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Stromata of Dianjunus rex in the field. Image credit: Song et al., doi: 10.3389/ffunb.2026.1940464.

D. rex: Giant New Fungus Species Discovered in China

Oct 27, 2026 by News Staff

A pale-yellow fungus up to 50 cm (20 inches) tall, growing from the roots of dying trees in China’s Yunnan province, belongs to a lineage that may have...

Life reconstruction of the iguanodontian dinosaur Paludohadros proudlovii; in the distance, the large predatory dinosaur Baryonyx walkeri can be seen. Image credit: Guilherme Gehr.

New Species of Iguanodontian Dinosaur Discovered in England

Oct 27, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A partial dinosaur skeleton unearthed in a Surrey brickworks in 2001 has been identified as a previously unknown genus and species of an early-diverging...

The sculpture of the enantiornithine bird Concornis lacustris. Image credit: Víctor G. Peco & Sergio M. Nebreda, doi: 10.1016/j.hisbio.2026.100047.

Paleontologists Reconstruct Cretaceous Bird in Remarkable Detail

Oct 26, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Concornis lacustris, a small enantiornithine bird that lived alongside dinosaurs more than 100 million years ago, has received a life-size makeover, thanks...

Life reconstruction of Gerrothorax maritimus. Image credit: Chen Geng / Guizhou University.

Armored Amphibian from Triassic Period is First Known to Have Lived Entirely in the Sea

Oct 26, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described what they say is the first fully marine species of a stem amphibian, Gerrothorax maritimus, based on two nearly complete...

Protopapa et al. used Webb to compare the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS with icy bodies in our Solar System; the comparison offers clues to the early formation of planetary building blocks; at top right, both 3I/ATLAS and the icy solar system comet C/2024 E1 show a strong water-ice absorption band near 3 microns, but the interstellar comet has very weak or missing bands near 1.5 and 2.0 microns; its spectrum more closely resembles the average spectrum of a class of icy worlds beyond Neptune whose spectra also show carbon dioxide ice and organics (bottom right); the artist’s concept (left, not to scale) compares the relatively pure ice grains with separate dust, as interpreted for most solar system comets, with the dust-rich ice aggregates the study inferred for 3I/ATLAS. Image credit: SwRI / Silvia Protopapa / NASA / ESA / CSA / JWST.

Webb Finds Dust-Rich Water Ice in Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Oct 26, 2026 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have found that the water ice in the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is mixed with dark, rocky...

An artistic representation of the CAPPA/UFSM 0539 herrerasaurid dinosaur in life. Image credit: Johnny Pauly V. Mingau.

Early Predatory Dinosaurs Survived Shift in Their Ecosystem, Fossil Fragment Suggests

Oct 23, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A single bone from southern Brazil indicates that herrerasaurids, among the first large meat-eating dinosaurs, persisted after the fauna around them changed. An...

The average human genome contains 4.3-5.3 million variants, of which 1.5% are rare. Image credit: Wright et al., doi: 10.1186/s13073-026-01792-x.

Average Human Genome Carries Millions of Variants, New Research Shows

Oct 22, 2026 by News Staff

Researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School have produced the most comprehensive portrait to date of the ‘average’ human genome, drawn from...

An artist’s impression of Sarcosaurus. Image credit: TotalDino / CC BY 4.0.

Single Vertebra Hints at Oldest Known Iberian Dinosaur

Oct 19, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A fossil theropod vertebra about the length of a thumb, found in the Algarve region in southern Portugal, may be the oldest dinosaur remains ever discovered...

Higher cat oxytocin linked to lower owner cortisol and negative mood. Image credit: Takagi et al., doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117934.

Cat Hormones and Owner Moods Appear to Move Together: Study

Oct 19, 2026 by Natali Anderson

The ‘love hormone’ oxytocin may rise and fall in tandem in cats and the people who live with them, according to a new study published in the journal...

General view of the amber piece from Myanmar, arrows highlighting the debris stuck to the initial resin flow at the level of the ventral surface of the tail. Image credit: Fabrikant et al., doi: 10.26879/1706.

Lizard Dropped Its Tail 99 Million Years Ago, Amber Preserved Evidence

Oct 16, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A tiny piece of amber from Myanmar has captured a defensive maneuver that lizards still use today: shedding part of their tail to escape a predator. The...

The cool white dwarf WD J1330+6435 has accreted sodium-rich rocky material from its planetary system into its atmosphere; the immense atmospheric density causes the sodium to absorb light over broad range of yellow, orange, and red wavelengths, giving the WD J1330+6435 a ghostly green appearance. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick / University of Warwick.

White Dwarfs Really are White, But Few are Green, Pink or Vivid Blue

Oct 15, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of astronomers led by University of Warwick’s Dr. Mark Hollands has converted white dwarf spectra into the colors a human eye would perceive. The...

Life reconstruction of Yuezhuornis yangyuanensis. Image credit: Chung-Tat Cheung.

Jurassic Fossil Hints that Some Early Birds Were Flightless

Oct 15, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of early bird from the Late Jurassic Zhenghe Fauna of southeastern China. The bird was flightless,...

Artists’ rendition of Invictibellatrix amberina with contemporary fauna in the lower part of the Wessex Formation. Image credit: Sergey Krasovskiy / Pedro Salas.

New Species of Predatory Dinosaur Identified in UK

Oct 14, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A fossilized braincase that sat in in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London for a century has been identified as Europe’s first megaraptoran...

Vanillin has pronounced antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. Image credit: Stoilov et al., doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2026.127263.

Vanillin Shows Promise for Treating Chronic Wounds

Oct 13, 2026 by Natali Anderson

Vanillin, the compound that gives vanilla its familiar taste, may have a future in treating wounds that refuse to heal, according to a review paper published...

Life restoration of Asioaspis brachyotus. Image credit: Zhang et al., doi: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.260113.

Fossil Armored Fish from China Bridges Primitive and Advanced Jawless Lineages

Oct 12, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of polybranchiaspiform galeaspid fish from the Early Devonian of Yunnan, China. Life restoration...

An artist’s reconstruction of Ctenosuchus tenuidens in a freshwater setting; the animal is depicted with an elongate rostrum and dense needle-like dentition, reflecting the anatomy described from the fossil specimens and a probable feeding strategy focused on small aquatic prey. Image credit: Nathan Dehaut.

Jurassic Crocodile Relative from Morocco Had Needle-Thin Teeth

Oct 9, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of teleosaurid thalattosuchian based on two specimens found in eastern Morocco. The ancient predator...

Western honeybees (Apis mellifera). Image credit: PollyDot.

Honeybee Swarms Have Been Misread for Centuries, Biologists Say

Oct 8, 2026 by Sergio Prostak

In a new review paper, Dr. Hannes Bonhoff of Lund University and Dr. Heikki Helanterä from the University of Oulu argue that the departing swarm represents...

Life restoration of Megacauda sungei. Image credit: April I. Neander.

Jurassic Fossil Shows Mammal-Like Throat Evolved Far Earlier Than Thought

Oct 8, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Megacauda sungei, a furry, otter-size mammaliaform that lived in what is now Inner Mongolia, China, some 165 million years ago, was semiaquatic, swimming...

An artistic reconstruction of Chelus colombiana. Image credit: Juan Giraldo.

Giant Fossil Turtle Found in Peru was Among Largest Freshwater Turtles Ever Known

Oct 7, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Roughly 10 to 15 million years ago, an extinct species of side-neck turtle called Chelus colombiana inhabited the vast wetlands of what is now northern...