Paleontology

Paleontology

Deinonychus’ claws were hookers, not rippers

The meat-eating dinosaur Deinonychus probably used the large, sicklelike claw on its foot to grip and climb large prey, not disembowel it.

Paleontology

The first matrushka

A newly found fossil preserves one creature inside another that lies nestled inside yet another, a Paleozoic version of the Russian nesting dolls known as matrushkas.

Paleontology

Digging the Scene: Dinos burrowed, built dens

Dinosaurs remains fossilized within an ancient burrow are the first indisputable evidence that some dinosaurs maintained an underground lifestyle.

Paleontology

Fossil mystery solved?

Experiments in a Florida swamp show how aquatic creatures can get trapped and preserved in amber, a form of hardened tree sap.

Paleontology

Just a quick bite

Saber-toothed cats living in North America around 10,000 years ago had a much weaker bite than modern big cats.

Paleontology

Unexpected Archive: Mammoth hair yields ancient DNA

Hair from ancient mammoths contains enough genetic material to permit reconstruction of parts of the animal's genome.

Paleontology

Bumpy Bones: Fossil hints that dinosaur had feathery forearms

A series of knobs on the forearm bone of a 1.5-meter-long velociraptor provides the first direct evidence of substantial feathers on a dinosaur of that size.

Paleontology

Dinosaurs’ gradual rise to dominance

Early dinosaurs didn't quickly eclipse the creatures they evolved from, but lived alongside them for perhaps 20 million years.

Paleontology

Jurassic CSI: Fossils indicate central nervous system damage

Fossils found in the head-thrown-back position, the so-called "dead bird" pose, probably died from central nervous system damage.

Paleontology

Winged dragon

A quarry on the Virginia–North Carolina border has yielded fossils of an unusual gliding reptile that lived in the region about 220 million years ago.

Paleontology

Big and Birdlike: Chinese dinosaur was 3.5 meters tall

Paleontologists have unearthed the remains of a gigantic birdlike dinosaur, 3.5 meters tall, that lived 70 million years ago in what is now China.

Paleontology

Forest Primeval: The oldest known trees finally gain a crown

Recently unearthed fossils provide new insights about the appearance of the world's oldest known trees, plants that previously were known only from preserved stumps.