Fossils

Fossils

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.

Fossils

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.

Fossils

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.

Fossils

Dino brain found ‘pickled’ in boggy swamp

Scientists claim to have identified the first fossil brain tissue from a dinosaur.

Fossils

Mini pterosaur from the age of flying giants

Not all pterosaurs flying the Cretaceous skies had a wingspan as wide as a school bus is long. Some, new fossils show, were smaller than modern eagles.

Fossils

These may be the oldest fossils on Earth

Some mini mounds in Greenland may just be the earliest evidence of life on Earth, deposited a mere 800,000 years after our planet first formed.

Fossils

Parasites wormed their way into dino’s gut

Tiny burrows crisscross the stomach of a 77-million-year-old dinosaur fossil. These may be tracks left behind by slimy parasitic worms.

Fossils

Identifying ancient trees from their amber

A Swedish teen’s analyses of a sample of amber may have uncovered a previously unknown type of ancient tree.

Fossils

Baby titanosaur was a mini version of its parents

Fossils show that baby titanosaurs looked like mom and dad. They may have been active and independent from a young age.

Fossils

How to tell if a T. rex is expecting

A chemical test of tyrannosaur bone can determine whether the dino was pregnant — and therefore a female.

Fossils

Neandertal toe contains human DNA

DNA from a 50,000-year-old Neandertal woman’s toe bone shows humans left a mark on the ancient species — and much earlier than scientists had thought.

Animals

Roadkill : Learning from the dead

Roadkill can be more than a smooshed-up carcass. Scientists study these highway casualties to learn more about wildlife and their environments.