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A new study led by our Earth Sciences department has made a surprising discovery about a mysterious fossil from the Cambrian period - over 500 million years ago. The fossil, Shishania aculeata , was originally thought to be an early mollusc, a group that includes snails and clams. But new research shows that it is actually a sponge-like animal known as a chancelloriid.

Western researchers uncover a ancient polar ecosystem - and surprising birthplace for familiar fish Most people picture the time of dinosaurs as a steamy, tropical world. But during the Late Cretaceous period, northern Alaska was a different kind of wild. Located far above the Arctic Circle, it endured months of winter darkness and freezing temperatures - even as much of the planet remained warm.

Why do some ancient animals become fossils, while others vanish without a trace - A new study from the University of Lausanne reveals that the size and chemical composition of an animal are among the determining factors in its chances of surviving millions of years as a fossil, or vanishing without a trace.that an animal's size and chemical composition are among the determining factors in its chances of surviving millions of years as a fossil, or vanishing without a trace.

A small bone found 30 years ago at Dinosaur Cove in Victoria could change what we know about the evolution of two of Australia's most unique animals, the echidna and platypus. Until now, it was believed that both species of egg-laying monotremes descended from a land-dwelling ancestor, and while the platypus eventually became semiaquatic, the echidnas stayed on the land.

An international research team led by the University of Tübingen's Dr. Márton Rabi has found that the giant crocodile Deinosuchus - often called the "terror crocodile" or "greater alligator" - was such a successful predator that it posed a threat even to large dinosaurs. Deinosuchus lived in the wetlands and coastal areas of North America in the Cretaceous period, 82 to 75 million years ago.

About 66 million years ago, an asteroid slammed into the planet, wiping out all non-avian dinosaurs and about 70 percent of all marine species. The huge crater formed in the Gulf of Mexico functioned as a cradle for recovery of marine life enriching the overlying ocean for at least 700,000 years, according to research published today in Nature Communications .

McGill researchers' discovery opens the way to a clearer understanding of ancient biodiversity shifts A new study from McGill University is reshaping how scientists date dinosaur fossils in Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park (DPP). Using advanced drone-assisted 3D mapping, researchers have uncovered significant variations in a key geological marker, challenging long-standing methods of determining the ages of dinosaur fossils.

The idea that dinosaurs were already in decline before an asteroid wiped most of them out 66 million years ago may be explained by a worsening fossil record from that time rather than a genuine dwindling of dinosaur species, suggests a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in  Current Biology , analysed the fossil record of North America in the 18 million years up to the asteroid impact at the end of the Cretaceous period (between 66 and 84 million years ago).

Bonobos - our closest living relatives - create complex and meaningful combinations of calls resembling the word combinations of humans. This study, conducted by researchers at the University of Zurich and Harvard University, challenges long-held assumptions about what makes human communication unique and suggests that key aspects of language are evolutionary ancient.

Scientists reveal the key role of specific genes in feather development, providing insights into their evolution from dinosaurs. Feathers, essential for thermoregulation, flight, and communication in birds, originate from simple appendages known as proto-feathers, which were present in certain dinosaurs.By studying embryonic development of the chicken, two researchers from the University of Geneva have uncovered a key role of a molecular signalling pathway (the Shh pathway) in their formation.

Modern humans descended from not one, but at least two ancestral populations that drifted apart and later reconnected, long before modern humans spread across the globe. Our history is far richer and more complex than we imagined Aylwyn Scally Using advanced analysis based on full genome sequences, researchers from the University of Cambridge have found evidence that modern humans are the result of a genetic mixing event between two ancient populations that diverged around 1.5 million years ago.

A new species of fish that lived in Australian freshwater lakes and rivers about 15 million years ago has been named after the researcher from The Australian National University (ANU) who played a key role in its discovery. Professor Jochen Brocks discovered several fossils of the ancient fish, named Ferruaspis brocksi , at the McGraths Flat fossil site near Gulgong in New South Wales (NSW).   "I am very proud to have this world-first discovery named after me and I thank my colleagues at the Australian Museum and the University of Canberra for bestowing this upon me.

The oldest collection of mass-produced prehistoric bone tools reveal that human ancestors were likely capable of more advanced abstract reasoning one million years earlier than thought, finds a new study involving researchers at UCL and CSIC- Spanish National Research Council. The paper, published in Nature, describes a collection of 27 now-fossilised bones that had been shaped into hand tools 1.5 million years ago by human ancestors.

A team including UCL researchers has identified two new dinosaur species found in present-day Romania that lived shortly before dinosaurs went extinct. The end of the Cretaceous Period, 66 million years ago, marked the dramatic extinction of the dinosaurs following an asteroid impact. Until now, our understanding of this mass extinction has been largely shaped by fossils from North America.

The report on the interdisciplinary research carried out by researchers from Aix Marseille University and CNRS at the Laboratoire méditerranéen de préhistoire Europe (AMU/CNRS/Ministère de la Culture) and the Anthropologie bio-culturelle, Droit, Ethique et Santé laboratory (AMU/CNRS/Etablissement francais du sang), and froma laboratory at the University of Reading, UK (National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Department of Meteorology), has just been published on February 26, 2025 in the prestigious journal PLOS ONE .

The microarchitecture of fossil pterosaur bones could hold the key to lighter, stronger materials for the next generation of aircraft, new research has found. Scientists from The University of Manchester used advanced X-ray imaging techniques to examine fossilised bones of the prehistoric flying reptile at the smallest scale, revealing hidden engineering solutions right in the palm of their hands..or fingers to be precise.

Even positive effects do not compensate for the complex dangers of climate change doi.org/10.3390/biology14020142 Sharks and rays have populated the world's oceans for around 450 million years, but more than a third of the species living today are severely threatened by overfishing and the loss of their habitat.

Nitrogen isotopes in Australopithecus tooth enamel show no evidence of meat consumption Pre-humans such as Australopithecus, who lived in southern Africa around 3.5 million years ago, ate little or no meat - this has been proven by Tina Lüdecke and her team at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry using isotope measurements on fossil teeth.

Researchers uncovered a prehistoric ecosystem teeming with giant marine reptiles, uncovering unmatched food web complexity  Predators at the top of a marine food chain 130 million years ago ruled with more power than any modern species, McGill research into a marine ecosystem from the Cretaceous period revealed.

Modern humans, Neanderthals, and other recent relatives on our human family tree evolved bigger brains much more rapidly than earlier species, a new study of human brain evolution has found. The study, published in the journal PNAS , overturns long-standing ideas about human brain evolution. The researchers found that brain size increased gradually within each ancient human species rather than through sudden leaps between species.