Scientists follow Neanderthals' footsteps to learn how they lived
Like modern humans, Neanderthals — our closest evolutionary cousins — lived in groups, but their size and composition have been difficult to infer from archaeological and fossil remains. Now, though, scientists have reported the discovery of 257 footprints along the Normandy shore in France that ...
Researchers say 'extreme mating' killing tiny Australian marsupials en masse
A tiny marsupial found only in northwest Australia mates so intensely that an entire generation of males can die off during a single breeding season, researchers reported Friday. Biologists studying kalutas — a mouse-size marsupial found in the arid Pilbara region — believe they die ...
The worm that turned: Fossil sheds light on early animal movement
More than half a billion years ago, a worm-like creature wriggled its last, creating a groove that became a fossil offering new insights into some of the earliest animal movement. The origins of animal movement remain fairly murky, though there is evidence of "directional movement" ...
3.8-million-year-old Ethiopian fossil reveals face for ancestor of famed Lucy
A fossil from Ethiopia is letting scientists look millions of years into our evolutionary history — and they see a face peering back. The find, from 3.8 million years ago, reveals the face for a presumed ancestor of the species famously represented by Lucy, the ...
What do surfers, kayakers and Neanderthals have in common? Research published Wednesday revealed that abnormal bony growths in the ear canal — often called "surfer's ear" and seen in people who take part in water sports in colder climates — occurred frequently in our ancient ...
The remains of a supersize parrot that stood more than half the height of an average human and roamed the earth 19 million years ago have been discovered in New Zealand. Judging by the size of the leg bones, the bird would have stood about ...
There might be life on the moon after all: thousands of virtually indestructible creatures that can withstand extreme radiation, sizzling heat, extreme cold and decades without food. These terrifying-sounding beings aren't aliens but instead microscopic Earthlings known as tardigrades, who likely made it out alive ...
There's a problem with the human family tree
New findings from fossils and DNA should expand our thinking about our species.
For some turtle species, the temperature of eggs determines whether the offspring are male or female — a trait that scientists feared could leave the reptiles vulnerable to extinction from climate change. But a team of researchers in China and Australia have found the embryos ...
A pocket shark found in the Gulf of Mexico has turned out to be a new species. And the mysterious pouches it is named for, up near its front fins? Scientists say they squirt little glowing clouds into the ocean. Researchers have named the species ...
Gulp! Jurassic mammal was the first one able to eat politely
A shrew-like primitive mammal that inhabited China 165 million years ago represents a milestone in mammalian evolution, scientists said on Thursday, boasting a key anatomical trait in its throat that helped usher in the era of polite table manners. Scientists described an exquisitely preserved Jurassic ...
For its next mission in our solar system, NASA plans to fly a drone copter to Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in search of the building blocks of life, the space agency said Thursday. The Dragonfly mission, which will launch in 2026 and land in 2034, ...
