Ancient DNA identifies 146,000 year-old ‘Dragon Man’ as a Denisovan
Ancient DNA and proteins identify China’s nearly complete “Dragon Man” skull as Denisovan.The fossil, at least 146,000 years…
A Student Found a New Giant Isopod That Had Been Mislabeled for Decades
German paleontologist Dolf Seilacher had not yet won his Crafoord—the prestigious honor awarded by the same Swedish academy…
Massive Footprints Reveal First Ever Adult T Rex Trackway, a 66-Million-Year-old Walk Through North Dakota
T. rex trackway – Credit: Tyler Lyson Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first adult T. rex…
Ancient Bird Feather in Dino Poop May Hold Big Clues
The most pristine dinosaur-era bird feather on record has turned up in an unglamorous place: a 66-million-year-old…
The ‘American Cheetah’ Wasn’t a Cheetah. New DNA Evidence Shows Just How Wrong Scientists Had It
Miracinonyx trumani, an extinct big cat commonly known as the American cheetah, lived in North America during the…
Crocodiles Evolved Backwards From Warm-Blooded Species to Cold-Blooded Killers
Despite an incredible number of visible differences, modern-day crocodiles and birds share a common ancestor dating back to…
This 236-Million-Year-Old Fossil Just Rewrote the Story of Live Birth
The vast majority of mammals alive today—including us—give birth to live young, but this reproductive mode isn’t unique…
The Weirdest Theory Yet for Why Life on Earth Suddenly Exploded
In the first 20 million years of the Cambrian period, Earth experienced an explosion of life—a great evolutionary…
1.4-Million-Year-Old Footprints Reveal a Giant Human Relative
One of the large, 1.4-million-year-old footprints that the team excavated. A 6-inch (~15 cm) ruler is shown for…
Inside the strange physics of why time stops at the speed of light
A clock aboard a fast-moving spacecraft does not break, lag or malfunction. It ticks normally for everyone inside.…
T. Rex Babies Were No Bigger Than House Cats—But Already Deadly
Paleontologists know very little about Tyrannosaurus rex babies. Given how long these iconic carnivores have loomed over the…
Volcanoes Started Earth’s ‘Great Dying.’ This Unexpected Plant Made It Worse
Some 200 million years ago, dramatic changes in climate and geology drove the extinction of approximately 80% of…