Search Results for: Vertebrate
- 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
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.
By Nikk Ogasa - Life
Fossils suggest early primates lived in a once-swampy Arctic
Teeth and jawbones found on Ellesmere Island, Canada, suggest that two early primate species migrated there 52 million years ago.
By Freda Kreier - Paleontology
Mammal ancestors’ shrinking inner ears may reveal when warm-bloodedness arose
An abrupt shift in inner ear shape of mammal ancestors 233 million years ago, during a time of climate swings, points to evolution of warm-bloodedness.
- Life
Sleeping glass frogs hide by storing most of their blood in their liver
Glass frogs snoozing among leaves blend in by hiding almost all their red blood cells in their liver until the tiny animals wake up.
By Susan Milius - Animals
Here’s why pumpkin toadlets are such clumsy jumpers
Tiny Brachycephalus frogs from southern Brazil can leap into the air but have trouble landing.
By Meghan Rosen -
- Animals
Fish can recognize themselves in photos, further evidence they may be self-aware
Cleaner fish recognize themselves in mirrors and photos, suggesting that far more animals may be self-aware than previously thought.
By Betsy Mason - Paleontology
The Age of Dinosaurs may have ended in springtime
Fossilized fish bones suggest that the massive asteroid strike at the end of the Cretaceous Period occurred during the Northern Hemisphere’s spring.
By Sid Perkins - Animals
Scientists thought snakes didn’t have clitorises. They were wrong
Snakes were long thought to be the only reptile group to lack clitorises. But new findings suggest the sex organs are present after all.
By Jake Buehler - 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.
- Animals
‘Wonderful nets’ of blood vessels protect dolphin and whale brains during dives
Complex networks of blood vessels called retia mirabilia that are associated with cetaceans’ brains and spines have long been a mystery.