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A 400-million-year evolutionary history. Euglenoids, a unique group of single-celled protists, occupy a mysterious niche, being neither fully plant nor animal. Unlike plants that solely rely on photosynthesis, or animals that consume, euglenoids embrace both modes. They navigate the dim waters of sh...

Researchers have discovered the oldest multicellular eukaryotic fossils, dated at 1.63 billion years, in North China, revealing early complex life forms and suggesting an earlier emergence of multicellularity. In a study published in Science Advances on January 24, researchers led by Prof. Maoyan Zh...

Nearly 400 exceptionally well-preserved fossils dating back 470 million years have been discovered in the south of France by two amateur paleontologists. This new fossil site of worldwide importance has been analyzed by scientists from the University of Lausanne, in collaboration with the CNRS and i...

A groundbreaking discovery reveals the oldest fossilized reptile skin, showing significant evolutionary features and offering a unique perspective on early terrestrial animal life. Preserved in an Oklahoma cave system, this finding sheds light on the development of skin adaptations in vertebrates. R...

The inner ear of a fossilized ape, dating back 6 million years, sheds light on the development of human locomotion. Humans and our closest living relatives, the apes, exhibit an extraordinary variety of ways to move, ranging from bipedal walking on two legs to tree climbing and quadrupedal walking o...

Paleontological analysis shows renowned fossil thought to show soft tissue preservation is in fact just paint. A 280-million-year-old fossil that has baffled researchers for decades has been shown to be, in part, a forgery following new examination of the remnants. The discovery has led the team led...

Following the extinction of the dinosaurs, this shark emerged as one of the top predators of the ocean. A team of scientists recently announced the discovery of a new fossil shark species from Alabama, USA. The team was led by Jun Ebersole, Director of Collections, McWane Science Center, Birmingham,...

In the fossil record, it’s common to find trees preserved merely as trunks, lacking any foliage that reveals their canopy structure or overall shape. However, a recent study published in the journal Current Biology, presents an extraordinary discovery of fossilized trees from New Brunswick, Ca...

A recent investigation into a 7–8-million-year-old fossil ape from China, called Lufengpithecus, provides new insights into the development of bipedalism in humans. The study, published in The Innovation, was conducted by a team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IV...

Recent research has shown that the Tridentinosaurus antiquus fossil, once thought to contain preserved skin, is actually a forgery with painted “soft tissues,” highlighting the need for caution in paleontological research. Preserved skin in a 280-million-year-old fossil may not be all that it seems....

A recent study has leveraged the fossil record to gain insights into the characteristics that render animals more susceptible to extinction due to climate change. This research aims to pinpoint the species currently most endangered by anthropogenic climate change. The findings have recently been pub...

The oldest fossilized forest ever discovered on Earth, dating back 390 million years, has been located within the towering sandstone cliffs of the Devon and Somerset coast in South West England. The fossils, discovered and identified by researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Cardiff, are...

Specimens from the Jurassic period found in China illuminate the evolution of teeth, jaws, and ears in mammals. An international team of paleontologists led by the American Museum of Natural History and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered new sets of fossils from the Jurassic period that ...

An international team of paleontologists has uncovered important fossils that provide crucial insights into how early mammals transitioned from having jaw joint bones to middle ear bones during their evolution. The findings published today in the prestigious journal Nature provide a clearer insight ...

Scientists present the world’s first evidence of intact polyene pigments in fossils. Snail shells are often colorful and strikingly patterned. This is due to pigments that are produced in special cells of the snail and stored in the shell in varying concentrations. Fossil shells, on the other ...

New findings from a fossil fish dating back 375 million years provide insights into the evolution of the axial skeleton, potentially shedding light on how our forebears transitioned from aquatic to terrestrial life. Before the evolution of legs from fins, the axial skeleton — including the bones of ...

Paleontologists discovered that the exceptional preservation of 45-million-year-old frog fossils can be attributed to the mineralization of their skin, offering new insights into their adaptation to land. A hundred-year-old mystery of how some fossil frogs preserve their fleshy parts has been solved...

A PhD student at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, with the support of a CNRS researcher, has discovered a fossil that bridges the evolutionary gap between contemporary species like scorpions, spiders, and horseshoe crabs, and their ancient counterparts from the Cambrian period, around 505 ...

Recent fossil findings in Wales have uncovered the tropical habitats of early dinosaurs and provided insights into a complex prehistoric ecosystem, marking a significant advancement in understanding the region’s paleontological history. A significant fossil discovery has illuminated the histor...

Paleontologists have discovered a massive Jurassic pterosaur in Oxfordshire, with an estimated wingspan of over three meters, making it one of the largest of its kind from that era. The fossil, found in a gravel pit, includes a well-preserved wing bone and has been identified as an adult ctenochasma...

A small, “ugly” fossil unearthed in Texas has been identified as a Homotherium, expanding our understanding of this prehistoric cat’s geographic range and its ecological impact. Scientific discoveries don’t always come in the most spectacular forms. Sometimes, they are made f...

The research offers new insights into the early evolution of animals. Researchers led by Shuhai Xiao at Virginia Tech have discovered a 550 million-year-old sea sponge fossil, shedding light on a 160 million-year gap in the fossil record. This fossil, which suggests early sponges lacked mineral skel...

Scientists have reclassified a prehistoric marine reptile discovered in 1935 as one of the last thalattosaurs, not an early choristodere, after new findings and detailed imaging. The true identity of a local prehistoric marine reptile has been uncovered after experts determined that some of its rema...

The discovery of the late Ediacaran sponge, Helicolocellus, offers new insights into early sponge evolution, suggesting non-biomineralizing forms existed about 550 million years ago and bridging a critical evolutionary gap between the Ediacaran and Cambrian periods. Prof. Yuan Xunlai and his team at...