Paleontology

Paleontology

A bird with a T. rex head may help reveal how dinosaurs became birds

The 120-million-year-old Cratonavis zhui, newly discovered in China, had a head like a theropod and body like a modern bird.

Paleontology

Mysterious ichthyosaur graveyard may have been a breeding ground

Some 230 million years ago, massive dolphinlike reptiles gathered to breed in safe waters — just like many modern whales do, a study finds.

Paleontology

Katydids had the earliest known insect ears 160 million years ago

Fossils from the Jurassic Period show katydid ears looked identical to those of modern katydids and could pick up short-range calls.

Paleontology

Armored dinos may have used their tail clubs to bludgeon each other

Broken and healed spikes on Zuul's flanks are consistent with the armored beast receiving a mighty blow from the tail club of another ankylosaur.

Paleontology

Why the sale of a T. rex fossil could be a big loss for science

At least half of the roughly 120 known T. rex fossils are owned privately and not available to the public. “Maximus” may join them.

Paleontology

This dinosaur may have had a body like a duck’s

Natovenator polydontus may have been adapted for life in the water, challenging the popular idea that all dinos were landlubbers.

Paleontology

Mammoths may have gone extinct much earlier than DNA suggests

Ancient DNA in sediments may be leading paleontologists astray in attempts to figure out when woolly mammoths and woolly rhinos died out, a new study argues.

Life

This ancient worm might be an important evolutionary missing link

A roughly 520-million-year-old fossil may be the common ancestor of a diverse collection of marine invertebrates.

Paleontology

Dinosaur ‘mummies’ may not be rare flukes after all

Bite marks on a fossilized dinosaur upend the idea that exquisite skin preservation must result from a carcass's immediate smothering under sediment.

Paleontology

Pterosaurs may have evolved from tiny, fast-running reptiles

A mysterious little ground-dwelling reptile unearthed in a Scottish sandstone over 100 years ago turns out to be part of a famous flying family.

Paleontology

Ancient fish fossils highlight the strangeness of our vertebrate ancestors

New fossils are revealing the earliest jawed vertebrates — a group that encompasses 99 percent of all living vertebrates on Earth, including humans.

Paleontology

Living fast may have helped mammals like ‘ManBearPig’ dominate

Staying in the womb for a while but being born ready to rock may have helped post-dinosaur mammals take over the planet.