MS-LS4-1

Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.

  1. Animals

    The end of the dinosaurs appears to have come in springtime

    Fish fossils from North Dakota suggest when the Chicxulub asteroid devastated Earth, triggering the mass extinction of dinosaurs and other species.

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  2. Archaeology

    Our species may have reached Europe while Neandertals were there

    Archaeological finds from an ancient French rock-shelter show periodic settlements by both populations, just not at the same time.

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  3. Animals

    Mysterious kunga is the oldest known human-bred hybrid animal

    People bred these animals — part donkey, part wild ass — some 4,500 years ago, probably for use in fighting wars.

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  4. Animals

    Scientists discover the first true millipede

    The newfound deep-living species tunnels belowground using a whopping 1,306 legs!

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  5. Fossils

    ‘Penis worms’ could have been the original hermits

    These soft-bodied critters lived in abandoned shells about 500 million years ago, a new study suggests.

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  6. Fossils

    Fossils point to earliest dinosaurs that lived in herds

    A fossilized family gathering of long-necked Mussaurus from 193 million years ago is the earliest evidence yet of herd behavior in dinos.

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  7. Earth

    Explainer: The age of dinosaurs

    Take a trip back to the Mesozoic Era to explore how geologic events, ecosystems and evolution were connected during the so-called age of dinosaurs.

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  8. Humans

    The ultimate genealogical search hunts for our earliest ancestors

    The complex search to identify humans’ most distant cousins is long, complex and far from straightforward. It’s also far from over.

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  9. Humans

    Genetics show humans likely trace back to Africa

    Our history began looking ever more complex once geneticists revealed our ancestors picked up new DNA as they traveled across time and continents.

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  10. Animals

    Will the woolly mammoth return?

    Scientists are using genetic engineering and cloning to try to bring back extinct species or save endangered ones. Here’s how and why.

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  11. Fossils

    Baby pterosaurs may have been able to fly right after hatching

    A bone crucial for lift-off was stronger in hatchling pterosaurs than in adults. The baby reptiles also had shorter, broader wings than grown-ups.

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  12. Earth

    New beetle species found in fossil poop of this dino relative

    Whole beetles preserved in fossilized reptilian poop suggest that ancient droppings may deserve a closer look.

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