Fossils

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Impressions of the extinct Ediacaran fossils: Dickinsonia (center) and the smaller anchor-shaped Parvancorina (left), in sandstone at the Nilpena Ediacara National Park in South Australia.

Scientists just found a hidden 6th mass extinction in Earth's ancient past

By Joshua A. Krisch published

A global drop in oxygen levels about 550 million years ago led to Earth's first known mass extinction, new evidence suggests.

Fossils
3D model of the embryo of a cambrian creature; the ring-shaped brain is marked in yellow within the embryo (left) and in a detailed image on its own (right)

Penis worm's ancient cousin fossilized with its doughnut-shaped brain intact

By Nicoletta Lanese last updated

Scientists found preserved brain tissue in a Cambrian fossil.

Fossils
A sample of Dresser Formation stromatolite, showing a complex layered structure formed of hematite, barite, and quartz, and a domed upper surface.

3.5 billion-year-old rock structures are one of the oldest signs of life on Earth

By Stephanie Pappas published

Fossils called stromatolites from Western Australia were created by microbes 3.48 billion years ago.

Fossils
Here, we see an illustration of a Pachycephalosaurus, a plant-eating dinosaur that had a thick melon-like dome on its head.

Helmet-headed dinosaurs kickboxed like kangaroos, new study suggests

By Laura Geggel last updated

Pachycephalosaurs probably didn't butt heads at high speeds. Instead, they likely kickboxed like kangaroos.

Fossils
Paleontologists found one of the fossil casts in 2019, in the collection of the Natural History Museum in Berlin.

Nazi bombs destroyed a priceless 'sea monster' fossil. Scientists just found its long-lost plaster copies.

By Mindy Weisberger published

More than 70 years ago, during a WWII air raid in the U.K., German bombs destroyed a rare fossil of an ichthyosaur. Scientists just found long-lost plaster casts of the priceless skeleton.

Fossils
cambrian lobopodia illustration

Armored Spiky Worm Had 30 Legs, Will Haunt Your Nightmares

By Laura Geggel last updated

Fossils
Reconstruction of Innovatiocaris maotianshanensis.

Ancient and bizarre 'innovation crab' from China had eyes on stalks, spike-studded arms and a tail full of 'blades'

By Mindy Weisberger published

A bizarre fossil from China's Chengjiang Lagerstätte site hints at early diversity in a group of Cambrian marine arthropods called radiodonts.

Fossils
Extreme weather such as heat waves, heavy downpours and droughts are expected to accompanying climate change. Recent research indicates this has begun happening.

Climate Solution: Pay True Cost of Fossil Fuels, NASA Scientist Says

By Wynne Parry last updated

Prominent and controversial scientist James Hansen called for a fee on fossil fuels.

Fossils
Full-body specimens of Acipenser praeparatorum, a newly described species from the Hell Creek Formation in Wyoming.

'Hell fish' likely killed by dinosaur-ending asteroid is preserved in stunning detail

By Joanna Thompson published

Scientists recently unearthed stunning fossils of sturgeon from Hell's Creek that might have died on the day that the dinosaur-killing asteroid struck.

Fossils
An animation of the ancient 'shark' Fanjingshania renovata swimming.

Bizarre, primeval sharklike fish is unlike any vertebrate ever discovered

By Harry Baker published

Researchers in China have discovered fossilized fragments of an ancient shark-like fish — the oldest jawed vertebrate ever discovered.

Fossils
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