Paleontology

  1. Paleontology

    Reptilian Repast: Ancient mammals preyed on young dinosaurs

    Two nearly complete sets of fossilized remains from 130-million-year-old rocks are revealing fresh details about the size and dietary habits of ancient mammals, hinting that some of these creatures were large enough to feast on small dinosaurs.

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  2. Paleontology

    Subway dig in L.A. yields fossil trove

    Fossil finds made when a subway line was extended from Los Angeles into the San Fernando Valley include bones of mastodons, ground sloths, extinct bison and camels, and 39 new species of fish.

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  3. Paleontology

    Flightless Feathered Friends

    New finds of fossil penguins, as well as analyses of the characteristics and DNA of living penguins, are shedding light on the evolution of these flightless birds.

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  4. Paleontology

    Plenty of dinosaurs yet to be found

    Despite a dramatic surge in dinosaur discoveries in recent years, paleontologists won't soon run out of interesting new fossils to unearth, a new analysis suggests.

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  5. Paleontology

    . . . and the big bird that didn’t

    The California condor, one of today's largest and rarest birds, may have survived the last ice age because of its varied diet.

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  6. Paleontology

    The big fish that went away . . .

    Fossils found near Charleston, S.C., suggest that an extinct species of billfish related to today's swordfish and marlin would easily exceed the lengths documented for world-record specimens of those oft-sought sports fish.

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  7. Paleontology

    Dino Dwarf: Island living may have led to ancient downsizing

    Fossils unearthed at a German quarry hint that members of one species of dinosaur that lived in the region about 152 million years ago evolved to be abnormally small because of the constraints of its island ecosystem.

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  8. Paleontology

    Irish elk survived after ice age ended

    New fossil finds indicate that the so-called Irish elk, previously thought to have died out at the end of the last ice age, survived in some spots for several millennia more.

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  9. Paleontology

    Fossil birds sport a new kind of feather

    Two fossil specimens of a primitive, starling-size bird that lived about 125 million years ago have tail feathers that may hold the clues to how feathers originated.

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  10. Paleontology

    Early Bird: Fossil features hint at go-get-’em hatchlings

    A well-preserved, 121-million-year-old fossilized bird embryo has several features that suggest that the species' young could move about and feed themselves very soon after they hatched.

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  11. Paleontology

    Big Gulp? Neck ribs may have given aquatic beast unique feeding style

    The fossilized neck bones of a 230-million-year-old sea creature have features suggesting that the animal's snakelike throat could flare open and create suction to pull in prey.

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  12. Paleontology

    Growth Spurt: Teenage tyrannosaurs packed on the pounds

    Detailed analyses of tyrannosaur fossils suggest that the creatures experienced an extended growth spurt during adolescence.

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