Paleontology
- Paleontology
Pinhead-sized sea creature was a bag with a mouth
Dozens of tiny fossils discovered in 540-million-year-old limestone represent the earliest known deuterostomes, a diverse group of animals that includes humans and sea cucumbers.
- Animals
Endings make way for new beginnings for Earth and SN
Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses major changes for life on Earth and at Science News.
- Paleontology
With dinosaurs out of the way, mammals had a chance to thrive
The animals that lived through the great extinction event had a range of survival strategies to get them through.
- Earth
Devastation detectives try to solve dinosaur disappearance
Dinosaurs and others faced massive losses 66 million years ago from an asteroid impact, volcanic eruptions or maybe a mix of the two.
- Paleontology
Bony head ornaments signal some supersized dinosaurs
Bony headwear, like bumps and horns, is tied to bigger bodies in the theropod dinosaur family tree.
- Paleontology
Ancient otter of unusual size unearthed in China
Fossils unearthed in China reveal a newly discovered, now-extinct species of otter that lived some 6.2 million years ago.
- Paleontology
Ancient giant otter unearthed in China
Fossils unearthed in China reveal a newly discovered, now-extinct species of otter that lived some 6.2 million years ago.
- Paleontology
Baby dinosaurs took three to six months to hatch
Growth lines on teeth indicate a surprisingly long incubation period.
- Earth
Coastal waters were an oxygen oasis 2.3 billion years ago
Coastal waters contained enough oxygen to support complex life-forms including some animals hundreds of millions of years before fossils of such life first appear.
- Paleontology
Ancient oddball invertebrate finds its place on the tree of life
Ancient marine invertebrates called hyoliths may be more closely related to modern horseshoe worms than mollusks, a fossil analysis finds.
- Paleontology
Readers weigh in on dinos, dark matter and more
Ancient bird calls, the search for dark matter and more in reader feedback.
- Paleontology
Tomatillo fossil is oldest nightshade plant
Two 52-million-year-old tomatillo fossils in Patagonia push the origin of nightshade plants back millions of years, to the time when dinosaurs roamed.
