Fossils News

December 9, 2023

Top Headlines

Baboons in Captivity in Ancient Egypt: Insights from Collection of Mummies

Dec. 6, 2023 — Baboons were raised in captivity before being mummified in Ancient Egyptian sites, according to a new ...

Molecular Fossils Shed Light on Ancient Life

Dec. 7, 2023 — Paleontologists are getting a glimpse at life over a billion years in the past based on chemical traces in ancient rocks and the genetics of living animals. New research combines geology and genetics, showing how changes in the early Earth prompted ...

Geoscientists Map Changes in Atmospheric CO2 Over Past 66 Million Years

Dec. 7, 2023 — An international consortium of geoscientists has reconstructed atmosphereric levels of CO2 going back 66 million years using proxies in the geoloogical record. Today's concenteration, 420 parts per million, is higher than it's ever been in 14 ...

Dishing the Dirt on Human Evolution: Why Scientific Techniques Matter in Archaeology

Nov. 30, 2023 — Scientists should seek answers hidden in the dirt using proven and state-of-the-art archaeological science techniques to support new discoveries about human evolution following recent controversies ...

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updated 11:11pm EST

It Turns Out, This Fossil 'Plant' Is Really a Fossil Baby Turtle

Dec. 7, 2023 — Researchers re-examined a plant fossil found decades ago in Colombia and realized that it wasn't a plant at all: it's a fossilized baby turtle. It's a rare find, because juvenile turtles' shells ...

Earliest-Known Fossil Mosquito Suggests Males Were Bloodsuckers Too

Dec. 4, 2023 — Researchers have found the earliest-known fossil mosquito in Lower Cretaceous amber from Lebanon. What's more, the well-preserved insects are two males of the same species with piercing mouthparts, ...

Crocodile Family Tree Mapped: New Light Shed on Croc Evolution

Dec. 4, 2023 — Around 250 million years ago, 700 species of reptiles closely related to the modern-day crocodile roamed the earth, now new research reveals how a complex interplay between climate change, species ...

Landscape Dynamics Determine the Evolution of Biodiversity on Earth

Nov. 29, 2023 — A landmark study into the geological timescale distribution of sediment and nutrients over 500 million years shows that species biodiversity on Earth is driven by landscape ...

Unknown Animals Were Leaving Bird-Like Footprints in Late Triassic Southern Africa

Nov. 29, 2023 — Ancient animals were walking around on bird-like feet over 210 million years ago, according to a new ...

Like the Phoenix, Australia's Giant Birds of Prey Rise Again from Limestone Caves

Nov. 17, 2023 — Australia's only vulture, and a fearsome extinct eagle, are among the earliest recorded birds of prey from the Pleistocene period more than 50,000 ...

Curators and Cavers: How a Tip from a Citizen Scientist Led to Deep Discoveries in Utah's Caves

Nov. 21, 2023 — Scientists and colleagues from Utah's caving community have published the first research from their collaborative fieldwork effort deep in Utah's ...

Earliest Known European Common Hippopotamus Fossil Reveals Their Middle Pleistocene Dispersal

Nov. 22, 2023 — Modern hippos first dispersed in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene, according to a new ...

Looking for 'LUCA' and the Timing of Cellular Evolution

Nov. 21, 2023 — LUCA, the 'last universal common ancestor' of all living organisms, lived 4.32 to at most 4.52 billion years ago. What LUCA looked like is unknown, but it must have been a cell with among others ...

Trilobites Rise from the Ashes to Reveal Ancient Map

Nov. 21, 2023 — Ten newly discovered species of trilobites, hidden for 490 million years in a little-studied part of Thailand, could be the missing pieces in an intricate puzzle of ancient world ...

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Summaries
Headlines

Research in Lake Superior Reveals How Sulfur Might Have Cycled in Earth's Ancient Oceans

Nov. 16, 2023 — A scientists has sulfur on her mind. The yellow element is a vital macronutrient, and she's trying to understand how it cycles through the environment. Specifically, she's curious about the ...

Plants That Survived Dinosaur Extinction Pulled Nitrogen from Air

Nov. 16, 2023 — Ancient cycad lineages that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs may have done so by relying on symbiotic bacteria in their roots to fix atmospheric nitrogen. The finding came from an effort to ...

Radiocarbon Dating Meets Egyptology and Biblical Accounts in the City of Gezer

Nov. 16, 2023 — New dates provide detailed insights into the timing of events in the ancient city of Gezer, according to a new ...

Birds Set Foot Near South Pole in Early Cretaceous, Australian Tracks Show

Nov. 16, 2023 — The discovery of 27 avian footprints on the southern Australia coast -- dating back to the Early Cretaceous when Australia was still connected to Antarctica -- opens another window onto early avian ...

Europe Was Not Covered by Dense Forest Before the Arrival of Modern Humans

Nov. 14, 2023 — For decades, we believed that outside ice ages Europe was mostly covered by dense forest before the arrival of modern humans. Now, a new study shows that there was far more open and semi-open ...

New Study Reveals Surprising Insights Into Feeding Habits of Carnivorous Dinosaurs in North America

Nov. 14, 2023 — New research sheds light on the dining habits of ancient carnivorous dinosaurs from Jurassic rocks of the USA. A recent study explores the bite marks left on the ancient bones of the giant ...

Window to the Past: New Microfossils Suggest Earlier Rise in Complex Life

Nov. 7, 2023 — Microfossils may capture a jump in the complexity of life that coincided with the rise of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere and oceans, according to an international team of ...

450-Million-Year-Old Organism Finds New Life in Softbotics

Nov. 6, 2023 — Researchers have used fossil evidence to engineer a soft robotic replica of pleurocystitids, a marine organism that existed nearly 450 million years ago and is believed to be one of the first ...

Fossils Tell Tale of Last Primate to Inhabit North America Before Humans

Nov. 6, 2023 — Paleontologists have shed light on the long-standing saga of Ekgmowechashala, based on fossil teeth and jaws found in both Nebraska and China. Ekgmowechashala is the last primate found in the fossil ...

Frogs Were Florida's First-Known Vertebrates from the Caribbean

Nov. 6, 2023 — A new fossil study shows that frogs from the genus Eleutherodactylus are geologically the oldest Caribbean vertebrates to be found in Florida. They made the journey 20 million years ago, when much of ...

How the Fish Got Its Shoulder

Nov. 1, 2023 — A new analysis of the bones and muscles in ancient fish gives new clues about how the shoulder evolved in animals -- including ...

New Species of Mosasaur Named for Norse Sea Serpent

Oct. 30, 2023 — Scientists have discovered a new species of mosasaur, large, carnivorous aquatic lizards that lived during the late Cretaceous. With 'transitional' traits that place it between two ...

Genetic Methods Enable the Use of Fossil Lipids as Biomarkers for Oxygen-Producing Primordial Bacteria

Oct. 27, 2023 — Cyanobacteria are a key species in Earth's history, as they introduced atmospheric oxygen for the first time. The analysis of their evolution therefore provides important insights into the ...

Climate Change Likely Impacted Human Populations in the Neolithic and Bronze Age

Oct. 25, 2023 — Human populations in Neolithic Europe fluctuated with changing climates, according to a new ...

Sediment Core Analysis Supports New Epoch Characterized by Human Impact on Planet

Oct. 25, 2023 — Scientists analyzed open-source data to track vegetation changes across North America since the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, and conclude that humans have had as much of an impact on the landscape ...

Bizarre New Fossils Shed Light on Ancient Plankton

Oct. 25, 2023 — Recently discovered microfossils date back half a billion years. Resembling modern-day algae, they provide insight into early life in our ...

Origin of Ancient Mummified Baboons Found in Egypt

Oct. 24, 2023 — Primatologists are using genetic analysis to determine the geographic origin of ancient mummified baboons found in Egypt. The team finds evidence that the two legendary trading regions of Punt and ...

Ancient Sea Monster Remains Reveal Oldest Mega-Predatory Pliosaur

Oct. 20, 2023 — The fossils of a 170-million-year-old ancient marine reptile from the Age of Dinosaurs have been identified as the oldest-known mega-predatory pliosaur -- a group of ocean-dwelling reptiles closely ...

Waves of Change: How Sea-Levels and Climate Altered the Marine Ecosystems at the South Pole 390-385 Million Years Ago

Oct. 19, 2023 — New research reveals a chain of environmental disasters. These took place in what is today's South Africa, during an ancient time period called the Early-Middle Devonian. The crises led to the ...

Researchers Identify the Oldest Pieces of Baltic Amber Found on the Iberian Peninsula: Imports Began Over 5,000 Years Ago

Oct. 19, 2023 — Baltic amber is a luxury material used in jewellery and handicrafts all over the world. Researchers have shown that Baltic amber arrived on the Iberian Peninsula at least in the 4th millennium BC, ...

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