Paleontology
- Paleontology
Pterosaurs may have been covered in fur and primitive feathers
A new study provides evidence of plumelike structures in ancient flying reptiles.
- Paleontology
More plants survived the world’s greatest mass extinction than thought
Fossil plants from Jordan reveal more plant lineages that made it through the Great Dying roughly 252 million years ago.
- Earth
Greenland crater renewed the debate over an ancient climate mystery
Scientists disagree on what a possible crater found under Greenland’s ice means for the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis.
- Oceans
Volcanic eruptions that depleted ocean oxygen may have set off the Great Dying
Massive eruptions from volcanoes spewing greenhouse gases 252 million years ago may have triggered Earth’s biggest mass extinction.
- Paleontology
This huge plant eater thrived in the age of dinosaurs — but wasn’t one of them
A newly named plant-eater from the Late Triassic was surprisingly hefty.
- Ecosystems
How mammoths competed with other animals and lost
Mammoths, mastodons and other ancient elephants were wiped out at the end of the last ice age by climate change and spear-wielding humans.
- Paleontology
‘End of the Megafauna’ examines why so many giant Ice Age animals went extinct
‘End of the Megafauna’ ponders the mystery of what killed off so many of Earth’s big animals over the last 50,000 years.
- Paleontology
Eggs evolved color and speckles only once — during the age of dinosaurs
Birds’ colorful eggs were inherited from their nonavian dinosaur ancestors.
- Paleontology
The first vertebrates on Earth arose in shallow coastal waters
After appearing about 480 million years ago in coastal waters, the earliest vertebrates stayed in the shallows for another 100 million years.
- Paleontology
T. rex pulverized bones with an incredible amount of force
Tyrannosaurus rex’s powerful bite and remarkably strong teeth helped the dinosaur crush bones.
- Paleontology
In a first, scientists spot what may be lungs in an ancient bird fossil
Possible traces of lungs preserved with a 120-million-year-old bird fossil could represent a respiratory system similar to that of modern birds.
- Earth
These ancient mounds may not be the earliest fossils on Earth after all
A new analysis suggests that tectonics, not microbes, formed cone-shaped structures in 3.7-billion-year-old rock.
