Paleontology
- 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.
By Sid Perkins - 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.
By Eric Jaffe - 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.
By Sid Perkins - Paleontology
Ancient webbed masters
Newly unearthed fossils of a 110-million-year-old bolster the notion that all modern birds evolved from aquatic ancestors.
By Sid Perkins - 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.
By Sid Perkins - 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.
By Sid Perkins - Paleontology
Dinosaur neck size reaches new extreme
Scientists have unearthed remains of a massive, plant-eating dinosaur whose neck may have been twice as long as its body.
By Sid Perkins - Paleontology
Out of the Shadows
An ongoing flurry of fossil finds is triggering a reevaluation of how early mammals and their close kin eked out an existence during the Age of Dinosaurs.
By Sid Perkins - Paleontology
Ancestor of Kings: Early progenitor of T. rex had a crest
Paleontologists have unearthed remains of the oldest known dinosaur of the tyrannosaur clan.
By Sid Perkins - Paleontology
First Steps
Using materials as diverse as lobster eggs, dead birds, and the headless carcass of a rhinoceros, scientists are conducting experiments that scrutinize the first steps of the fossilization process.
By Sid Perkins - Paleontology
Mammoth Findings: Asian elephant is closest living kin
DNA studies suggest that the woolly mammoth is more closely related to the Asian elephant than to the African elephant.
By Sid Perkins - Paleontology
New View: Fossil offers novel look at an ancient bird
A newly described specimen of an ancient creature that most scientists consider the oldest known bird is posed in a way that provides new viewing angles for several body features.
By Sid Perkins