Paleontology

Life

Dinos straddled line between cold- and warm-blooded

Tyrannosaurus rex and other dinosaurs straddled line between cold- and warm-blood, a new analysis finds.

Paleontology

Ancient fish may have set stage for jaws

A fish called Metaspriggina walcotti, which lived roughly 500 million years ago, had body parts that may have later evolved into jaws.

Paleontology

Preserved pterosaur eggs hint at reptile’s social life

The first 3-D pterosaur eggs, which were found in China, suggest that the flying reptiles laid eggs together.

Paleontology

Age and origin of Earth’s early fossils questioned

Some of Earth's earliest trace fossils may not be fossils at all, a new study argues.

Paleontology

Fragments of long-bodied dino found in Argentina

Named Leinkupal laticauda, the new species dino probably lived into the early Cretaceous period, which began roughly 145 million years ago.

Paleontology

Giant 17-million-year-old fossil sperm found

Giant sperm have been found in 17-million-year-old fossilized mussel shrimp. The specimens, collected in Queensland, Australia, sport the oldest petrified sex cells on record.

Paleontology

Asteroid strike spurred quick chill that led to dinosaurs’ demise

After an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago, ocean temperatures fell 2 degrees Celsius, leading to mass extinction of dinosaurs and other life.

Paleontology

Oldest true dolphin species gets a new name

A dolphin species first described in the 1970s has gotten a new name but still retains the title of oldest true dolphin species identified to date.

Paleontology

Dinosaurs could take tough breaks

Meat-eating dinosaurs may have survived some extremely bad bone breaks, according to detailed chemical maps of the fossils.

Paleontology

Loblolly sets record for biggest genome

At 20 billion base pairs, the loblolly pine is the largest genome sequenced to date.

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.