Paleontology
-
PaleontologyHow 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 -
LifeFossil 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 -
LifeHow 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 -
PaleontologyNew arthropod species really stuck together
Recent fossil discovery shows that new species of arthropod formed chains, raising the possibility of communal behavior.
-
EarthPterodactyls may soar once more
Paleontologists and aeronautical engineers are designing a reconnaissance drone that will mimic the flight of an ancient flying reptile.
By Sid Perkins -
EarthWhen trees grew in Antarctica
Fossils of trees that grew in Antarctica millions of years ago suggest a growth pattern much different than modern trees.
By Sid Perkins -
PaleontologyForget bird-brained
Scientists have uncovered a new dinosaur that breathed like a bird.
-
PaleontologyDino domination was in the cards, maybe
A new study finds that early dinosaurs coexisted with and were outnumbered by a competing species. Dinosaurs eventually reigned supreme anyway, but perhaps not because they were better.
-
EarthMammoth migrations
Ancient DNA shows North American woolly mammoths migrated back to Asia and displaced Siberian mammoths.
-
PaleontologySoft tissue in fossils still mysterious
New research suggests modern biofilms could contaminate ancient fossils.
By Sid Perkins -
PaleontologyA wandering eye
New look at fossils of primitive flatfish reveals how these fish evolved eyes on one side of their head
-
PaleontologyFossils, now available in color
Fossilized feathers of an early bird or dinosaur may retain evidence of pigment, offering a chance to animal colors of the Cretaceous.