Paleontology

Paleontology

Early mammal had newfangled fangs

A tiny mammal that lived in Colorado about 150 million years ago had hollow teeth that lacked enamel, a characteristic that didn't reappear in mammals for another 100 million years.

Paleontology

Egg-Citing Discovery: Dinosaur fossil includes eggshells

The first-ever find of shelled eggs inside a dinosaur fossil bolsters ideas about the reptiles' reproductive physiology.

Paleontology

Old Softy: Tyrannosaurus fossil yields flexible tissue

Scientists analyzing fragments of a Tyrannosaurus rex's leg bone have recovered soft, pliable material, including structures that apparently are cells and blood vessels.

Paleontology

Groovy Bones: Mammalian ear structure evolved more than once

Fossils of an ancient egg-laying mammal indicate that the characteristic configuration of the bones in all living mammals' ears arose independently at least twice during the group's evolution.

Paleontology

Pieces of an Ancestor: African site yields new look at ancient species

Fossils unearthed at sites in eastern Africa provide a rare look at Ardipithecus ramidus, a member of the human evolutionary family that lived more than 4 million years ago.

Paleontology

Reptilian Repast: Ancient mammals preyed on young dinosaurs

Two nearly complete sets of fossilized remains from 130-million-year-old rocks are revealing fresh details about the size and dietary habits of ancient mammals, hinting that some of these creatures were large enough to feast on small dinosaurs.

Paleontology

Subway dig in L.A. yields fossil trove

Fossil finds made when a subway line was extended from Los Angeles into the San Fernando Valley include bones of mastodons, ground sloths, extinct bison and camels, and 39 new species of fish.

Paleontology

Flightless Feathered Friends

New finds of fossil penguins, as well as analyses of the characteristics and DNA of living penguins, are shedding light on the evolution of these flightless birds.

Paleontology

Plenty of dinosaurs yet to be found

Despite a dramatic surge in dinosaur discoveries in recent years, paleontologists won't soon run out of interesting new fossils to unearth, a new analysis suggests.

Paleontology

. . . and the big bird that didn’t

The California condor, one of today's largest and rarest birds, may have survived the last ice age because of its varied diet.

Paleontology

The big fish that went away . . .

Fossils found near Charleston, S.C., suggest that an extinct species of billfish related to today's swordfish and marlin would easily exceed the lengths documented for world-record specimens of those oft-sought sports fish.

Paleontology

Dino Dwarf: Island living may have led to ancient downsizing

Fossils unearthed at a German quarry hint that members of one species of dinosaur that lived in the region about 152 million years ago evolved to be abnormally small because of the constraints of its island ecosystem.