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98-Million-Year-Old Ichthyosaur Fossil Uncovered in New Zealand

A pair of Platypterigius sp. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov / CC BY 3.0.
Dec 9, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists in New Zealand have discovered a partial skeleton of platypterygiid ichthyosaur dating to the Cretaceous period. A pair of Platypterygius sp. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov / CC BY 3.0. “Ichthyosaurs were a clade of secondarily aquatic marine reptiles that inhabited the seas for much of the Mesozoic Era, first appearing in the Early Triassic before their ultimate extinction at the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary,” said University of...

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A portrait of a juvenile female Denisovan based on a skeletal profile reconstructed from ancient DNA methylation maps. Image credit: Maayan Harel.

New Species of Archaic Human Proposed: Homo juluensis

Dec 6, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Homo juluensis — a newly-erected human species that includes enigmatic Denisovans and several hominin fossils from Tibet, Taiwan and Laos —...

An artist’s reconstruction of Clovis life 13,000 years ago shows the Anzick-1 infant with his mother consuming mammoth meat near a hearth. Another individual crafts tools, including dart projectile points and atlatls. A mammoth butchery area is visible nearby. Image credit: Eric Carlson / Ben Potter / Jim Chatters.

Clovis People’s Diet Mainly Included Mammoths and Other Large Mammals, New Study Says

Dec 4, 2024 by News Staff

Paleoanthropologists have found that the Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) was the largest contributor to the diet of the Clovis people — the...

Hypothetical artistic reconstruction of Parutaetus oliveirai in the Middle-Late Eocene of Brazil. Image credit: Márcio L. Castro.

New Species of Fossil Armadillo Discovered in Brazil

Dec 2, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new species of the extinct armadillo genus Parutaetus from fossilized osteoderms collected in the state of Paraná in...

A 3D computerized model of the surface of the area near Lake Turkana in Kenya shows fossil footprints of Paranthropus boisei (vertical footprints) with separate footprints of Homo erectus forming a perpendicular path. Image credit: Kevin Hatala / Chatham University.

At Least Two Hominin Species Coexisted in Kenya 1.5 Million Years Ago

Nov 28, 2024 by News Staff

Paleoanthropologists have discovered 1.5-million-year-old footprints of two completely different species of hominins — Homo erectus and Paranthropus...

Carcinus maenas. Image credit: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Do Crustaceans Feel Pain? Study Demonstrates Existence of Nociceptive Responses in Shore Crabs

Nov 26, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Nociceptors are receptors that detect injurious stimuli and are necessary to convey such information from the periphery to the central nervous system....

Life restoration of a group of giant azhdarchids, Quetzalcoatlus northropi, foraging on a Cretaceous fern prairie. Image credit: Mark Witton / Darren Naish.

New Pterosaur Species Discovered in Japan

Nov 25, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a new species of quetzalcoatline azhdarchid pterosaur, Nipponopterus mifunensis, from the Late Cretaceous...

Life reconstruction of Terastiodontosaurus marcelosanchezi ready to prey on a large snail of the family Bulimulidae. Image credit: Jaime Chirinos.

World’s Largest Worm Lizard Lived 47 Million Years Ago

Nov 22, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of trogonophid amphisbaenian (worm lizard) from fossilized specimens found in Tunisia. Life reconstruction...

An Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) licks nectar from the Ethiopian red hot poker flower (Kniphofia foliosa). Image credit: Adrien Lesaffre.

Ethiopian Wolves Become First Large Carnivore Documented Feeding on Nectar

Nov 20, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Nectar foraging by Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) may contribute to the pollination of the Ethiopian red hot poker flower (Kniphofia foliosa), according...

Homotherium serum. Image credit: Sergiodlarosa / CC BY-SA 3.0.

36,000-Year-Old Scimitar-Toothed Cat Cub Found in Yakutian Permafrost

Nov 19, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 36,000-year-old frozen specimen from Yakutia belongs to Homotherium latidens, a species of scimitar-toothed cat that inhabited Eurasia during the Pliocene...

Ben Yuen & Angela Demetriadou define the precise shape of a single photon. Image credit: Ben Yuen & Angela Demetriadou.

Physicists Shed Light on Precise Shape of Single Photon

Nov 19, 2024 by News Staff

New research from the University of Birmingham explores the nature of photons — individual particles of light — in unprecedented detail. Ben...

An artist’s impression of Wumengosaurus, a sister taxon of Honghesaurus longicaudal. Image credit: Nobu Tamura / CC BY-SA 4.0.

New Species of Triassic Marine Reptile Discovered

Nov 18, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new species of pachypleurosaur from the Middle Triassic of southwestern China. The holotype of Dianmeisaurus mutaensis...

Life restoration of two Skiphosoura bavarica in flight. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

Jurassic Pterosaur Had Unusually Short, but Stiff and Pointed Tail

Nov 18, 2024 by News Staff

Skiphosoura bavarica, a species of pterosaur that lived around 149 million years ago in what is now southern Germany, bridges the gaps between the early...

The Silurian trilobite Waukeshaaspis eatonae, from the Silurian Waukesha Biota of Wisconsin, USA. Image credit: Kenneth Gass, specimen deposited in the University of Wisconsin Geology Museum.

Role Changing of Trilobite Body Parts

Nov 15, 2024 by Kenneth C. Gass & Enrique Alberto Randolfe

A newly-described genus and species of trilobite is a unique example of an animal changing the form and apparent function of one of its morphological features...

The shadow of a laser beam. Image credit: Abrahao et al., doi: 10.1364/optica.534596.

Under Right Conditions, Laser Beam Can Cast Shadow

Nov 14, 2024 by News Staff

In a new paper published today in the journal Optica, physicists describe how a laser beam can be made to cast a shadow that behaves as any other ordinary...

An artist’s impression of Navaornis hestiae. Image credit: Júlia D’Oliveira.

80-Million-Year-Old Enantiornithine Fossil Fills Gap between Archaeopteryx and Modern Birds

Nov 14, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed the exquisitely preserved remains of Cretaceous enantiornithine bird in São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil. The extraordinary...

The three red monster galaxies discovered by Webb. Image credit: NASA / CSA / ESA / M. Xiao & P. A. Oesch, University of Geneva / G. Brammer, Niels Bohr Institute / Dawn JWST Archive.

Mysterious Ultra-Massive Galaxies Spotted in Early Universe

Nov 13, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered three ultra-massive galaxies — nearly as massive as our own Milky Way...

Bathydevius caudactylus has a voluminous hooded structure at one end, a flat tail fringed with numerous finger-like projections at the other, and colorful internal organs. Image credit: Bruce H. Robison & Steven H.D. Haddock / MBARI.

New Species of Bioluminescent Sea Slug Discovered

Nov 13, 2024 by News Staff

Marine biologists at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have described an exceptional sea slug (nudibranch) species, new to science, from...

Strigopagurus fragarchela. Image credit: Queensland Museum.

New Species of Hermit Crab Discovered in Australia

Nov 12, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Marine biologists at Queensland Museum Kurilpa have described a new species of hermit crab, Strigopagurus fragarchela (common name is the strawberry-clawed...

Pine Island amber. Scale bars - 50 μm. Image credit: Klages et al., doi: 10.1017/S0954102024000208.

Amber Discovered in Antarctica for the First Time

Nov 12, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The first ever piece of the Antarctic amber was found in a sediment core from the mid-shelf section of Pine Island trough in Antarctica. Pine Island amber....

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