Paleontology
- Paleontology
Ancient DNA suggests polar bears evolved recently
A study of a rare Norwegian fossil narrows down when polar bears evolved and finds they are closely related to modern-day brown bears in Alaska.
- Paleontology
Sail-backed dinos had semiaquatic lifestyle
Isotopic analyses of fossils suggest the carnivores had crocodile-like habits.
- Earth
Oldest feathered dino shows its colors
Analysis of a fossil suggests plumage first evolved for display, not flight.
- Paleontology
Reverbs of bat echolocation studies
Ancient bat may well have used sound waves to sense the world, Sid Perkins reports in the latest Deleted Scenes blog.
- Earth
Dinosaurs, in living color
Researchers find microscopic structures in some fossils that may have held pigments.
- Earth
Footprints could push back tetrapod origins
Newly discovered trackways much older than previous evidence for sea-to-land transition.
- Life
Groovy teeth suggest dinosaur was venomous
Fossils show depression in upper jaw that held venom-producing glands.
- Paleontology
New fossil helps solidify dino origins
The dog-sized creature bolsters the notion that early dinosaurs first appeared in what is now South America.
- Paleontology
Major eruption cooled the climate but went unnoticed
Ice-core records suggest that a major 1809 eruption cooled Earth even before the Tambora eruption and ‘the year without a summer’.
- Paleontology
Small ancestor of giant sauropods unearthed
Fossils suggest that the bipedal dinosaur occasionally walked on all fours and could open its mouth wide to gather foliage.
- Paleontology
Pollination in the pre-flower-power era
Scorpionflies with long-reaching mouthparts may have helped plants procreate long before blossoms evolved.
- Paleontology
Fungi thrived during mass extinction
Fossil analyses hint that several species thrived during the world’s largest mass extinction.
