Paleontology

Paleontology

Rodents tell a geologic tale

The sudden appearance of many new species of rodents in Chile about 18 million years ago may have marked the rise of the southern Andes.

Paleontology

Mastodons in Musth: Tusks may chronicle battles between males

Damage in the fossil tusks of male mastodons suggests that the creatures engaged in fierce combat with rival males at a certain time of year each year of their adult lives.

Paleontology

Flying with Their Legs: Hind feathers made primitive bird nimble

The earliest-known bird had feathers on its legs that may have provided lift for flight, improving its maneuverability.

Paleontology

Frozen rainforest

Fossils trapped in amber provide evidence that the Amazonian rainforest dates back 10 to 15 million years.

Paleontology

Bone Hunt

Science News reporter Sid Perkins recounts the trials and tribulations of digging for dinosaurs in central Montana.

Paleontology

New View: Method looks inside embryo fossils

Using an X-ray–scanning technique, scientists have taken a high-resolution peek inside fossilized embryos of some early multicellular organisms.

Paleontology

Rarity of fossils of young tyrannosaurs explained

Paleontologists have unearthed only a few juvenile tyrannosaurs, and a new study suggests why: A large percentage of these meat-eating dinosaurs, unlike many other creatures, survived into adulthood.

Paleontology

Sight for ‘Saur Eyes: T. rex vision was among nature’s best

A study of dinosaur eyes finds that Tyrannosaurus rex had very sophisticated vision that may have helped its predatory abilities.

Paleontology

Sticky Subjects: Insights into ancient spider diet, kinship

Remnants of a spider web embedded in ancient amber suggest that some spiders' diets haven't changed much in millions of years.

Paleontology

Ancient webbed masters

Newly unearthed fossils of a 110-million-year-old bolster the notion that all modern birds evolved from aquatic ancestors.

Paleontology

Amphibious Ancestors

Newly discovered fossils from Greenland, as well as a reexamination of those of previously known creatures, are providing researchers with additional insights into ancient vertebrates' move from water to land.

Paleontology

Remains may be an evolutionary relic

Fossils recently found in southwestern China may be of a lineage that originated long before the Cambrian explosion of biodiversity, when most major groups of animals first appeared in the fossil record.