Paleontology

Paleontology

‘Penis worms’ may have been the original hermits

Soft-bodied critters called penis worms inhabited abandoned shells — a la modern-day hermit crabs — by about 500 million years ago, a study suggests.

Paleontology

Some dinosaurs may have lived in herds as early as 193 million years ago

A fossilized family gathering of long-necked Mussaurus may be the earliest evidence yet of herd behavior in dinosaurs.

Animals

Giant ground sloths may have been meat-eating scavengers

Contrary to previous assumptions, at least one ancient giant ground sloth was a meat eater.

Earth

A volcano-induced rainy period made Earth’s climate dinosaur-friendly

New physical evidence links eruptions 234 million to 232 million years ago to climate changes that let dinosaurs start their climb to dominance.

Paleontology

This is the oldest fossil evidence of spider moms taking care of their young

A spider trapped in amber 99 million years ago guarded her eggs and may have helped raise her young.

Paleontology

Fossil tracks may reveal an ancient elephant nursery

Fossilized footprints at a site in Spain include those of an extinct elephant’s newborns, suggesting the animals may have used the area as a nursery.

Humans

Fossils and ancient DNA paint a vibrant picture of human origins

Paleoanthropologists have sketched a rough timeline of how human evolution played out, centering the early action in Africa.

Paleontology

This big-headed pterosaur may have preferred walking over flying

The most intact fossil of a tapejarid pterosaur ever found yields new insight into how the ancient reptile lived.

Paleontology

How fossilization preserved a 310-million-year-old horseshoe crab’s brain

A 310-million-year-old horseshoe crab’s brain was preserved in clay, thanks to an uncommon fossilization process that protected the fragile neural tissues.

Earth

A new book reveals stories of ancient life written in North America’s rocks

In ‘How the Mountains Grew,’ John Dvorak probes the interlinked geology and biology buried within the rocks of North America.

Life

If confirmed, tubes in 890-million-year-old rock may be the oldest animal fossils

Newly described wormlike fossils may be ancient sea sponges. If confirmed, the fossils would reveal a remarkably early start to animal life.

Paleontology

3.42-billion-year-old fossil threads may be the oldest known archaea microbes

The structure and chemistry of these ancient cell-like fossils may hint where Earth’s early inhabitants evolved and how they got their energy.