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Researchers name a new species of reptile from 212 million years ago

This is an artist's rendering of a <em>Vivaron haydeni</em> that lived more than 200 million years.

Similarities found between how ancient and modern fish survived youth

An artist's depiction of what the Strud nursery ecosystem may have looked like, including the three different placoderm species discovered at the site. The species pictured, from top to bottom, <i>Turrisaspis strudensis </i>(left lateral view), <i>Grossilepis rikiki</i> (dorsal view), <i>Phyllolepis undulata</i> (dorsal view).An international team of scientists has described a rare fossil site that is believed to be among the earliest evidence of different fish species using a common nursery -- much...

Browsing antelope turned ancient African forests into grassy savanna ecosystems

The arrival of medium and large antelope in Africa coincides directly with the evolution of thorn trees in the African savanna.Millions of years ago, Africa's savannas were covered with thick, ancient forests, which disappeared and turned into the grassy ecosystems that they are today.

New species of pterosaur discovered in Patagonia

This is a paleoartist's reconstruction of a ptesosaur.Scientists today announced the discovery of a new species of pterosaur from the Patagonia region of South America. The cranial remains were in an excellent state of preservation and belonged...

One of the most significant Etruscan discoveries in decades names female goddess Uni

Inscribed surfaces of the stele already have revealed mention of the goddess Uni as well as a reference to the god Tina, the name of the supreme deity of the Etruscans.Archaeologists translating a very rare inscription on an ancient Etruscan temple stone have discovered the name Uni -- an important female goddess.

Beetles pollinated orchids millions of year ago, fossil evidence shows

This is a fossil ptilodactyline beetle found in amber from Mexico. The black arrow points to pollinia attached to the beetle's mouthparts.When most people hear the word "pollinator," they think of bees and butterflies. However, certain beetles are known to pollinate plants as well, and new fossil evidence indicates that they...

Tool or weapon? New research throws light on stone artifacts' use as ancient projectiles

This is one of 55 round stone artifacts analyzed to determine their use as throwing weapons for hunting and defense.A team of psychologists, kinesiologists and archaeologists at Indiana University and elsewhere are throwing new light on a longstanding archaeological mystery: the purpose of a large number of spherical stone...

University of Washington paleontologists discover major T. rex fossil

Paleontologists prepare to remove a <em>Tyrannosaurus</em> rex skull from a fossil dig site in northern Montana and transport it to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington.Paleontologists with the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and the University of Washington have discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex, including a very complete skull. The find, which paleontologists estimate...

Pre-Hispanic Mexican civilization may have bred and managed rabbits and hares

An illustration of the leporid sculpture from the Oztoyahualco compound of Teotihuacan.Hispanic Mexican city of Teotihuacan may have bred rabbits and hares for food, fur and bone tools, according to a study published August 17, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS...

An ancient Mayan Copernicus

For more than 120 years the Venus Table of the Dresden Codex -- an ancient Mayan book containing astronomical data -- has been of great interest to scholars around the...

New species of extinct river dolphin discovered in Smithsonian collection

Artistic reconstruction of a pod of <em>Arktocara yakataga</em>, swimming offshore of Alaska during the Oligocene, about 25 million years ago, with early mountains of Southeast Alaska in the background. The authors speculate that <em>Arktocara</em> may have socialized in pods, like today's oceanic dolphins, while possessing a much longer snout, like its closest living relative in the freshwater rivers of South Asia.A fossil that has been in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History since it was discovered in 1951 is today helping scientists piece together the evolutionary...

13th century Maya codex, long shrouded in controversy, proves genuine

This is an image from the Grolier Codex, the oldest known manuscript in ancient America.The Grolier Codex, an ancient document that is among the rarest books in the world, has been regarded with skepticism since it was reportedly unearthed by looters from a cave...

Genetics of African KhoeSan populations maps to Kalahari Desert geography

A Nama man is holding a whip outside his tent, while herding sheep and goats in the Richtersveld, South Africa.Geography and ecology are key factors that have influenced the genetic makeup of human groups in southern Africa, according to new research discussed in the journal GENETICS, a publication of...

A rare small specimen discovered from the age of flying giants

Artist impression of the small-bodied, Late Cretaceous azhdarchoid pterosaur from British Columbia. These flying reptiles are shown here not surrounded not by other pterosaurs, but birds. Some researchers have argued that small pterosaurs were ecologically replaced by birds by the Late Cretaceous, but the discovery of new, small-bodied pterosaur remains from British Columbia shows that at least some smaller flying reptiles lived alongside ancient birds. .A rare small-bodied pterosaur, a flying reptile from the Late Cretaceous period approximately 77 million years ago, is the first of its kind to have been discovered on the west...

UT study cracks coldest case: How the most famous human ancestor died

UT Austin professors John Kappelman and Richard Ketcham examine casts of Lucy while scanning the original fossil (background).Lucy, the most famous fossil of a human ancestor, probably died after falling from a tree, according to a study appearing in Nature led by researchers at The University of...

New tiny species of extinct Australian marsupial lion named after Sir David Attenborough

Reconstruction by palaeoartist Peter Schouten of <i>Microleo attenboroughi</i> prowling along the branches of rainforest trees in search of prey.The fossil remains of a new tiny species of marsupial lion which prowled the lush rainforests of northern Australia about 18 million years ago have been unearthed in the Riversleigh...

Europe's oldest known living inhabitant

Adonis, a Bosinan pine, more than 1,075 years old, living in the alpine forests of the Pindos mountains in northern Greece.A Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii) growing in the highlands of northern Greece has been dendrocronologically dated to be more than 1075 years old. This makes it currently the oldest known...

High-tech imaging reveals precolonial Mexican manuscript hidden from view for 500 years

Researchers from the University of Oxford's Bodleian Libraries and from universities in the Netherlands have used high-tech imaging to uncover the details of a rare Mexican codex dating from before...

Recent connection between North and South America reaffirmed

A cargo ship in the Panama Canal traverses volcanic rocks that helped form the Isthmus of Panama.Long ago, one great ocean flowed between North and South America. When the narrow Isthmus of Panama joined the continents about 3 million years ago, it also separated the Atlantic...

Scientists on the prowl for 'the ultimate Pokémon'

The second male specimen of&nbsp;<em>Zenkerella insignis</em>&nbsp;was found near the village of Ureca on Bioko, an island off the west coast of Africa.Researchers are on a real-life search for what one calls "the ultimate Pokémon": Zenkerella, an elusive scaly-tailed squirrel that has never been spotted alive by scientists. However, biologists recently found...

Elbows of extinct marsupial lion suggest unique hunting style

Author Christine Janis holding a cast of the skull of <i>Thylacoleo carnifex</i> in the Natural History Museum, London.Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Málaga have proposed that the long extinct marsupial lion hunted in a very unique way - by using its teeth to hold prey...

Twenty-five little bones tell a puzzling story about early primate evolution

The extinct Gujarat primates appear to be most similar to the gray mouse lemur, </i>Microcebus murinus</i>, pictured here.A cache of exquisitely preserved bones, found in a coal mine in the state of Gujarat, India, appear to be the most primitive primate bones yet discovered, according to an...

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