Science Daily - Fossils

Newly discovered birds from Late Cretaceous North America were hawk-sized and had powerful raptor-like feet, according to a new study.

Scientists have discovered one of the earliest examples of a winged seed, granting insight into the origin and early evolution of wind dispersal strategies in plants.

Pockets of microbes have been found living within a sealed fracture in 2-billion-year-old rock. The rock was excavated from the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa, an area known for its rich ore deposits. This is the oldest example of living microbes being found within ancient rock so far discovered. The team involved in the study built on its previous work to perfect a technique involving three types of imaging -- infrared spectroscopy, electron microscopy and fluorescent microscopy -- to confirm that the microbes were indigenous to the ancient core sample and not caused by contamination during the retrieval and study process. Research on these microbes could help us better understand the very early evolution of life, as well as the search for extraterrestrial life in similarly aged rock samples brought back from Mars.

By studying rare fossils of jaws and other skull parts of a long-extinct Caribbean monkey, a team of researchers says it has uncovered new evidence documenting the anatomy and ecology of an extinct primate once found on Hispaniola -- the Caribbean island on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located.

The discovery of new cynodont fossils from southern Brazil by a team of palaeontologists has led to a significant breakthrough in understanding the evolution of mammals.

Scientists successfully extracted and analyzed DNA from ancient cheese samples found alongside the Tarim Basin mummies in China, dating back approximately 3,600 years. The research suggests a new origin for kefir cheese and sheds light on the evolution of probiotic bacteria.

Analyzing fossils can be difficult -- especially when they're so small that they can only be seen with a microscope. Researchers have now come up with a solution.

A new, wide-ranging exploration of human remains casts doubt on a long-standing theory in archaeology known as the Kurgan hypothesis -- which, among other claims, suggests that humans first domesticated horses as early as the fourth millennium B.C.

A new study offers the most detailed glimpse yet into how Earth's surface temperature has changed over the past 485 million years. The data show that Earth has been and can be warmer than today -- but humans and animals cannot adapt fast enough to keep up with human-caused climate change.

Ancient DNA has provided spectacular insights into human history, particularly in Europe and Asia, where researchers have reconstructed the genomes of thousands of people. However, fewer than two dozen ancient genomes have been recovered from southern Africa -- specifically Botswana, South Africa and Zambia -- which has some of the world's earliest evidence of modern humans, with the oldest genomes dating back around 2,000 years.

A researcher has found evidence that the treeless, rugged, grassland landscape of the Falkland Islands was home to a lush, diverse rainforest up to 30 million years ago.

A mysterious tusked animal depicted in South African rock art might portray an ancient species preserved as fossils in the same region, according to a new study.

New archaeological research has discovered for the first time clear links between fossils of the iconic Australian dingo, and dogs from East Asia and New Guinea.

New research examines thousands of years of Arctic sled dog ancestry and reveals when and how Siberian and Alaskan sled dogs' DNA mixed.

A new study finds that a trilobite species with exceptionally well-preserved fossils from upstate New York has an additional set of legs underneath its head. The research suggests that having a fifth pair of head appendages might be more widespread among trilobites than once thought and helps researchers better understand how trilobite heads are segmented.

Climate change and asteroids are linked with animal origin and extinction -- and plate tectonics also seems to play a key evolutionary role, 'groundbreaking' new fossil research reveals. The discovery of an exceptionally well preserved ancient primitive Devonian coelacanth fish in remote Western Australia has been linked to a period of heightened tectonic activity, or movement in the Earth's crust, according to the new study.

Neanderthal remains recently discovered in a cave in France support well-known theory of why the Neanderthals became extinct, researchers behind a new study say.

Some species of pterosaurs flew by flapping their wings while others soared like vultures, demonstrates a new study. Findings include a new pterosaur with a five-meter wingspan, which is one of the most complete pterosaurs ever recovered from Afro-Arabia.

Chemists offer a new explanation for how collagen in dinosaur bones may have survived millions of years: An atomic-level interaction prevents its bonds from being broken down by water.

A new study showing how a prehistoric sea cow was preyed upon by not one, but two different carnivores -- a crocodilian and a shark -- is revealing clues into both the predation tactics of ancient creatures and the wider food chain millions of years ago.