fossils

Reading pathogen epigenomes; a new stem cell; dealing with research misconduct; monkey fossils; exploratory mice grow new neurons; watching metamorphosis

Sea creatures buried alive roughly 340 million years ago have yielded the longest-preserved organic molecules ever discovered in a complete fossil.

Fossils of four new cetacean species have been discovered at a road construction site in California.

New analyses of fossils found in the 1930s suggest that a labrador-sized biped lived around 243 million years ago, potentially making it the oldest known dinosaur.

Researchers discover a 70-million-year-old egg that belonged to a small, bird-like meat-eating dinosaur.

Named Guidraco venator for “ghost dragon hunter,” a 120 million-year-old fossil skull appears most closely related to pterosaurs found in Brazil.

Fossilized fleas dating as far back as 165 million years provide clues of early flea evolution.

Researchers reconstruct a new giant penguin species from fossils unearthed in New Zealand.

A fossilized jaw bone and teeth from Western Europe are recognized as the oldest modern human fossils recovered in the region.

Fifteen to 47-million-year-old fossil beetles have retained their structural colors almost intact.

Dinosaur and early bird feathers trapped in amber around 80 million years ago provide unprecedented insight into the evolution of plumage.

After rummaging through thousands of amber inclusions housed at the University of Alberta and the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Canada, researchers discovered 11 amber encased-feather fossils that provide the most detailed picture yet of early feather evolution.

A newly discovered fossil of a nearly 600-million-year-old comb jelly ancestor may call for scientists to rethink early animal evolution.

Newly excavated Australopithecus sediba fossils exhibit a mixture of primitive and more modern features.

Fossils discovered in Australian rocks may be the remnants of three and a half billion-year-old microorganisms.

The discovery of a new bird-like fossil challenges longstanding theories about which species of dinosaur gave rise to the avian lineage.

Using synchrotron rapid scanning X-ray fluorescence to map the distribution of trace metals in avian fossils over 120 million-year-old, researchers reconstruct the pigment patterns of their feathers—revealing some of the extinct birds' long-lost colors.

Researchers map pigments in early bird fossils using preserved metallic residues.

University College London researcher Mike Taylor recounts the discovery of a new dinosaur with unusually powerful thigh muscles. Read the full story.

Tiny fossil tracks embedded in a California rock formation that was once part of an ancient river may be evidence that freshwater ecosystems arose around 100 million years earlier than what is generally believed.