Paleontology
- Paleontology
Dimetrodon’s diet redetermined
The reptilelike Dimetrodon dined mainly on amphibians and sharks, not big herbivores as scientists once believed.
- Plants
Early cyanobacteria fossils dug up in 1965
In 1965, early photosynthetic plant fossils were discovered. The date of earliest oxygen-producing life forms has since been pushed much earlier.
- Earth
Giant asteroid may have triggered deadly volcano eruptions
Increased volcanic eruptions coincided much more closely with an asteroid impact and the extinction of the dinosaurs than previously believed, a new study suggests.
- Paleontology
New dinosaur identified in Alaska
New species of duck-billed dinosaur discovered in the Alaskan permafrost.
- Oceans
Earth got first whiff of oxygen 3.2 billion years ago
Photosynthesis by early cyanobacteria pumped oxygen into Earth’s oceans 200 million years earlier than once thought, new geochemical analyses show.
- Paleontology
Earliest sea scorpion discovered in Iowa
Earliest sea scorpion discovered in impact crater in Iowa.
- Paleontology
New dolphin fossil makes a splash
A newly discovered dolphin fossil provides clues to the evolution of river dolphins in the Americas.
- Paleontology
New dolphin fossil makes a splash
A newly discovered dolphin fossil provides clues to the evolution of river dolphins in the Americas.
- Earth
Volcanic activity convicted in Permian extinction
Precision dating confirms that Siberian volcanic eruptions could have triggered the Permian extinction.
- Animals
‘Prehistoric Predators’ is a carnival of ancient dinosaurs, mammals and more
A new children’s book offers gorgeous illustrations and information for everyone about ancient carnivores.
- Paleontology
Fossils illustrate evolution of life
Paleontologist Donald Prothero takes readers through the evolution of life on Earth from the earliest oozes of goo to our recent relative Lucy.
- Paleontology
Sudden heat spikes did in Ice Age’s mammoth mammals
Abrupt warming and excessive hunting by ancient humans were responsible for the disappearance of many large mammals, including woolly mammoths, during Earth’s last glacial period.
