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An artist’s impression of the asteroid Polymele. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Trojan Asteroid Polymele Has Small Moon

Aug 17, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Jupiter trojan asteroid 15094 Polymele and its small satellite are among the targets of NASA’s Lucy mission, which will approach the asteroid system...

Jeholornis pooping out seeds from fruit, helping fruit-bearing plants take over the world. Image credit: Zhixin Han / Yifan Wang.

Early Cretaceous Birds Ate Whole Fruits

Aug 17, 2022 by News Staff

Members of Jeholornis, a genus of early birds that lived in what is now China some 120 million years ago (Early Cretaceous epoch), are the earliest-known...

Partial skeleton of Atractosteus grandei in dorsal view. Image credit: Chase Doran Brownstein & Tyler R. Lyson, doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0118.

Newly-Discovered Giant Gar Species Survived Dinosaur Extinction

Aug 16, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Atractosteus grandei lived less than 1,500-2,500 years after the Chicxulub asteroid impact, an event that is widely accepted as a major cause behind the...

Color image of the Sparkler galaxy made by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Image credit: Mowla et al., arXiv: 2208.02233.

Webb Spots Ancient Globular Clusters in Gravitationally Lensed Galaxy

Aug 15, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have spotted ancient globular clusters around a remarkable galaxy that is strongly gravitationally...

Life reconstruction of Jakapil kaniukura. Image credit: Mauricio Álvarez / Gabriel Díaz Yanten.

New Armored Dinosaur Unearthed in Argentina

Aug 12, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Argentina have unveiled a new genus and species of armored thyreophoran dinosaur from the Cretaceous period. Life reconstruction of...

An artist’s impression of a Neptune-sized planet around an A-type star. Image credit: Steven Giacalone, University of California, Berkeley.

Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Found Orbiting A-Type Star HD 56414

Aug 12, 2022 by Natali Anderson

With an effective temperature of 8,500 K, the A-type star HD 56414 is one of the hottest stars known to host a planet smaller than Jupiter. An artist’s...

Qijianglong guokr chased by two carnivorous dinosaurs. Image credit: Lida Xing.

New Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Identified in Colombia

Aug 11, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of medium-sized sauropod dinosaur has been described from a single trunk vertebra found in the Department of Cesar, north-eastern...

The 2,500-year-old Olmec relief from the state of Tabasco, south-eastern Mexico. Image credit: INAH Tabasco Center.

Two 2,500-Year-Old Olmec Reliefs Unearthed in Mexico

Aug 10, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The two stone monuments depict local Olmec rulers and are at least 2,500 years old (Late Olmec period). The 2,500-year-old Olmec relief from the state...

This Webb/NIRCam image shows Earendel (center), the most distant star ever detected. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI.

Webb Images Earendel, Farthest Known Star

Aug 9, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Earendel emitted its light approximately 900 million years after the Big Bang. This Webb/NIRCam image shows Earendel (center), the most distant star ever...

A possible scene at Liang Bua Cave around 70,000 years ago: Leptoptilos robustus challenges a juvenile Komodo dragon for access to the carcass of a dwarf proboscidean while other giant marabou storks, vultures and hominins look on. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

Giant Marabou Storks Lived alongside Mysterious Homo floresiensis

Aug 7, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Over 50,000 years ago, Leptoptilos robustus — an extinct species of large-bodied stork around 1.8 m tall — co-existed with mysterious miniature...

This image from Webb’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) shows the Maisie’s galaxy, one of the earliest galaxies ever observed; if its estimated redshift of 14.3 is confirmed with future observations, that would mean we’re seeing it as it was just 290 million years after the Big Bang. Image credit: NASA / STScI / CEERS / TACC / S. Finkelstein / M. Bagley / Z. Levay.

Webb Spots Candidate for Most Distant Known Galaxy

Aug 4, 2022 by News Staff

The new Webb images, taken by its two cameras — the Near Infrared Camera and the Mid-Infrared Instrument — as part of the Cosmic Evolution...

Life restoration of Lalieudorhynchus gandi and an associated aquatic tupilakosaurid temnospondyl (bottom left); estimated water depth about 2 m, algae are possible. Image credit: Frederik Spindler.

Permian Synapsid Had Hippopotamus-Like Semi-Aquatic Lifestyle

Aug 4, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of caseid synapsid that lived 264 million years ago (Permian period) has been identified from a partial but well-preserved postcranial...

Gibbons et al. showed that bumblebees are capable of modifying their response to noxious stimuli in order to get a higher sugar reward. Image credit: Ralphs Fotos.

Bumblebees Can Experience Pain, New Study Claims

Aug 3, 2022 by News Staff

Insects are traditionally thought to respond to noxious stimuli in an inflexible manner, without the ability to modulate their behavior according to context....

Life reconstruction of Agriarctos nikolovi. Image credit: Velizar Simeonovski.

Giant Panda’s Close Relative Lived in Europe as Recently as 5.5 Million Years Ago

Aug 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Bulgaria have described a new species of the panda genus Agriarctos, from two fossilized teeth dating to 5.5 million years ago. Life...

An artist’s impression of Spinosaurus and a plesiosaur in a river. Image credit: Nick Longrich / University of Bath.

Some Plesiosaurs May Have Lived in Freshwater River Systems

Jul 29, 2022 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found several fossilized bones of plesiosaurs — traditionally thought to be sea creatures — in the Kem Kem beds, a 100-million-year-old...

LifeGate 2022 combines up-to-date phylogenetic knowledge with a graphical display of the richness and aesthetics of life on Earth. Image credit: Martin Freiberg / Leipzig University.

New Interactive Phylogenetic Map Shows Full Diversity of Life on Earth

Jul 29, 2022 by News Staff

LifeGate 2022, created by Leipzig University researcher Martin Freiberg, is an attempt to arrange all known species (about 2.6 million) in an interactive...

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus). Image credit: Andre Rerekura, Whaleshark Research.

Whale Shark is World’s Largest Omnivore, New Study Shows

Jul 25, 2022 by News Staff

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus), which have been reported up to 18 m long, is the largest known extant fish species. This creatrure is a filter feeder...

A mammaliamorph breathing out hot hair in a frigid night, hinting at endothermy. Image credit: Luzia Soares.

Warm-Bloodedness Appeared in Mammalian Ancestors 233 Million Years Ago, Study Suggests

Jul 22, 2022 by News Staff

Among modern animals, only mammals and birds are warm-blooded, and the ability to keep ourselves warm has enabled mammals to survive in icy weather and...

Ausichicrinites zelenskyyi. Image credit: Salamon et al., doi: 10.1098/rsos.220345.

Feather Star from Jurassic Period Named after President Zelenskyy

Jul 21, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Ausichicrinites zelenskyyi, the first Jurassic comatulid (feather star) from the African continent, has been named in honor of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the...