Paleontology

A new evolutionary perspectiveCredit: Paula Esteller (CNAG-CRG / IBE, CSIC-UPF) The frequency of genetic variants associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has decreased progressively in the evolutionary…

Credit: Katsunori Kimoto How can patterns in the marine biodiversity of the past help us to understand how it may change in the future? A recent research by Drs Moriaki Yasuhara and Timothy C Bonebrake (School of Biological Sciences…

Credit: N/A Pinnacle Point, a series of archaeological sites that overlook a now submerged section of South Africa's coastline and one of the world's most important localities for the study of modern human origins, was as much of…

Paleo-kindergarten ensured evolutionary success millions of years agoCredit: ©Jaime Villafaña/Juergen Kriwet The great white shark is one of the most charismatic, but also one of the most infamous sharks. Despite its importance as…

Credit: Nikolay Zverkov The skeleton of an extinct 'fish lizard' locked in a glass case over 16ft from the ground for the last 100 years has finally been studied, thanks to a selfie stick on a fishing rod. The 145 million…

Skeleton high on a London museum wall -- mostly ignored for a century -- spurs a study finding that the creatures swam in seas from England to Russia to the Arctic, Baylor University researcher saysCredit: Andrey Atuchin A Russian…

This material is not a semi-fossilized resinCredit: Xavier Delclòs (UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA-IRBio) The known Madagascar copal is a more recent resin from what was thought -it has about a few hundred years- and trapped pieces in…

The Paleo-Agulhas Plain had diverse, verdant ecosystems and abundant game Early humans lived in South African river valleys with deep, fertile soils filled with grasslands, floodplains, woodlands, and wetlands that abounded with hippos,…

New ancient genomic research reveals information about human history in ChinaCredit: IVPP Newly released genomes from Neolithic East Asia have unveiled a missing piece of human prehistory, according to a study conducted by Prof. FU…

Credit: Erich Fisher Archaeological sites on the far southern shores of South Africa hold the world's richest records for the behavioral and cultural origins of our species. At this location, scientists have discovered the earliest…

Credit: Graphic by Diana Yates CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Corn cultivation spread from Mesoamerica to what is now the American Southwest by about 4000 B.C., but how and when the crop made it to other parts of North America is still a…

Research finds leg length gave giant predatory dinosaurs the advantage of efficiency, not speed as previously thought.Credit: Illustration by Julius Csotonyi. Long legs may make good runners, but they're great for walking,…

Priosphenodon specimens found in Argentina show the Late Cretaceous reptile evolved to have resilient tooth enamel similar to that in mammalsCredit: Aaron Leblanc A new study by University of Alberta paleontologists shows that one type…

Scientists worldwide have long debated our ability to identify male and female dinosaurs. Now, research led by Queen Mary University of London has shown that despite previous claims of success, it's very difficult to spot differences…

Major cultural transition in Europe took place earlier than previously thoughtCredit: Tsenka Tsanova, License: CC-BY-SA 2.0 Two studies report new Homo sapiens fossils from the site of Bacho Kiro Cave in Bulgaria. "The Bacho…

Credit: University of South Florida The Monte Conca cave system on the island of Sicily is a vast system of springs and pools, sitting below a nature preserve. It might be presumed to be one of the few places untouched by…

CT scans of rounded teeth help explain how this order of marine reptiles took over the oceansCredit: Ryosuke Motani et al. As bad as things might seem here in 2020, they could be worse: we could be living 252 million years ago during…

A new University of Wisconsin Oshkosh analysis of raptor teeth published in the peer-reviewed journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology shows that Velociraptors and their kin likely did not hunt in big, coordinated packs…

Credit: Masato Hattori DALLAS, TEXAS (May 6, 2020) - A new study by an international team from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas and Hokkaido University and Okayama University of Science in Japan further explores the…

Greater tropical rainfall may increase microbes' release of CO2 from soils into airCredit: © Dr. Valier Galy, WHOI. A study in the May 6th issue of Nature indicates the increase in rainfall forecast by global climate models is…