paleobiology

A strange layer in the fossil record contains evidence that fern populations exploded following the mass extinction that ended the Cretaceous period. Scientists want to know why.

The genome is from a male who was likely in his late thirties when the historic Mount Vesuvius eruption occurred. The analyses suggest he is related to the diverse Imperial Roman population of the time, and that he may have suffered from spinal tuberculosis.

A massive, well-preserved skull discovered in China in the 1930s belongs to a new species called Homo longi, researchers report, but experts remain skeptical about the evidence.

The sperm, belonging to a tiny marine crustacean, dates back nearly 100 million years, making it the most ancient animal sperm found to date.

The 12-million-year-old bones of a previously unknown species named Danuvius guggenmosi challenge the prevailing view about when and where our ancestors first started walking upright.

Both modern and ancient crane fly eyes contain eumelanin, a light-screening pigment.

If the structures identified in a 2.1-billion-year-old rock are really signs of burrowing organisms, it would push back the earliest known mobile organisms by 1.5 billion years.

See an update from Chicago's Field Museum about the works of Charles R. Knight and other paleoartists who pioneered the depiction of ancient life.

Fish stuck to coastal habitats for nearly 100 million years after they first appeared.

An analysis of organic material from 500-million-year-old fossils upholds the theory that the mysterious creatures were early forms of animal life.

A 99-million-year-old beetle preserved in amber alongside grains of pollen likely pollinated prehistoric plants.

The function of early hominins’ enlarged brow ridges, and their reduction in size in Homo sapiens, have puzzled paleoanthropologists for decades.

Authors of a new study suggest that 520-million-year-old structures, previously identified as the brains of ancient arthropods, are instead preserved microbial biofilms.

Researchers are looking to proteins to explore the biology of ancient organisms, from medieval humans all the way back to dinosaurs.

How to analyze ancient proteins

The ancient human may have lived around 200,000 to 300,000 years ago—much more recently than previously estimated.

This ancient relative of the Ginkgo biloba (Umaltolepis mongoliensis) dates back 100 million years, to the early Cretaceous Period.

Overlooked for half a century, a skull in the Smithsonian collection points to a dolphin species that lived 25 million years ago, according to a study.