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Gaiasia jennyae. Image credit: Gabriel Lio.

Giant Salamander-Like Predator Lived in Namibia 280 Million Years Ago

Jul 5, 2024 by News Staff

At over 2.5 m (8.2 feet) in length, the newly-described stem tetrapod Gaiasia jennyae was possibly the largest creature of its kind. Life reconstruction...

Male Caprimulgus ritae, Wetar, on October 13, 2014. Image credit: James Eaton.

New Species of Bird Discovered on Lesser Sunda Islands

Jul 1, 2024 by Natali Anderson

A team of scientists from the Swedish Museum of Natural History and elsewhere has described a new species of nightjar living in the tropical forests of...

The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis), 1988. Image credit: Queensland Government / CC BY 4.0.

Researchers Sequence Genomes of Greater and Lesser Bilbies

Jul 1, 2024 by News Staff

In collaboration with Indigenous rangers and conservation managers, scientists from the University of Sydney and elsewhere have decoded the genomes of...

Artistic reconstruction of two species of trilobite an instant before burial in a flow of volcanic ash 510 million years ago. Image credit: Abderrazak El Albani, University of Poitiers.

Exceptionally Preserved Fossils Reveal 3D Anatomy of Cambrian Trilobites

Jun 27, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists have unearthed a well-preserved fossil assemblage of Cambrian trilobites in the High Atlas of Morocco. The 510-million-year-old specimens...

The Guianan long-nosed armadillo (Dasypus guianensis). Image credit: Quentin Martinez, https://quentinmartinez.fr.

Researchers Identify Cryptic New Species of Armadillo

Jun 27, 2024 by News Staff

The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) is actually four different species, including a previously undescribed species endemic to the Guiana Shield,...

Illustration of Sakesphoroides niedeguidonae. Image credit: Eduardo Brettas.

New Bird Species Discovered in Brazil

Jun 24, 2024 by Natali Anderson

A multi-character systematic study led by the Universidade Federal do Pará shows that what ornithologists know as the silvery-cheeked antshrike (Sakesphoroides...

The Canaanite amphorae from the 3,300-year-old shipwreck. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

3,300-Year-Old Shipwreck Loaded with Canaanite Amphorae Discovered in Mediterranean Sea

Jun 24, 2024 by News Staff

The ancient ship and its cargo is estimated to be from the 13th century BCE, making it one of the oldest shipwrecks ever discovered. The Canaanite amphorae...

Reconstruction of Lokiceratops rangiformis surprised by a crocodilian in the 78-million-year-old swamps of northern Montana. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin / Museum of Evolution in Maribo, Denmark.

New Species of Horned Dinosaur Had Unusual, Curving Blade-Like Horns on Back of Its Frill

Jun 20, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of centrosaurine dinosaur from the fossilized remains found in the Judith River Formation in the...

Life reconstruction of Diuqin lechiguanae. Image credit: Porfiri et al., doi: 10.1186/s12862-024-02247-w.

Paleontologists Discover New Bird-Like Dinosaur in Argentina

Jun 17, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of unenlagiine dinosaur has been identified by paleontologists in Argentina. Named Diuqin lechiguanae, it fills a substantial gap...

This image shows nothosaurs swimming along the ancient southern polar coast of what is now New Zealand around 246 million years ago (Triassic period). Image credit: Stavros Kundromichalis.

Unique Nothosaur Fossil Unearthed in New Zealand

Jun 17, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 246-million-year-old specimen represents the geologically oldest sea-going reptile from the southern hemisphere. This image shows nothosaurs swimming...

Plant induced responses to environmental stressors are increasingly studied in a behavioral ecology context. This is particularly true for plant induced responses to herbivory that mediate direct and indirect defenses, and tolerance. These seemingly adaptive alterations of plant defense phenotypes in the context of other environmental conditions have led to the discussion of such responses as intelligent behavior. In their paper, Kessler & Mueller consider the concept of plant intelligence and some of its predictions for chemical information transfer in plant interaction with other organisms. Image credit: Becky.

Are Plants Really Intelligent?

Jun 17, 2024 by News Staff

The tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima), a North American species of goldenrod in the family Asteraceae, can perceive other plants nearby without ever...

Life reconstruction of Haliskia peterseni. Image credit: Gabriel N. Ugueto.

New Flying Reptile Fossils Found in Australia

Jun 13, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Australia have discovered fossilized skeletal remains that belonged to a previously unknown, 100-million-year-old anhanguerian pterosaur. Life...

To track the spatial tuning of neurons dynamically during offline states, Maboudi et al. used a new Bayesian learning approach based on the spike-triggered average decoded position in ensemble recordings from freely moving rats.

Some Dreams May, in Fact, Predict Future, Neuroscientists Say

Jun 12, 2024 by News Staff

University of Michigan anesthesiologist Kamran Diba and colleagues have found that during sleep, some neurons not only replay the recent past but also...

This image, obtained by the High Resolution Stereo Camera aboard ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, shows Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano not only on Mars but in the entire Solar System. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

Water Frost Deposits Spotted on Tropical Martian Volcanoes

Jun 11, 2024 by News Staff

Using high-resolution color images from ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Mars Express missions, planetary researchers have found evidence for morning...

An artistic reconstruction of the ammonoid Epitornoceras baldisi during the Middle Devonian. Image credit: H. Santiago Druetta / CICTERRA / Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.

New Fossils of Nautilus-Like Cephalopod Unearthed in Argentina

Jun 10, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have redescribed Epitornoceras baldisi, an enigmatic species of ammonoid cephalopod from the Devonian period of Argentina, using new fossils...

Paraparatrechina neela, holotype worker. Image credit: Sahanashree et al., doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1203.114168.

Entomologists Discover Metallic-Blue Colored Ant Species in India

Jun 6, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Entomologists have described a new species of the ant genus Paraparatrechina from Yingku village in the East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern...

Life reconstruction of the hybodontiform shark Strophodus rebecae. Image credit: Jorge Blanco / CC BY 4.0.

New Species of Fossil Hybodontiform Shark Identified in Japan

Jun 4, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Japan have described a new species of shark-like cartilaginous fish based on the fossilized teeth from the Late Triassic Momonoki Formation. The...

This image, taken by the SHARK-VIS camera on the Large Binocular Telescope on January 10, 2024, is the highest resolution image of Io ever obtained by an Earth-based telescope. The image combines three spectral bands -- infrared, red and green -- to highlight the reddish ring around the volcano Pele (below and to the right of the moon’s center) and the white ring around Pillan Patera, to the right of Pele. Image credit: INAF / Large Binocular Telescope Observatory / Georgia State University / SHARK-VIS@LBT / P.I.F. Pedichini / D. Hope / S. Jefferies / G. Li Causi.

Large Binocular Telescope Spots Volcanic Event on Jupiter’s Moon Io

Jun 3, 2024 by News Staff

Using the SHARK-VIS instrument on the Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham in Arizona, the United States, astronomers have captured the highest resolution...

The illustration portrays a reconstruction of Genyornis newtoni at the water’s edge in a wetland or swamp-like environment. The scene itself was inspired by locations that exist in southern South Australia today, such as Ngarrindjeri country in and around the Coorong and lower Murray River. However, back when Genyornis newtoni was kicking about, this type of environment would have been more widespread across the country. Many Genyornis fossils are recovered from Lake Callabonna which is more than a day’s drive north of there and is a dry salt lake nowadays. Back in the day this would have been much wetter place. Image credit: Jacob C. Blokland.

Well-Preserved Skull Fossil of Extinct Giant Bird Found in Australia

Jun 3, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists in Australia have unearthed the fossilized skull of Genyornis newtoni, a species of giant flightless ‘mihirung’ that became extinct...