Category Archives: Paleontology
Big herbivorous dinosaurs ate crustaceans as a side dish
Some big plant-eating dinosaurs roaming present-day Utah some 75 million years ago were slurping up crustaceans on the side, a behavior that may have been tied to reproductive activities, says a new study. Paleontology News — ScienceDaily
Dino-killing asteroid’s impact on bird evolution
Human activities could change the pace of evolution, similar to what occurred 66 million years ago when a giant asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, leaving modern birds as their only descendants. Paleontology News — ScienceDaily
Early trilobites had stomachs, new fossil study finds
Exceptionally preserved trilobite fossils from China, dating back to more than 500 million years ago, have revealed new insights into the extinct marine animal’s digestive system. The new study shows that at least two trilobite species evolved a stomach structure … Continue reading
Dinosaur evolution: Lumbering giants had agile ancestors
The best known sauropod dinosaurs were huge herbivorous creatures, whose brain structures were markedly different from those of their evolutionary predecessors, for the earliest representatives of the group were small, lithe carnivores. Paleontology News — ScienceDaily
3-D analysis of dog fossils sheds light on domestication debate
In an effort to settle the debate about the origin of dog domestication, a technique that uses 3-D scans of fossils is helping researchers determine the difference between dogs and wolves. Paleontology News — ScienceDaily
Bite force research reveals dinosaur-eating frog
Scientists say that a large, now extinct, frog called Beelzebufo that lived about 68 million years ago in Madagascar would have been capable of eating small dinosaurs. The conclusion comes from a study of the bite force of South American … Continue reading
Why are fossilized hairs so rare?
When it comes to preserving body parts, fossilized hair is rare–five times rarer than feathers–despite being an important tool for understanding ancient species. This finding has researchers trying to determine if the lack of hair in the fossil record has … Continue reading
Half-a-billion-year-old fossils shed light animal evolution on Earth
Scientists have discovered traces of life more than half-a-billion years old that could change the way we think about how all animals evolved on Earth. Paleontology News — ScienceDaily
Scientists track the brain-skull transition from dinosaurs to birds
The dramatic, dinosaur-to-bird transition that occurred in reptiles millions of years ago was accompanied by profound changes in the skull roof of those animals — and holds important clues about the way the skull forms in response to changes in … Continue reading
Posted in Paleontology
Tagged Birds, brainskull, Dinosaurs, from, scientists, track, transition
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Why your ancestors would have aced the long jump
A 52-million-year-old ankle fossil suggests our prehuman ancestors were high-flying acrobats. For years, scientists thought the ancestors of today’s humans, monkeys, lemurs and apes were relatively slow and deliberate animals, using their grasping hands and feet to creep along small … Continue reading