsai

The largest dinosaur in Southeast Asia was discovered in Thailand: a 27-meter-long titan

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Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis was a giant herbivorous sauropod that lived 100 to 120 million years ago. The discovery reinforces Thailand's position as one of the most important centers for dinosaur research in Asia.
The Cambrian Explosion was a period in which more diverse and complex animals appeared in the fossil record. New theoretical research suggests that the early development of complex brains contributed to animals' ability to process information, and later to the emergence of diverse body shapes. Trilobite fossils. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Did the brain drive the Cambrian explosion?

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Prof. Ariel Chipman of the Hebrew University suggests that a complex brain evolved early in response to crowded and competitive marine environments, helping pave the way for the great diversity of animals.
An egg photographed in the control room of the ESRF facility in France. Credit: Prof. Julien Benoit

A 250-million-year-old egg solved an evolutionary mystery: Mammal ancestors laid eggs

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A broken Tyrannosaurus tooth found embedded in the skull of an Edmontosaurus provides rare, direct evidence of a violent encounter between predator and prey at the end of the dinosaur age. Credit: Jenn Hall

Tyrannosaurus tooth found stuck in dinosaur skull reveals violent attack from the Cretaceous period

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A rare fossil preserved at the University of Montana's Museum of the Rocky Mountains provides an unusual glimpse into predator-prey relationships at the end of the dinosaur age. It is
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 exhibit a wide range of limb structures – from ‘prostrate’, where the limbs are held alongside the body, as in lizards, to ‘erect’, where the limbs are held under the body and close to the animal’s midline, as in dogs, cats and horses. An erect 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 impression of a group of G. blacki in a forest in southern China. Credit: Garcia/Juan-Boiu (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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Golugulat from Jebel Iyud. 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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A rendering of the feathered dinosaur Zhenyuanlong. Illustration: 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 inside a fossil that was dissected 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 herbivorous dinosaur - an artist's depiction of the discovery that a fossilized T. rex tooth was found in the body of a hadrosaur, evidence that the T. rex tried to kill its prey itself. Photo: University of Kansas and Palm Beach Museum of Natural History

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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