But not just this giant armadillo. Giant sloths, four-tusked elephants, and a whole bunch of other ancient mammals that roamed the earth over 10,000 years ago also all played a role. Over at National Geographic’s The Plate, they’re looking at the history of … Continued
The megalodon — also known as the biggest shark ever — became extinct a million years earlier than previously thought, due to competition from much smaller great white sharks, according to new research. The full paper is published in the Journal … Continued
Wildlife in Antarctica conjures up images of penguins, seals and other animals who have adapted to survive in such a harsh, frozen environment. But researchers have made an unexpected discovery that pulls back the curtain on what life may have … Continued
There are a couple of key features that make a turtle a turtle: its shell, for one, but also its toothless beak. A newly-discovered fossil turtle that lived 228 million years ago is shedding light on how modern turtles developed … Continued
Fossils of a new genus and species of an ankylosaurid dinosaur — Akainacephalus johnsoni — have been unearthed in the Kaiparowits Formation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM), in Kane County, southern Utah, U.S.A., and are revealing new details about the diversity … Continued
Today’s baleen whales (Mysticetes) support their massive bodies by filtering huge volumes of small prey from seawater using comb-like baleen in their mouths much like a sieve. But new evidence reported in the journal Current Biology on May 10 based on careful … Continued
A 180-million-year-old fossil has shed light on how some ancient crocodiles evolved into dolphin-like animals. The specimen — featuring a large portion of backbone — represents a missing link in the family tree of crocodiles, and was one of the … Continued
The tiny fossil of a prehistoric baby bird is helping scientists understand how early avians came into the world in the Age of Dinosaurs. The fossil, which dates back to the Mesozoic Era (250-65 million years ago), is a chick … Continued
Amber mined for centuries in Myanmar for jewelry is a treasure trove for understanding the evolution of spiders and their other arachnid relatives. This week, two independent teams describe four 100-million-year-old specimens encased in amber that look like a cross … Continued
A hoard of fossilized pterosaur eggs discovered in China is helping scientists gain a rare insight into the extinct flying reptiles. Newly released research into over 200 eggs and 16 embryos from the pterosaur Hamipterus, including the first computed tomography (CT) … Continued
Robins may be famous for their beautiful blue eggs, but ancient feathered dinosaurs beat them to the punch. Looking at fossil eggshells from China, researchers have found evidence that an omnivorous, ostrich-like dinosaur laid clutches of blue-green eggs, potentially helping to camouflage them … Continued
Scientists have uncovered an incredible specimen in Myanmar that has given us a glimpse of life from 100 million years ago - a piece of amber containing the remarkably preserved remains of an ancient bird hatchling. Inside the amber, you … Continued
Scientists have re-examined an overlooked museum fossil and discovered that it is the earliest known member of the titanosauriform family of dinosaurs. The fossil, which the researchers from Imperial College London and their colleagues in Europe have named Vouivria damparisensis, … Continued
The world’s biggest dinosaur footprint has been discovered in northwestern Australia, measuring at nearly 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 meters), the lead author of a study said. The track belonged to a sauropod, a long-necked herbivore. It tops a record … Continued
The woolly mammoth vanished from the Earth 4,000 years ago, but now scientists say they are on the brink of resurrecting the ancient beast in a revised form, through an ambitious feat of genetic engineering. Speaking ahead of the American … Continued
Here at Popular Science, we can’t wait to see Jurassic World, which opens in theaters nationwide today. I mean, who can resist velociraptor biker gangs: But we were also curious about the real scientific research that inspired the movie. So … Continued
The tail of a 99-million-year-old dinosaur, including bones, soft tissue, and even feathers, has been found preserved in amber, according to a report published today in the journal Current Biology. While individual dinosaur-era feathers have been found in amber, and … Continued
The bones of a massive mammoth raised last year from a Michigan farmer’s field may harbor evidence of the earliest traces of humans in the Americas. Over the decades, the bones of around 30 mammoths and 300 mastodons have been … Continued
Scientists have identified fossil proteins in a 3.8 million year-old ostrich eggshell, suggesting that proteins could provide valuable new insights into the evolutionary tree, much further back in time than was previously thought. The study, published in the journal eLife, … Continued
There’s a new Tyrannosaurus rex fossil on the block, with a cute nickname and about 20 percent of its former body intact, including a well-preserved skull. The T. rex was found by paleontologists from Burke Museum and the University of Washington (UW) in Montana’s famous dinosaur-fossil haven, the Hell … Continued