An international team of researchers, led by Southern Methodist University (SMU) paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs, has made a groundbreaking discovery that provides significant insights into the prehistoric world. The team found matching sets of Early Cretaceous dinosaur footprints on what are now two different continents, Brazil and Cameroon, shedding light on how dinosaurs once roamed … Read more
Unearthed over a century ago on the island of Jersey, a pair of ancient teeth are rewriting the story of Neanderthals in Europe. A recent study published in the Journal of Human Evolution suggests these teeth belonged to the offspring of Neanderthals and modern humans, offering fresh evidence of interbreeding between these close relatives. The … Read more
Giants once roamed the karst plains of southern China, three-meter tall apes weighing in at 250 kilograms. These very distant primate relatives—Gigantopithcus blacki—went extinct before humans arrived in the region, with few clues to why, and so far leaving around 2,000 fossilized teeth and four jawbones as the only signs of their existence. New evidence … Read more
Paleontologists have unearthed evidence that challenges our understanding of raptor dinosaurs. Gigantic footprints, discovered in southeastern China, reveal a previously unknown colossal raptor species. The international research team, led by Dr. Anthony Romilio of the University of Queensland’s Dinosaur Lab, made the groundbreaking discovery in Fujian Province. Dr. Romilio explains, “These aren’t the human-sized raptors … Read more
Oncorhynchus rastrosus, a fascinating giant salmon species that roamed the ancient waters of the North American Pacific Northwest millions of years ago, has recently captured the attention of scientists and enthusiasts alike. A recent study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE sheds new light on this remarkable creature, revealing intriguing details about its unique … Read more
Imagine a world 540 million years ago. No land masses had yet formed, and life teemed within the vast oceans. Among the earliest animals were the octocorals, a diverse group that included soft corals, sea pens, and sea fans. A new study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, reveals a … Read more
A remarkable discovery in the world of paleontology has unveiled a new chapter in the ancient history of Earth—a 160-million-year-old arboreal pterosaur species named ‘Monkeydactyl,’ sporting the oldest true opposed thumb ever identified in pterosaurs. This groundbreaking finding, led by an international team of researchers from China, Brazil, the UK, Denmark, and Japan, sheds light … Read more
In the heart of Australia’s rugged landscape lies a relic of prehistoric marvel—a testament to the ancient rivers that once flowed across the continent. The Finke River, also known as Larapinta, silently witnesses eons of geological history, its waters once teeming with a diversity of life that now exists only in the annals of fossilized … Read more
Evolutionary biology has long been captivated by the mystery of flight in birds, a remarkable adaptation that has enabled these creatures to navigate the skies with unparalleled grace and efficiency. At Johns Hopkins Medicine, a team of researchers has embarked on a groundbreaking journey to uncover the secrets of avian flight by combining cutting-edge technology … Read more
Competition among species has long been recognized as a driving force in the evolutionary journey of life on Earth, and a recent study from the University of Cambridge delves deep into how this dynamic shaped the rise and fall of hominins, our early ancestors. The research not only revises timelines but also reveals a fascinating … Read more