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.
- Fossils
This big dino had tiny arms before T. rex made them cool
A predecessor to Tyrannosaurus rex, Meraxes gigas had a giant head. But the muscularity of its puny arms suggests those limbs served some purpose.
- Microbes
This giant bacterium lives up to its name
The newly discovered Thiomargarita magnifica is about the size of your eyelash and is surprisingly complex.
- Fossils
Bright-colored feathers may have topped pterosaurs’ heads
Fossil remains of a flying reptile hint that their vibrant crests may have originated 250 million years ago in a common ancestor with dinosaurs.
- Fossils
Cool Jobs: Bringing paleontology to the people
From museums to movies, these three paleontologists totally rock their connections with the public.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Primate
Primates are mammals that tend to have big brains, forward-facing vision, fingernails and flexible hands and feet.
- 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.
- 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.
- Animals
Scientists discover the first true millipede
The newfound deep-living species tunnels belowground using a whopping 1,306 legs!
- Animals
Let’s learn about chimpanzees and bonobos
Humankind’s closest cousins in the animal kingdom may look similar, but in terms of behavior, they’re polar opposites.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
