Paleo in the News

Lamniform sharks such as great whites and tiger sharks are famous for their size. The first such giants evolved 15 million years earlier than thought.

A hybrid grolar bear saga is unfolding in the Arctic, and the tale of this strange family has much to tell us about nature on our changing planet

Tantalizing results from small trials and anecdotes raised hopes that drugs like Ozempic could help. Despite setbacks, researchers aren’t giving up yet.

Stalagmite data suggest Homo floresiensis faced prolonged drought that stressed both them and their prey, contributing to their disappearance.

A new radiocarbon study has clarified the timing of the colossal Thera eruption, placing it before Egypt’s New Kingdom. Researchers analyzed artifacts tied to Pharaoh Ahmose, gaining rare access to museum materials. Their results favor a younger chronology for early 18th Dynasty Egypt. The revised timeline reshapes regional historical connections.

A reshaped vaccine committee voted to scale back newborn hepatitis B shots despite decades of data showing the birth dose is safe, effective and vital.

Tiny cameras threaded inside a Neandertal skull provide evidence that their big noses were not an adaptation to cold climates.

By studying the genes responsible for the seahorse’s brood pouch, researchers uncovered a new route to “motherhood.”

Chatbots that dole out fact-laden arguments can sway voters. Those facts don’t have to be true.

A closeup look at colibactin’s structure reveals chemical motifs that guide its mutation-wreaking “warheads” to specific stretches of DNA.

Nanotyrannus wasn’t a juvenile T. rex but a petite adult of a separate species, a new study of fossil hyoid bones finds, bolstering a recent report.

A volcanic eruption may have triggered a deadly chain of events that brought the Black Plague to Europe in the 14th century.

From a dragonfly to marine organisms, photographer Michael Benson zoomed in with powerful scanning electron microscopes to take these extraordinary shots for his book Nanocosmos

Nearly three decades since the remarkable cloning of Dolly the sheep, it has all gone quiet on the human cloning front. Michael Le Page wonders what's happening behind the scenes

Camera traps in an area of the Leuser rainforest patrolled by NGOs spotted 17 tigers in 2023 and 18 Sumatran tigers in 2024, while surveys elsewhere on the island averaged seven

Duelling prairie chickens, a snake-mimicking moth and a once-a-year sunrise at the South Pole feature in the best images from the Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2025

Pet owners' increasing tendency to see their animals as children rather than dogs or cats can have dire consequences. Owners, and veterinarians, should be wary, warns Eddie Clutton

The modern house cat reached China in the 8th century. Before that, another cat — the leopard cat — hunted the rodents in ancient Chinese settlements.

An ancient, shared set of human-specific genes underwent changes in a geographically isolated population after around 300,000 years ago, scientists say.

Human activity can cause “healed” faults to release their stored strength, triggering unexpected quakes in tectonically stable regions.