Paleo in the News

Scientists have uncovered microbial DNA preserved in mammoth remains dating back more than one million years, revealing the oldest host-associated microbial DNA ever recovered. By sequencing nearly 500 specimens, the team identified ancient bacterial lineages—including some linked to modern elephant diseases—that coexisted with mammoths for hundreds of thousands of years. These discoveries shed light on the deep evolutionary history of microbes, their role in megafaunal health, and how they may have influenced adaptation and extinction.

Scientists have uncovered microbial DNA preserved in mammoth remains dating back more than one million years, revealing the oldest host-associated microbial DNA ever recovered. By sequencing nearly 500 specimens, the team identified ancient bacterial lineages—including some linked to modern elephant diseases—that coexisted with mammoths for hundreds of thousands of years. These discoveries shed light on the deep evolutionary history of microbes, their role in megafaunal health, and how they may have influenced adaptation and extinction.

Two fossils found in Germany show very young pterodactyls with arm bones thought to have been broken in flight, probably because of severe tropical cyclones

Two hatchling pterosaurs with fractured arm bones point to ancient storms as the cause of mass casualties preserved in Germany’s Solnhofen Limestone.

The fast radio burst came from 130 million light-years away. That proximity allowed an in-depth search for what produced the mysterious signal.

Photographer Nicole Tung captures the tough world facing South-East Asia’s fishers and their families in this series of images, which won her the Carmignac Photojournalism Award for fieldwork

A new analysis suggests that recent extinctions have been rare, limited mostly to islands and slowing. But others argue this is all just semantics.

Thumbnails might have boosted rodents’ food-handling skills, helping them thrive worldwide.

Four new species of aquatic birds related to modern penguins have been described from fossils found in New Zealand, showing how these creatures flourished around 60 million years ago

Researchers found that fruit fly sperm push against one another and align in orderly bundles, preventing knots that could block reproduction.

European artisans turned a Tang Dynasty tomb guardian sculpture into a symbol of medieval Venetian statehood, researchers say.

An analysis of a range of dry dog foods finds that none are nutritionally complete, but vegan and vegetarian foods compare well with meat-based ones

Flamingoes, a kingfisher and two red-crowned cranes are shown in all their glory in these images from the new book Aviary: The bird in contemporary photography

Bizarrely, Iberian harvester ant queens lay eggs that turn into male builder harvester ants, and some of her offspring are hybrids of the two species

Life teems under the Antarctic ice sheet. In subglacial Lake Mercer, it is surprisingly versatile and isolated from the rest of the world.

Cuban brown anoles have the highest blood lead levels of any vertebrate known — three times that of the previous record holder, the Nile crocodile.

On Mars, the Perseverance rover found a spotted rock that could bear signs of ancient life. On Earth, a researcher used a lookalike for a dry run.

Fossilized bones in Brazil reveal that deadly infections plagued sauropods 80 million years ago. Researchers uncovered unhealed lesions consistent with osteomyelitis, pointing to pathogens spread through stagnant waters or insect bites.

Fossilized bones in Brazil reveal that deadly infections plagued sauropods 80 million years ago. Researchers uncovered unhealed lesions consistent with osteomyelitis, pointing to pathogens spread through stagnant waters or insect bites.

Fossilized bones in Brazil reveal that deadly infections plagued sauropods 80 million years ago. Researchers uncovered unhealed lesions consistent with osteomyelitis, pointing to pathogens spread through stagnant waters or insect bites.