Dinosaurs grew feathers differently from birds, fossil of a 'dancing dragon' shows
An exquisite fossil of a fierce little Chinese dinosaur dubbed the "dancing dragon" that lived 120 million years ago — an older cousin of the Velociraptor — is showing scientists that feathers grew differently on dinosaurs than on birds. The two-legged Cretaceous Period dinosaur, called ...
Wolf puppies found to play fetch — did that help their descendants become dogs?
In the game of fetch, you throw an object and your joyful dogs leaps to intercept and return it, encouraged by words of praise or a pat on the head. Such scenes have no doubt played out over millenniums, symbolizing the unshakable bond of friendship ...
Secret mission saves Australia's 'dinosaur trees' from bush fires
A secret operation by specialist firefighters has saved the world's last stand of Wollemi pines, a prehistoric species known as "dinosaur trees," from Australia's unprecedented bush fires, officials said. Fewer than 200 of the trees exist in the wild, hidden in a gorge in the ...
Parrots found to volunteer help selflessly, rare among animals
Acting selflessly to help others in need was long thought to be a trait confined to mammals, in particular humans and great apes. But a new study has found that African gray parrots volunteer assistance to both their good friends and mere acquaintances — even ...
Dwarf Tyrannosaurus rex species probably did not exist, study says
For three decades, paleontologists have been split over a provocative question: Did a dwarf species of Tyrannosaurus rex once exist? In 1988, paleontologist Robert Bakker and his colleagues at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History reclassified a specimen that had been discovered in 1942 and ...
Scientists have discovered what could be the world's oldest forest, potentially rich in information on the link between forests and climate change, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology. The title of world's oldest fossil forest had previously been given to ...
Before T. rex, the Gnathovorax was the king of Triassic Park
Millions of years before the arrival of the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex, another fearsome dinosaur — the Gnathovorax — roamed what is now southern Brazil, ripping apart its prey with sharp teeth. Measuring nearly 10 feet (3 meters) long, it was the biggest dinosaur of its ...
'Clock' predicting animal life spans created from analyzing DNA
An Australian research team has come up with a "lifespan clock" that provides accurate maximum age estimates for vertebrates, a key variable in the study of both living and extinct animals. The scientists identified specific areas — called CpG sites — in DNA that have ...
An Indonesian cave painting that depicts a hunting scene could be the world's oldest figurative artwork, dating back nearly 44,000 years, pointing to an advanced artistic culture, according to new research. Discovered two years ago in the cave Bulu Sipong 4 on the island of ...
Hordes of brain-munching undead terrorizing neighborhoods make for fun television and movies, but zombies could never be real ... or could they? There are, in fact, a growing number of documented examples in the animal kingdom of parasites that change their hosts' behavior — and ...
Post-apocalyptic fossils show fast rise of mammals after dinosaur demise
A revelatory cache of fossils dug up in central Colorado details as never before the rise of mammals from the post-apocalyptic landscape after an asteroid smacked Earth 66 million years ago and annihilated three-quarters of all species, including the dinosaurs. The fossils, described by scientists ...
Meet the Denisovans: Israeli scientists unveil appearance of ancient human relative
We know what Neanderthals looked like. Now, thanks to ancient DNA, Israeli scientists have unveiled the appearance of another of our ancient relatives. Very few clues exist about the lives of the Neanderthal cousins known as Denisovans, who went extinct around 50,000 years ago: three ...
