Large Megapode Bird Identified from Flores Cave Bone
A new species of extinct megapode bird — a ground-dwelling relative of the chicken that was several times…
Denisovans had a distinctive look, protein and skull study suggests
Scientists in China have pulled ancient proteins from two bones found at the Xujiayao site and learned the…
New Species of Iguanodontian Dinosaur Discovered in England
A partial dinosaur skeleton unearthed in a Surrey brickworks in 2001 has been identified as a previously unknown…
Early Cambrian Fossil Rewrites Starfish Family Tree
A 518-million-year-old ambulacrarian fossil from China suggests that the common ancestor of starfish and their relatives was not…
Lizard Dropped Its Tail 99 Million Years Ago, Amber Preserved Evidence
A tiny piece of amber from Myanmar has captured a defensive maneuver that lizards still use today: shedding…
Peculiar New Species of Belemnite Unearthed in Wyoming
A new species of belemnite — an extinct relative of today’s cuttlefish and squid — has been identified…
Jurassic Crocodile Relative from Morocco Had Needle-Thin Teeth
Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of teleosaurid thalattosuchian based on two specimens found in eastern…
Jurassic Fossil Shows Mammal-Like Throat Evolved Far Earlier Than Thought
Megacauda sungei, a furry, otter-size mammaliaform that lived in what is now Inner Mongolia, China, some 165 million…
Giant Fossil Turtle Found in Peru was Among Largest Freshwater Turtles Ever Known
Roughly 10 to 15 million years ago, an extinct species of side-neck turtle called Chelus colombiana inhabited the…
New Species of Freshwater Mosasaur Identified in France
Fossils from southeastern France reveal a previously unknown, roughly 2.5-m (8-foot) long tethysaurine mosasaur that appears to have…
First Animals May Have Appeared 200 Million Years Earlier than Their Oldest Fossils Suggest
The oldest undisputed animal fossils, from the Ediacaran biota, are about 574 million years old, but chemical traces…
Dinosaur-Era Mammal Swam Like Platypus and Replaced Its Teeth Multiple Times
Dongoconodon platycauda, a small eutriconodontan mammal that lived alongside dinosaurs in what is now northeastern China paddled through…