TOPICSFossils

Fossils

Reconstruction_Dinocephalosaurus orientalis
Science

A 240-million-year-old Chinese dragon’s fossils found in China

Pranjal Malewar

This research has made it possible to fully describe the bizarre, very impressive animal for the first time.

late Maastrichtian
Science

Were dinosaurs doomed and already on their way out before the asteroid hit?

Amit Malewar

It’s been a subject of debate for more than 30 years.

HU Professor Part of Study on New Fossil Carnivorous Mammals from Himalayan Foothills
Science

New fossil carnivoran mammals unearthed in the Himalayan foothills

Pranjal Malewar

The Siwaliks, part of the outer Himalayas, span Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Fossils found here reveal a rich diversity of mammals that lived...

Dryolestes
Biology

Mammals were living on the ground several million years before the mass extinction

Pranjal Malewar

Many mammals were already shifting toward a more ground-based lifestyle.

Mixodectes pungens, small mammals that inhabited western North America 62 million years ago,weighed about 3 pounds, dwelled in trees, and largely dined on leaves
Archaeology

Researchers discovered a 62-million-year-old skeleton of Mixodectes pungens

Amit Malewar

Ancient Mammal Mystery Solved: Mixodectes’ Fossil Sheds Light on Primate Evolution

A fossil leopard lower jawbone next to a skull fragment of a juvenile Paranthropus robustus. Note the two punctures in the skull, which match the spacing of the tips of the leopard's fangs—implying that this unfortunate hominin child was killed and eaten by a leopard. Credit: Jason Heaton
Science

New fossil discovery reveals secrets of Ancient Hominin

Pranjal Malewar

Tiny Walker from the Past

Cretaceous Australia
Science

Oldest Megaraptorid fossils and first Carcharodontosaurs in Australia unearthed

Pranjal Malewar

Australia’s first carcharodontosaur fossils unearthed along Victoria’s Cretaceous coast.

Life reconstruction of the Jurassic bird Baminornis zhenghensis
Biology

Discovery of the oldest Jurassic fossils sheds light on bird origin

Pranjal Malewar

The fossils provide the evidence yet that birds were diversified by the end of the Jurassic period.

Vegavis Landscape
Science

An important new fossil of the oldest known modern bird

Pranjal Malewar

New clues delve into the age-old question: Does a duck always look like a duck and quack like a duck?

A crocodile with dark green and brown scales biting a Pterosaur with a long neck and colorful wings
Science

A rare Pterosaur fossil has a Crocodile bite mark on its neck bone

Amit Malewar

This fascinating find was made in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada.

Emo
Science

Researchers discovered two ancient mollusks’ fossils of ‘Punk’ and ‘Emo’

Pranjal Malewar

Ancient molluscs were more complex and adaptable than previously known.

Reconstruction of the appearance in life of a gorgonopsian in a floodplain of the Permian of Mallorca.
Science

Scientist discovered world’s oldest ancestor of mammals in Mallorca

Ashwini Sakharkar

The fossil animal lived between 270 and 280 million years ago.

An Early Cretaceous floodplain in southeastern England, 135 million years ago: a spinosaur (centre) takes over the carcass of an ornithopod, much to the annoyance of the smaller tyrannosaurs (left) and dromaeosaurids (bottom right). UK.
Science

Dinosaur teeth revealed how they roamed East Sussex 135 million years ago

Ashwini Sakharkar

Tyrannosaur teeth discovered in Bexhill-on-Sea with help of retired quarryman.

the surface of the area near Lake Turkana in Kenya
Science

1.5-million-year-old ancient human footprints found in Kenya

Amit Malewar

Some ancient hominins were neighbors.

Life restoration of the earliest lizard
Archaeology

Researchers reconfirm fossil as the world’s oldest modern lizard

Jay Kakade

A storeroom specimen that changed the origins of modern lizards by millions of years has had its identity confirmed.

D. rarus
Science

The mystery of the ‘Dinky’ dinosaur’s unusually long stride solved

Pranjal Malewar

UMD paleontologist helped recreate the movements of a bird-sized raptor.

Analysis of nitrogen isotopes provides evidence of the earliest known photosymbiosis in corals of the Devonian
Science

The symbiotic relationship of Coral dates back 385 million years old

Jay Kakade

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz used nitrogen isotope analysis of 2 extinct groups of coral fossils, tabulate and Rugos. They...

Paleo-inspired robot to demonstrate evolution
Robotics

Biologists are using palaeo-inspired robots to demonstrate the evolution

Jay Kakade

As the transition from water to land is the most significant event in the history of life on the Earth, a group of researchers...

Composite skeleton of fallow deer.
Science

Exploring Southern Europe’s climate history through fossils

PLOS

Fossils found the oldest known evidence of the straight-tusked elephant and the red deer in Europe.

large birds engaged in raptorial behavior and could carry proportionally large prey.
Science

Exploring the fascinating world of cretaceous birds

PLOS

New fossil species reveal diverse body sizes and lifestyles of birds before mass extinction.

A highresolution photo of microfossils embedded in rock providing a detailed look at the ancient life forms and their intricate preservation within the sediment
Biology

New method sheds light on early cellular and metabolic evolution

Pranjal Malewar

Unveiling ancient life.

Painting of the dicynodont.
Science

Extinct species may have inspired South African rock art

PLOS

Research compares 1800s painting of tusked animal by San people to local fossils.

Ngamugawi wirngarri coelacanth
Science

New fossil fish species unearthed in Western Australia tied to Earth’s crust movement

Pranjal Malewar

New fossil fish on plate tectonics map.

Reconstruction of the life form of Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra
Science

A new sauropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous discovered in the Iberian Peninsula

Amit Malewar

Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra.

L. Theropod footprint
Science

Matching dinosaur footprints found on different continents

Pranjal Malewar

The footprints were found more than 3,700 miles, or 6,000 kilometers, away from each other.

Image showing A reconstructed image of Pakudyptes at a New Zealand coast.
Biology

Fossil shows penguin wing evolution

Dr. Prajakta Banik

According to an international study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, a tiny fossil penguin is crucial to understanding...

Complete specimen of Shishania aculeata seen from the dorsal (top) side (left). Spines covering the body of Shishania aculeata (right).
Science

500 million-years-old slug reveals the origins of molluscs

Amit Malewar

Discovery of a new species of mollusc that lived 500 million years ago.

Researchers examine evidence of animal fossils, which are about 550 million years old, in field work in Namibia.
Science

Fossils study reveals a link between sea levels and early life on Earth

Ashwini Sakharkar

The study reveals clues into the forces that drove the evolution of the earliest organisms.

3D rendering
Archaeology

Giant Armadillo: Evidence of early human exploitation in Argentina

PLOS

Tool marks could be among oldest known evidence for human occupation in southern South America.

Left: Artist’s rendering of Gaiasia jennyae. Credit: Gabriel Lio. Right: Skeleton, including the skull and backbone, of Gaiasia jennyae. Credit: C. Marsicano.
Science

Meet Gaiasia Jennyae, the swamp creature with a toilet seat-shaped head

Amit Malewar

The giant salamander-like creature was a top predator in the ice age before the dinosaurs.

Recent Stories

Humans have observed less than 0.001% of the deep seafloor

Earth

A new 3D visualization of Cosmic Cliffs

Space

An invisible monster 600 million light-years away gulping down any star coming its way

Space

Twist-angle engineering unlocks phonon control for next-gen quantum materials

Quantum Technology

The study suggests the end of the Earth will happen due to…

Earth