Gobies or Gobioidei are one of the most species-rich groups of marine and freshwater fish in Europe. Spending most of their lives on the bottom of shallow waterbodies, they make substantial contributions to the functioning of many ecosystems. With the identification of a new genus of a fossil freshwater goby, students of the international master … Read more
Recent discoveries in Brazil have significantly advanced our understanding of the evolutionary history of ray-finned fish brains. Research led by Rodrigo Tinoco Figueroa, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, has unearthed remarkably well-preserved brains in late Paleozoic ray-finned fishes. These findings, which include other rare soft tissues like fragments of the heart, eyes, … Read more
After 128 years of exploration, fossil excavation and investigation, Flinders University researchers have finally uncovered the skull of Australia’s own giant and charismatic megafauna bird—Genyornis newtoni. The only previously known skull for this species, reported in 1913, was heavily damaged and with little of the original bone remaining, not much could be deduced about the … Read more
Published today in the Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, a groundbreaking study has unveiled evidence of an “Age of Monotremes” in Australia, unearthed by a collaborative team from the Australian Museum (AM), Museums Victoria, and the Australian Opal Centre. This discovery, spearheaded by Professor Tim Flannery, Honorary Associate of the Australian Museum, and Professor … Read more
A team of paleontologists from the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, and The Chinese University of Hong Kong has identified a new species of abelisauroid dinosaur. The species has been named Koleken inakayali. This groundbreaking discovery is published in the journal Cladistics. The fossilized remains of … Read more
Comparative anatomy is a branch of biology that involves the study of anatomical structures and systems across different species to understand evolutionary relationships, adaptations, functional morphology, and biological diversity. By comparing the anatomy of organisms from various taxonomic groups, researchers can gain insights into evolutionary patterns, developmental processes, physiological functions, and ecological adaptations that have … Read more
In order to understand the Earth’s resilience, researchers at ETH Zurich are modeling climate changes from times long past. And they show that plants are not simply victims of circumstances, but have helped to shape climate conditions on Earth. Over the course of hundreds of millions of years, Earth has lived through a series of … Read more
California’s state fossil—are familiar to anyone who has ever visited Los Angeles’ La Brea Tar Pits, a sticky trap from which more than 2,000 saber-toothed cat skulls have been excavated over more than a century. Though few of the recovered skulls had sabers attached, a handful exhibited a peculiar feature: the tooth socket for the … Read more
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a molecule that serves as the blueprint of life, carrying the genetic instructions necessary for the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all living organisms. Its structure and function are essential components of molecular biology and genetics, providing insights into the fundamental processes that govern life on Earth. DNA Structure The … Read more
Evolutionary theory, anchored in Charles Darwin’s seminal work “On the Origin of Species,” represents one of the most profound and influential concepts in the history of biology. Darwin’s theory revolutionized our understanding of the natural world, providing a unifying framework for explaining the diversity of life, the mechanisms of evolutionary change, and the interconnectedness of … Read more
Dinosaurs were as smart as reptiles but not as intelligent as monkeys, as former research suggests. An international team of paleontologists, behavioral scientists and neurologists have re-examined brain size and structure in dinosaurs and concluded they behaved more like crocodiles and lizards. In a study published last year, it was claimed that dinosaurs like T. … Read more
A new paper published today (April 24) in the journal Nature by an international team of 279 scientists led by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew presents the most up-to-date understanding of the flowering plant tree of life. Using 1.8 billion letters of genetic code from more than 9,500 species covering almost 8,000 known flowering plant … Read more
Bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago in a group of marine invertebrates called octocorals, according to the results of a new study from scientists with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The results, published April 23, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, push back the previous record for … Read more
Competition between species played a major role in the rise and fall of hominins—and produced a “bizarre” evolutionary pattern for the Homo lineage—according to a new University of Cambridge study that revises the start and end dates for many of our early ancestors. Conventionally, climate is held responsible for the emergence and extinction of hominin … Read more
Dinosaurs get all the glory. But aetosaurs, a heavily armored cousin of modern crocodiles, ruled the world before dinosaurs did. These tanks of the Triassic came in a variety of shapes and sizes before going extinct around 200 million years ago. Today, their fossils are found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia. Scientists use … Read more
Italy is not exactly renowned for dinosaurs. In comparison to its excellent artistic and archaeological heritage, dinosaur fossils are very rare. Not surprisingly, the discovery of the first isolated dinosaurs in the early 1990s generated excitement, but are now considered nothing more than an exception to a general rule. During the reign of dinosaurs, between … Read more
A rare small-bodied pterosaur, a flying reptile from the Late Cretaceous period approximately 77 million years ago, is the first of its kind to have been discovered on the west coast of North America. Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. The specimen is unusual as most pterosaurs from the Late … Read more
A team of paleontologists from the University of Washington and its Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture excavated four dinosaurs in northeastern Montana this summer. All fossils will be brought back to the Burke Museum where the public can watch paleontologists remove the surrounding rock in the fossil preparation laboratory. The four dinosaur fossils … Read more
Dinosaurs’ faces might have been much more sensitive than previously thought, according to a University of Southampton study – helping them with everything from picking flesh from bones to wooing potential mates. Experts used advanced X-ray and 3-D imaging techniques at the University’s μ-VIS X-Ray Imaging Centre to look inside the fossilised skull of Neovenator … Read more
A new study led by palaeontologists at the University of Southampton suggests that bones found on the Isle of Wight belong to two new species of spinosaurid, a group of predatory theropod dinosaurs closely related to the giant Spinosaurus. Their unusual, crocodile-like skulls helped the group expand their diets, allowing them hunt prey on both … Read more