paleontology

A scene from about 66 million years ago, depicting the broad-beaked dinosaur Edmontosaurus annectens as it appeared in life, based on “mummies” discovered in east-central Wyoming—preserved scaly skin and hooves. The dinosaur had a fleshy ridge over its neck and torso, a row of fleshy spines over its pelvis and tail, and hooves covering the tips of its hind feet. Credit: Dani Navarro

The first hoofed reptile: Dinosaur "mummies" reveal surprising evolutionary turn

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Paleontologists from the University of Chicago have unearthed fossils of a "duckbill" dinosaur in Wyoming that have been meticulously reconstructed in the university's fossil lab. These fossils preserve soft tissues and external features at impressive resolution, allowing scientists to reconstruct what it looked like
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.
**Euparkeria capensis**, a small reptile measuring 60 cm in length from the Early Triassic period (about 245 to 237 million years ago). Credit: Taenadoman, 2011

Dinosaur ancestors walked 16,000 kilometers through Earth's "hell"

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New research reveals that prehistoric reptiles survived extreme climate conditions and migrated thousands of miles – and that may be why they became dinosaurs
Animals that have adapted to living in cold environments. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Research reveals critical evolutionary stages of animals during the Ice Age

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New research provides new insights into how animals like the woolly mammoth, musk ox and Arctic fox evolved to survive the cold during the Ice Age.
A new Archaeopteryx fossil has soft tissues and delicate skeletal structures not seen in previous Archaeopteryx fossils, revealing the evolutionary path from dinosaurs to birds. Photo: Prof. Yosef Khiat

Breakthrough in the study of the evolutionary transition between dinosaurs and modern birds

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Among the notable findings: unique feathers known as tertiary feathers, which help close the gap between the wing members and the bird's body, thus enabling flight support - until now, these feathers have not been documented in dinosaurs related to birds.
The body structure of Australopithecus afarensis significantly limits its running speed. Imaging of the Australopithecus skeleton, with and without muscles | From the article, Bates, KT. et al., Current Biology, 2024

Evolutionary race

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New study: An ancient species in the human lineage walked on two legs, but could not run as fast and efficiently as we do
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."
A herd of Triceratops horridus walks in a swamp during the Cretaceous period. Credit Bart Boss

Spielberg was right: triceratops lived together (video)

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A decade-long study shows that five three-horned dinosaurs lived - and died - together, similar to their depiction in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic World
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
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