Paleontology

Paleontology

Meet Lokiceratops, a newly discovered species of horned dinosaur

Found in Montana’s badlands, Lokiceratops had two large, bladelike horns jutting forward and out from between its eyes.

Paleontology

Early ants may have had complex social lives, fossil data suggests

The earliest ants may have been primed for a highly social life — 100 million years ago, the insects had antennae tuned to key communication functions.

Paleontology

‘Echidnapus’ hints at a lost age of egg-laying mammals

The fossil discoveries double the number of known monotreme species during the Cretaceous Period.

Neuroscience

How smart was T. rex?

A debate over how to count neurons in dinosaurs is raising questions about how to understand extinct animals’ behavior.

Paleontology

How did an ancient shark parasite end up fossilized in tree resin?

A worm preserved in 99-million-year-old amber resembles modern flatworms in shark intestines. The rare finding has scientists stumped.

Paleontology

An extinct sofa-sized turtle may have lived alongside humans

Peltocephalus maturin was one of the biggest turtles ever, but unlike similarly sized prehistoric freshwater turtles, it lived thousands of years ago.

Paleontology

A rare 3-D tree fossil may be the earliest glimpse at a forest understory

The 350-million-year-old tree, which was wider than it was tall thanks to a mop-top crown of 3-meter-long leaves, would look at home in a Dr. Seuss book.

Paleontology

50 years ago, trilobite eyes mesmerized scientists

Decades of research has confirmed that for such simple creatures, trilobites had astoundingly complex eyes.

Life

Megalodon, the largest shark ever, may have been a long, slender giant

The ancient shark is typically imagined with the scaled-up stout frame of a modern great white. But in life, the giant may have been more elongated.

Paleontology

The oldest known fossilized skin shows how life adapted to land

The nearly 290 million-year-old cast belonged to a species of amniotes, four-legged vertebrates that today comprises all reptiles, birds and mammals.

Paleontology

Earth’s largest ape went extinct 100,000 years earlier than once thought

Habitat changes drove the demise of Gigantopithecus blacki, a new study reports. The find could hold clues for similarly imperiled orangutans.

Paleontology

The real culprit in a 19th century dinosaur whodunit is finally revealed

Contrary to the stories handed down among paleontologists, creationism wasn’t to blame for the destruction of Central Park’s dinosaurs.