MS-LS4-2
Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.
- Animals
Dire wolves or not, these pups could help counter extinction
Some question if these are just gene-tweaked gray wolves. Still, the tech behind the new "dire wolves" might help some living at-risk species avoid extinction.
- Animals
Dinosaurs are still alive. Today, we call them birds
Birds don’t look like the scaly giants of Jurassic World. But fossils are revealing how these modern-day dinosaurs descended from ancient reptiles.
- Animals
What is a dinosaur?
Scientists have named more than 1,000 species of nonavian dinosaurs. Their legacy lives on in the 11,000-plus bird species alive today.
- Fossils
This paleontologist solved a nearly 50-year-old dino mystery
ReBecca Hunt-Foster described what is now the state dinosaur of Arkansas
- Animals
Elusive worm-lizards sport weird, spooky skulls
CT scans of these mysterious creatures turned up bizarre internal features. They could offer clues about amphisbaenians’ largely unknown behavior.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Megalodon
The extinct megalodon (Otodus megalodon) was the largest shark to ever prowl the oceans.
- Tech
Artificial intelligence helped design a new type of battery
Supercomputing and AI cut the early discovery steps from decades to just 80 hours. The process led to a new solid electrolyte.
- Life
Bacterial fossils exhibit earliest hints of photosynthesis
Microscopic fossils from Australia suggest that some bacteria evolved structures for oxygen-producing photosynthesis by 1.78 billion years ago.
- Animals
A newfound type of hedgehog is small, dark and adorable
At first, this hedgehog was mistaken for a lookalike relative. But its teeth, skull shape and DNA confirmed it as a new species.
- Animals
Horned lizards and snakes tend to ambush their prey
The reptiles’ horns could help or hinder during foraging, depending on how they hunt. This might be why horns evolved in some species and not others.
- Fossils
T. rex may have hidden its teeth behind lips
Dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus have long been portrayed with their big teeth bared. But new research suggests this wasn’t so.
- Fossils
Ancient jellyfish? Upside down this one looks like something else
A new look at an ancient sea animal called Essexella suggests it may have been a type of burrowing sea anemone, not a floating jelly.
