Posts Tagged ‘paleontology’
30-foot prehistoric crocodile wore head ‘shield’
U. MISSOURI (US) — A researcher has identified a new species of prehistoric crocodile nicknamed “Shieldcroc” due to a thick-skinned shield on its head. Continue…
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 18:07 - 1 Comment
Science & Technology - Jan 31, 2012 12:11 - 16 Comments
Mouse to elephant in 24M generations
MONASH (AUS) — A new study says that it would take 24 million generations for a mouse-sized animal to evolve to the size of an elephant. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jan 23, 2012 12:21 - 1 Comment
Like Lady Gaga, early primate favored claws
U. FLORIDA (US) — Our primate ancestors may have traded flat nails for raised claws in the name of function, much like pop icons Adele and Lady Gaga are doing today in the name of fashion. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jan 19, 2012 12:55 - 3 Comments
‘Tulip’ sea creature defies definition
U. TORONTO (CAN) — A bizarre creature that lived in the ocean more than 500 million years ago has emerged from the famous Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jan 9, 2012 14:55 - 0 Comments
50-million-year-old crickets with ears
U. COLORADO-BOULDER (US) — A new study of cricket and katydid fossils suggests the insects evolved ears long before bats, their major predator, came along. (more…)
Science & Technology - Nov 29, 2011 11:26 - 0 Comments
Artificial ‘brain’ network hunts for fossils
WASHINGTON U.-ST. LOUIS (US) — Artificial intelligence is giving paleontologists a leg up in locating fossils—usually a task akin to finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. (more…)
Top Stories - Nov 21, 2011 11:26 - 0 Comments
True colors of moths 47 million years ago
YALE (US) — Scientists have for the first time determined the original colors of an ancient moth, based on nearly 50 million-year-old fossils from Germany. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 27, 2011 11:46 - 1 Comment
Diverse mollusks share family tree
BROWN (US) — Scientists have put together the most comprehensive mollusk evolutionary tree ever compiled, including some organisms thought until recently to be extinct for millions of years. (more…)
Top Stories - Sep 19, 2011 10:22 - 0 Comments
Big croc shared river with 42-foot snake
U. FLORIDA (US) — A new 20-foot extinct crocodile species discovered in the same Colombian coal mine may have given Titanoboa, the world’s largest snake, a run for its money. (more…)
Top Stories - Sep 12, 2011 11:33 - 1 Comment
Virtual skull: 3D peek at hominid brain
EMORY (US) — A virtual endocast of a hominid skull that dates back nearly 2 million years raises questions about the evolution of the human brain. (more…)
Top Stories - Aug 24, 2011 9:41 - 0 Comments
Fingernails are 55 million years old
U. FLORIDA (US) — Nails on fingers and toes first appeared at the same time as a 200,000-year global warming event 55 million years ago, giving modern primates better agility and the ability to grasp. (more…)
Science & Technology - Aug 10, 2011 11:34 - 0 Comments
Dino footprints discovered Down Under
EMORY (US) — Polar dinosaur tracks from about 105 million years ago are offering clues into animal behavior during the last period of pronounced global warming. (more…)
Top Stories - Jul 20, 2011 11:37 - 0 Comments
My, what big teeth you had ‘Croc Dog’
MCGILL (CAN) — A newly identified crocodile species that lived 70 million years ago had very big teeth and a dog-shaped head—and galloped on long limbs to chase down prey. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jul 13, 2011 16:36 - 3 Comments
Team finds last dino before extinction
YALE (US) — The youngest dinosaur preserved in the fossil record before the catastrophic meteor impact 65 million years ago has been discovered in Montana. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jul 5, 2011 13:25 - 0 Comments
120 million-year-old bird gets an X-ray
U. PENNSYLVANIA (US) — Trace metals in fossils are offering clues about the pigmentations of creatures dead for more than a hundred million years. (more…)
Top Stories - Jun 23, 2011 17:08 - 0 Comments
Dinosaurs were as warm as mammals
CALTECH (US) — The first direct measurements of the body temperature of dinosaurs show some were as warm as most modern mammals. (more…)
Top Stories - May 27, 2011 9:37 - 0 Comments
Giants were predators of ancient deep
YALE (US) — Fossils discovered in Morocco show that a group of prehistoric sea predators grew more than a foot longer and lived for 30 million years longer than previously thought. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 19, 2011 14:55 - 0 Comments
Big brains gave mammals strong sniffers
U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — Scientists used CT scans to reconstruct the brains of two early mammals and discovered that they had larger-than-expected brains, particularly in the area for smell. (more…)
Science & Technology - Apr 1, 2011 12:32 - 3 Comments
Fossil hints to Earth’s first flowers
INDIANA U. (US) — A 125 million-year-old fossil of an intact eudicot, a flowering plant family that includes buttercups and dandelions, has researchers arguing for an earlier origin of the eudicots—and perhaps flowering plants in general. (more…)
