Paleontology

  1. Paleontology

    A baby ichthyosaur’s last meal revealed

    A new look at an old fossil shows that some species of baby ichthyosaurs may have dined on squid.

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  2. Paleontology

    A baby ichthyosaur’s last meal revealed

    A new look at an old fossil shows that some species of baby ichthyosaurs may have dined on squid.

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  3. Paleontology

    Saber-toothed kittens were born armed to pounce

    Even as babies, saber-toothed cats had not only oversized canine teeth but also unusually powerful forelimbs.

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  4. Paleontology

    This giant marsupial was a seasonal migrant

    A new analysis suggests that Diprotodon optatum, a giant plant-eating marsupial that went extinct about 40,000 years ago, migrated long distances, much like today’s zebras and wildebeests.

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  5. Paleontology

    This giant marsupial was a seasonal migrant

    The giant, extinct marsupial Diprotodon optatum migrated seasonally, the first marsupial shown to do so.

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  6. Paleontology

    Shhhh! Some plant-eating dinos snacked on crunchy critters

    Scientists studying dinosaur poop found that some duck-billed dinos cheated on their vegetarian diets by snacking on crustaceans.

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  7. Animals

    3-D scans of fossils suggest new fish family tree

    Analysis of specimens from China implies ray-finned fishes evolved later than previously thought.

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  8. Paleontology

    Like sea stars, ancient echinoderms nibbled with tiny tube feet

    An ancient echinoderm fossil preserves evidence of tube feet like those found on today’s sea stars.

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  9. Paleontology

    Woolly rhinos may have grown strange extra ribs before going extinct

    Ribs attached to neck bones could have signaled trouble for woolly rhinos, a new study suggests.

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  10. Paleontology

    This ancient sea worm sported a crowd of ‘claws’ around its mouth

    A newly discovered species of arrow worm that lived over half a billion years ago had about twice as many head spines as its modern kin.

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  11. Anthropology

    Infant ape’s tiny skull could have a big impact on ape evolution

    Fossil comes from a lineage that had ties to the ancestor of modern apes and humans, researchers argue.

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  12. Animals

    Fossil find suggests this ancient reptile lurked on land, not in the water

    An exquisitely preserved fossil shows that an ancient armored reptile called Eusaurosphargis dalsassoi wasn’t aquatic, as scientists had suspected.

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