Paleo in the News

When did life begin on Earth? New evidence reveals a shocking story

New Scientist - Wed, 02/19/2025 - 06:00
Fossils and genetics are starting to point to life emerging surprisingly soon after Earth formed, when the planet was hellishly hot and seemingly uninhabitable
Categories: Fossils

The 7 most consequential moments in the history of everything

New Scientist - Tue, 02/18/2025 - 06:00
From the beginning of time to the origins of life, our "when" special series tackles the timing of crucial events and the surprising new discoveries we are making about them
Categories: Fossils

Near-complete skull discovery reveals 'top apex', leopard-sized 'fearsome' carnivore

Science Daily - Paleontology - Mon, 02/17/2025 - 12:36
A rare discovery of a nearly complete skull in the Egyptian desert has led scientists to the 'dream' revelation of a new 30-million-year-old species of the ancient apex predatory carnivore, Hyaenodonta.
Categories: Fossils

Near-complete skull discovery reveals 'top apex', leopard-sized 'fearsome' carnivore

Science Daily - Fossils - Mon, 02/17/2025 - 12:36
A rare discovery of a nearly complete skull in the Egyptian desert has led scientists to the 'dream' revelation of a new 30-million-year-old species of the ancient apex predatory carnivore, Hyaenodonta.
Categories: Fossils

'Plants are artists' at new Saatchi exhibition celebrating flora

New Scientist - Fri, 02/14/2025 - 12:25
Flowers have long inspired artists, but could they be artists themselves? A new Saatchi Gallery exhibition explores their beauty, symbolism and creative intelligence.
Categories: Fossils

Surprising fossils suggest early animals survived outside of water

New Scientist - Fri, 02/14/2025 - 08:00
A new look at fossils from the Cambrian Period around 500 million years ago has revealed that some of the earliest animals spent time on mudflats that were sometimes exposed to the air – a find that could rewrite the story of when life first left the oceans
Categories: Fossils

Giant megalodon sharks may have sparred with their jaws

New Scientist - Fri, 02/14/2025 - 02:00
Fossil teeth of extinct megalodon sharks have grooves made by other megalodon teeth, hinting at violent encounters between these giant predators
Categories: Fossils

Ancient Egyptian mummified bodies smell 'woody,' 'spicy' and 'sweet'

Science Daily - Fossils - Thu, 02/13/2025 - 23:32
Ancient Egyptian mummified bodies smell 'woody,' 'spicy' and 'sweet', finds a new study, revealing new details about mumification practices.
Categories: Fossils

Global warming and mass extinctions: What we can learn from plants from the last ice age

Science Daily - Paleontology - Wed, 02/12/2025 - 14:15
Global warming is producing a rapid loss of plant species -- according to estimates, roughly 600 plant species have died out since 1750 -- twice the number of animal species lost. But which species are hit hardest? And how does altered biodiversity actually affect interactions between plants? Experts have tackled these questions and, in two recent studies, presented the answers they found buried in the past: using fragments of plant genetic material (DNA) deposited in lake sediments, they were able to gain new insights into how the composition of flora changed 15,000 to 11,000 years ago during the warming at the end of the last ice age, which is considered to be the last major mass extinction event before today. This comparison can offer an inkling of what might await us in the future.
Categories: Fossils

Underwater fossil bed discovered by collectors preserves rare slice of Florida's past

Science Daily - Paleontology - Wed, 02/12/2025 - 12:48
Fossil collectors in Florida have discovered an ancient sinkhole, now at the bottom of a river, which holds the remains of animals rarely seen in the state, including a type of giant armadillo, giant ground sloths and an odd-looking tapir.
Categories: Fossils

Underwater fossil bed discovered by collectors preserves rare slice of Florida's past

Science Daily - Fossils - Wed, 02/12/2025 - 12:48
Fossil collectors in Florida have discovered an ancient sinkhole, now at the bottom of a river, which holds the remains of animals rarely seen in the state, including a type of giant armadillo, giant ground sloths and an odd-looking tapir.
Categories: Fossils

The science behind the gardening hack of adding aspirin to plant water

New Scientist - Wed, 02/12/2025 - 12:00
James Wong had always dismissed the idea aspirin was beneficial to plants. But digging into the science brought some surprises
Categories: Fossils

Dancing turtles help us understand how they navigate around the world

New Scientist - Wed, 02/12/2025 - 10:00
Some turtles "dance" when they anticipate food, which gives us clues as to how they navigate from A to B
Categories: Fossils

How a moth uses an optical illusion to disguise itself as a leaf

New Scientist - Wed, 02/12/2025 - 10:00
The smooth wings of fruit-sucking moths appear to be ridged like a leaf – but the resemblance is created by nanostructures that reflect light in an unusual way
Categories: Fossils

Quail-sized feathered dinosaur may be the earliest known bird

New Scientist - Wed, 02/12/2025 - 10:00
Archaeopteryx, long considered the earliest fossil bird, could be knocked off its perch by Baminornis zhenghensis, which lived around 150 million years ago and had a short tail like those of modern birds
Categories: Fossils

A whole new world of tiny beings challenges fundamental ideas of life

New Scientist - Wed, 02/12/2025 - 10:00
The surprising discovery of entities smaller than viruses raises profound questions about what life is and how it got started
Categories: Fossils

SpaceX launch site is haven for threatened and endangered species

New Scientist - Tue, 02/11/2025 - 02:00
Vandenberg Space Force Base in Lompoc, California, is home to the US Space Force and is a major Space X launch site. It's also home to unique and rare biodiversity
Categories: Fossils

Anomaly in the deep sea

Science Daily - Paleontology - Mon, 02/10/2025 - 12:25
Beryllium-10, a rare radioactive isotope produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere, provides valuable insights into the Earth's geological history. A research team has discovered an unexpected accumulation of this isotope in samples taken from the Pacific seabed. Such an anomaly may be attributed to shifts in ocean currents or astrophysical events that occurred approximately 10 million years ago. The findings hold the potential to serve as a global time marker, representing a promising advancement in the dating of geological archives spanning millions of years.
Categories: Fossils

Soft tissue from a 183 million-year-old Jurassic plesiosaur analyzed

Science Daily - Paleontology - Fri, 02/07/2025 - 11:26
Researchers have analyzed the soft tissue from a fossilized plesiosaur for the first time. The results show that the long-necked marine reptile had both smooth and scaly skin. This was likely so it could both swim rapidly and move along rough seabeds.
Categories: Fossils

Soft tissue from a 183 million-year-old Jurassic plesiosaur analyzed

Science Daily - Fossils - Fri, 02/07/2025 - 11:26
Researchers have analyzed the soft tissue from a fossilized plesiosaur for the first time. The results show that the long-necked marine reptile had both smooth and scaly skin. This was likely so it could both swim rapidly and move along rough seabeds.
Categories: Fossils

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