Paleo in the News

Sharks aren’t silent after all

New Scientist - Tue, 03/25/2025 - 18:01
A species of houndshark called Mustelus lenticulatus makes sharp clicking noises when handled. Until now, sharks as a group were thought to be universally quiet
Categories: Fossils

Bizarre fossil may have been an entirely new type of life

New Scientist - Fri, 03/21/2025 - 10:00
Chemical analysis suggests the 400-million-year-old fossil Prototaxites was neither plant, animal or fungus – hinting at a mysterious life form that went extinct long ago
Categories: Fossils

From dinosaurs to birds: the origins of feather formation

Science Daily - Paleontology - Thu, 03/20/2025 - 13:46
Feathers, essential for thermoregulation, flight, and communication in birds, originate from simple appendages known as proto-feathers, which were present in certain dinosaurs.By studying embryonic development of the chicken, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have uncovered a key role of a molecular signalling pathway (the Shh pathway) in their formation. This research provides new insights into the morphogenetic mechanisms that led to feather diversification throughout evolution.
Categories: Fossils

From dinosaurs to birds: the origins of feather formation

Science Daily - Dinosaurs - Thu, 03/20/2025 - 13:46
Feathers, essential for thermoregulation, flight, and communication in birds, originate from simple appendages known as proto-feathers, which were present in certain dinosaurs.By studying embryonic development of the chicken, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have uncovered a key role of a molecular signalling pathway (the Shh pathway) in their formation. This research provides new insights into the morphogenetic mechanisms that led to feather diversification throughout evolution.
Categories: Fossils

Monkeys choose babysitters based on who has more parenting experience

New Scientist - Thu, 03/20/2025 - 12:00
Young female black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys often want to hold other females’ infants, but mothers are much more permissive of experienced caregivers
Categories: Fossils

Two-fingered dinosaur used its enormous claws to eat leaves

New Scientist - Thu, 03/20/2025 - 11:00
A dinosaur fossil discovered in Mongolia boasts the largest ever complete claw, but the herbivorous species only used it to grasp vegetation
Categories: Fossils

Why you don't need to worry about 'over-potting' your plants

New Scientist - Wed, 03/19/2025 - 13:00
Traditional advice tells us to only move growing plants to a pot one size larger. The science shows that you don't need to bother with this slow transition, says James Wong
Categories: Fossils

Budgie brains have a map of vocal sounds just like humans

New Scientist - Wed, 03/19/2025 - 11:00
Recordings of brain activity in budgerigars reveal sets of brain cells that represent different sounds like keys on a keyboard – a structure never seen before in any bird brain
Categories: Fossils

Genetic study reveals hidden chapter in human evolution

Science Daily - Paleontology - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 13:14
Modern humans descended from not one, but at least two ancestral populations that drifted apart and later reconnected, long before modern humans spread across the globe.
Categories: Fossils

Genetic study reveals hidden chapter in human evolution

Science Daily - Fossils - Tue, 03/18/2025 - 13:14
Modern humans descended from not one, but at least two ancestral populations that drifted apart and later reconnected, long before modern humans spread across the globe.
Categories: Fossils

Iguanas floated one-fifth of the way around the world to colonize Fiji

Science Daily - Paleontology - Mon, 03/17/2025 - 15:03
The only iguanas outside the Americas, Fiji iguanas are an enigma. A new genetic analysis shows that they are most closely related to the North American desert iguana, having separated about 34 million years ago, around the same time that the islands emerged from the sea. This suggests that the iguanas rafted 5,000 miles across the Pacific from western North America to reach Fiji -- the longest known transoceanic dispersal of any land animal.
Categories: Fossils

What the extraordinary medical know-how of wild animals can teach us

New Scientist - Mon, 03/17/2025 - 11:00
Birds do it, chimps do it, even monarch butterflies do it – and by paying more attention to how animals self-medicate, we can find new treatments for ourselves
Categories: Fossils

The surprising new idea behind what sparked life on Earth

New Scientist - Fri, 03/14/2025 - 13:00
We may be starting to get a grasp on what kick-started life on Earth – and it could help us search for it on other planets
Categories: Fossils

We may have discovered how dark oxygen is being made in the deep sea

New Scientist - Fri, 03/14/2025 - 12:00
A newly discovered mechanism could explain the shock finding last year that oxygen is produced by metallic nodules on the seafloor – and it might be happening on other planets, too
Categories: Fossils

Misha lived in zoos, but the elephant's tooth enamel helps reconstruct wildlife migrations

Science Daily - Paleontology - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 14:18
Misha lived her whole life in zoos, but this elephant's teeth are now helping scientists reconstruct wildlife migrations. Geologists show how strontium isotopes found in teeth or tusks reveal where large plant-eating animals may have roamed.
Categories: Fossils

Fossils reveal what the fur of early mammals looked like

New Scientist - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 13:00
A study of the fossilised fur of six mammals from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods has found they were all greyish-brown in colour, which would have helped them hide from dinosaurs
Categories: Fossils

Dozens of 3-toed dinosaurs leave their mark in Australia

Science Daily - Paleontology - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 12:09
A researcher has confirmed a boulder at a regional school contains one of the highest concentrations of dinosaur footprints per square meter ever documented in Australia.
Categories: Fossils

Dozens of 3-toed dinosaurs leave their mark in Australia

Science Daily - Dinosaurs - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 12:09
A researcher has confirmed a boulder at a regional school contains one of the highest concentrations of dinosaur footprints per square meter ever documented in Australia.
Categories: Fossils

Dozens of 3-toed dinosaurs leave their mark in Australia

Science Daily - Fossils - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 12:09
A researcher has confirmed a boulder at a regional school contains one of the highest concentrations of dinosaur footprints per square meter ever documented in Australia.
Categories: Fossils

New name for one of the world's rarest rhinoceroses

Science Daily - Paleontology - Thu, 03/13/2025 - 12:09
A recent study has reclassified the species commonly known as the Javan rhinoceros, proposing a more precise scientific name: Eurhinoceros sondaicus. The research highlights key differences in body structure and ecology that set this species apart from the Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). Recognizing it as a separate genus not only improves scientific understanding but also has important implications for conservation efforts.
Categories: Fossils

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