Paleontology

  1. Paleontology

    Dinosaur tail preserved in amber, with feathers

    The tail of a dinosaur trapped in amber includes both feathers and identifiable bits of bone.

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  2. Paleontology

    Cretaceous bird find holds new color clue

    New molecular clues in 130-million-year-old bird fossil could help paleontologists firm up case for ancient color in dinosaurs.

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  3. Paleontology

    Dinosaurs may have used color as camouflage

    Fossilized pigments could paint a vivid picture of a dinosaur’s life.

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  4. Paleontology

    Dragon dinosaur met a muddy end

    ‘Mud dragon’ fossil discovered in China suggests that dinosaurs’ last days were an active time of evolution.

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  5. Paleontology

    First known fossilized dinosaur brain unearthed, scientists claim

    A dinosaur fossil that preserves brain tissue has been discovered for the first time, researchers announce.

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  6. Paleontology

    Picture of primate common ancestor coming into focus

    A new family tree analysis predicts behavior of primate common ancestor.

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  7. Paleontology

    Early birds could achieve liftoff

    Early birds and other flying dinosaurs had the strong legs and wing speed needed to launch into the air directly from the ground, researchers argue.

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  8. Paleontology

    Ancient armored fish revises early history of jaws

    The fossil of a 423-million-year-old armored fish from China suggests that the jaws of all modern land vertebrates and bony fish originated in a bizarre group of animals called placoderms.

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  9. Paleontology

    Birds’ honks filled Late Cretaceous air

    Oldest avian voice box fossil yet discovered belonged to a ducklike bird that lived during the age of the dinosaurs.

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  10. Paleontology

    Ancient microbe fossils show earliest evidence of shell making

    Armor-plated, 809-million-year-old fossilized microbes discovered in Canada are the oldest known evidence of shell making.

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  11. Animals

    Barnacles track whale migration

    The mix of oxygen isotopes in the shells of barnacles that latch on to baleen whales may divulge how whale migration routes have changed over millions of years.

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  12. Paleontology

    Pterosaurs weren’t all super-sized in the Late Cretaceous

    A 77-million-year-old flying reptile may be the smallest pterosaur of the Late Cretaceous.

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