Paleontology
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Earth
North America’s smallest dino predator
A new fossil analysis uncovers what may have been North America’s tiniest dino predator.
By Sid Perkins -
Paleontology
Dinosaur handprints reveal birdlike arm anatomy
Inward-facing palms evolved much earlier than previously recognized, a new study finds.
By Sid Perkins -
Life
New stegosaur is quite a stretch
A newly discovered stegosaur has neck proportions like those of sauropods.
By Sid Perkins -
Life
Step-by-step Evolution
Hard to find, but very fruitful when found, transitional fossils fill in the gaps in the paleontological record.
By Sid Perkins -
Life
Dinosaur day care dads
A new study shows some male dinosaurs may have been the primary caretakers of their young.
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Life
Extreme preservation gives fly’s eye view
The cell-by-cell detail of a 45 million-year–old retina is preserved in amber
By Susan Milius -
Paleontology
Bacteria may play big role in forming fossils
Bacteria can build a biofilm that preserves a tissue's structure.
By Sid Perkins -
Life
Mammoth genome approaching completion
Genetic material extracted from the hair of woolly mammoths has revealed new information about the extinct creatures, including how closely related they are to modern elephants.
By Sid Perkins -
Chemistry
Oldest evidence for complex life in doubt
Chemical biomarkers in ancient Australian rocks, once thought to be the oldest known evidence of complex life on Earth, may have infiltrated long after the sediments were laid down, new analyses suggest.
By Sid Perkins -
Paleontology
How pterosaurs took flight
Extinct flying reptiles known as pterosaurs may have taken to the air with a technique akin to leapfrogging, new research suggests.
By Sid Perkins -
Life
Fossil find may document largest snake
Rocks beneath a coal mine in Colombia have yielded fossils of what could be the world's largest snake, a 12.8-meter–long behemoth that's a relative of today's boa constrictors.
By Sid Perkins -
Life
How Tiktaalik got its neck
The oldest fossil with a neck, Tiktaalik roseae, shows how animals developed a head for living on land.
By Susan Milius