Paleo in the News

Snail shells are often colorful and strikingly patterned. This is due to pigments that are produced in special cells of the snail and stored in the shell in varying concentrations. Fossil shells, on the other hand, are usually pale and inconspicuous because the pigments are very sensitive and have already decomposed. Residues of ancient color patterns are therefore very rare. This makes a new discovery all the more astonishing: researchers found pigments in twelve-million-year-old fossilized snail shells.

Nearly 400 exceptionally well-preserved fossils dating back 470 million years have been discovered in the south of France by two amateur paleontologists. The discovery provides unprecedented information on the polar ecosystems of the Ordovician period.

Nearly 400 exceptionally well-preserved fossils dating back 470 million years have been discovered in the south of France by two amateur paleontologists. The discovery provides unprecedented information on the polar ecosystems of the Ordovician period.

The Greenland ice sheet lies thousands of miles from North America yet holds clues to the distant continent's environmental history. Nearly two miles thick in places, the ice sheet grows as snow drifts from the sky and builds up over time. But snow isn't the only thing carried in by air currents that swirl around the atmosphere, with microscopic pollen grains and pieces of ash mixing with snowfall and preserving records of the past in the ice. A new study examined these pollen grains and identified how eastern Canada's forests grew, retreated, and changed through time.

Inspired during field work in South Australia's Flinders Ranges, geoscientists have proposed that all-time low volcanic carbon dioxide emissions triggered a 57-million-year-long global 'Sturtian' ice age.

These stunning images are finalists in the World of Fungi category in the International Garden Photographer of the Year contest

A group of more than a dozen orcas has disappeared after being trapped in freezing Japanese waters for about a day – it isn’t known if they escaped or have died

Dinosaurs' range of locomotion made them incredibly adaptable, researchers have found.

Dinosaurs' range of locomotion made them incredibly adaptable, researchers have found.

A subspecies of the Somali sharp-snouted worm lizard was found by a landmine clearance team, the first official sighting since 1931

The rivers of Australia, which once flowed across its now dry interior, used to host a range of bizarre animals -- including a sleek predatory lobe-finned fish with large fangs and bony scales. The newly described fossil fish discovered in remote fossil fields west of Alice Springs has been named Harajicadectes zhumini by palaeontologists.

The rivers of Australia, which once flowed across its now dry interior, used to host a range of bizarre animals -- including a sleek predatory lobe-finned fish with large fangs and bony scales. The newly described fossil fish discovered in remote fossil fields west of Alice Springs has been named Harajicadectes zhumini by palaeontologists.

Researchers have recreated the hybridisation of two wild yeast species that led to the first lager yeasts, generating new varieties that could make beer with a range of new flavours

For decades we thought the Irish elk’s body size alone explained why it had enormous antlers, but the truth may be more complicated

There were 69 unprovoked shark attacks on people and 10 fatalities in 2023 worldwide, with four of the deaths occurring in Australia

In the fossil record, trees typically are preserved with only their trunks. They don't usually include any leaves to show what their canopies and overall forms may have looked like. In a new study, researchers describe fossilized trees from New Brunswick, Canada with a surprising and unique three-dimensional crown shape.

In the fossil record, trees typically are preserved with only their trunks. They don't usually include any leaves to show what their canopies and overall forms may have looked like. In a new study, researchers describe fossilized trees from New Brunswick, Canada with a surprising and unique three-dimensional crown shape.

Researchers studying fruit fly egg cells have discovered that they stir up the fluid inside them with a twister-like current

Shiba inus and miniature dachshunds are among the longest-lived dog breeds while flat-faced dogs tend to die younger, a comprehensive study of UK pets has found

Tiny male anglerfish fuse their bodies into the larger females, and this strange strategy may have helped the fish diversify widely in the deep sea