Browsing Tag
paleontology
146 posts
The Weird Case of Weird Ancient Deer
Mammals, especially deer, are incredibly diverse. They inhabit numerous ecological niches globally, including forests, where they are most…
World’s oldest termite mounds discovered in South Africa – and they’ve been storing precious carbon for thousands of years
Purple spring flowers growing on termite mounds in Namaqualand. A Potts, Author provided Michele Francis, Stellenbosch University The…
Ferns and flowers bribe helpful ant defenders with nectar, but ferns developed this ability much later – our study shows why
Ants foraging for nectar on a Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum). Jacob S. Suissa, CC BY-ND Jacob S. Suissa,…
A rhino died after a volcano erupted. Something remarkable was left behind.
A rhino-shaped cavity in pillow basalt near Blue Lake formed when lava cooled around a rhino carcass 15…
100-million-year-old fossil find reveals huge flying reptile that patrolled Australia’s inland sea
Gabriel Ugueto Adele Pentland, Curtin University One hundred million years ago, during the Cretaceous period, much of northeastern…
The Triassic Period Was Weird
Life on Earth has existed for millions to billions of years, during which a vast array of unique…
Is it a small T-rex cousin, or is it just a baby T-rex?
Found in Montana’s Hell Creek formation, the Cleveland skull was originally classified as Gorgosaurus but later proposed as…
How Do Sponges Keep Coming Back From the Brink?
Multiple fossil sites across South China, including Anji and other locations, show hyperdiverse sponge communities immediately following the…
Why Do Animals Keep Turning Into Crocodiles?
Crocodiles and their family members share an ancient evolutionary history. What’s usually not known, however, is that nature…
Finding the Largest Animal That Ever Flew
The evolution of powered flight has opened up various possibilities for animal lineages, enabling them to move over…