Paleontology
- Paleontology
‘Hidden dragon’ fossil is oldest flying reptile
Researchers have unearthed the oldest pterodactyl ever discovered: Kptodrakon progenitor soared over the Earth 163 million years ago.
- Animals
Little thylacine had a big bite
A reconstruction of the skull of a thylacine, an extinct, fox-sized Australian marsupial, reveals that the animal could have eaten prey much larger than itself.
- Paleontology
Early meat-eater may have led to larger plant-eaters
The newly identified Eocasea martini may have set the stage for later, much larger animals to become plant-eaters.
-
- Paleontology
La Brea Tar Pits yield exquisite Ice Age bees
Ancient bee pupae snug in leafy nest give clues to Pleistocene climate.
- Paleontology
Ancient crustacean had elaborate heart
The now-extinct Fuxianhuia protensa had a fancy cardiovascular system that sent blood to its limbs and organs, including its brain.
- Paleontology
Footprints of dino chase digitally reconstructed
Footprints of a T. rex-type dinosaur chasing an Apatosaurus-like animal have been turned into a 3-D fly-through, giving researchers a way to verify maps of the tracks drawn 70 years ago. (includes video)
- Paleontology
Sea stars sighted predators 79 million years ago
Sea stars may have evolved complex lenselike structures to detect and evade predators at least 79 million years ago.
- Paleontology
Microbes indicted in ancient mass extinction
About 252 million years ago an estimated 96 percent of all species were wiped from Earth, and now scientists have a new suspect in the killing — methane-belching microbes.
- Paleontology
Ancient oceans’ top predator was gentle filter feeder
New fossils suggest that a distant relative of lobsters used bristled limbs to net its prey, not spike it.
- Plants
Fossil fern showcases ancient chromosomes
Fossil nuclei and chromosomes seen in a 180-million-year-old fern reveals that the plants have stayed mostly the same.
- Paleontology
The dinosaur ‘chicken from hell’
Fossils suggest that a supersized chickenlike reptile called Anzu wyliei roamed what are now the Dakotas roughly 67 million years ago.
