Fossils
- Animals
Scientists Say: Dire wolf
Dire wolves are an extinct species of wolf that roamed North America from about 300,000 to 12,000 years ago.
- Archaeology
European fossils may belong to earliest known hominid
New fossils suggest that the earliest non-ape human ancestors may have evolved in Europe, not Africa.
- Fossils
Study claims to have found oldest human fossils
Humans, as a species, may be much older than previously thought. They also may have evolved further North and West of the suspected cradle of human evolution.
- Animals
How the house mouse found its home
Once people started settling down 15,000 years ago, a mouse species followed them indoors. The animals didn’t need people to be farming and storing food.
- Archaeology
This hominid may have shared Earth with humans
Newfound fossils in South Africa point to a far more recent age for Homo naledi than had been accepted. If correct, this hominid might have coexisted with humans — even interacted with our species.
- Animals
Scientists are rethinking the dinosaur family tree
The dinosaur family tree consists of three main branches. Or maybe not. A new study suggests a rewrite is due.
- Fossils
Fossils offer new candidate for earliest life
Rock unearthed in Canada appears to hold fossils from seafloor microbes that would have lived around 4 billion years ago, when Earth was very young.
- Science & Society
Fossils point to Neandertal diets — and medicine use
Whether Neandertals were largely meat-eaters or vegans depended on their environment, fossils now suggest. Their teeth also indicate they used natural medicines.
- Animals
What killed the dinosaurs?
New evidence is emerging that a devastating combo of events — an asteroid impact and supervolcanoes — may be behind the dinosaurs’ demise.
- Animals
Dinosaur tail preserved in amber — feathers and all
Scientists have found the tail of a dinosaur trapped in amber. It includes both feathers and identifiable bits of bone.
- Animals
Speckled dino spurs debate about ancient animals’ colors
Structures found in fossil dinosaur skin may give clues to the creatures’ colors and how they lived. But not all scientists agree on how to interpret what they see.
- Animals
Dino brain found ‘pickled’ in boggy swamp
Scientists claim to have identified the first fossil brain tissue from a dinosaur.
