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Paleontologists have long puzzled over how the dinosaurs—originally relatively small and of minor importance to the broader ecosystem—evolved to become the dominant species some 30 million years later. Fossilized feces and vomit from dinosaurs might hold important clues to how and why this evolutionary milestone came about, according to a new paper published in the […]
As we move through the Sixth Extinction, it can be beneficial to examine what caused massive die-offs in the past. Lystrosaurus specimens from South Africa have been found that may help clarify what happened 250 million years ago. [via IFLScience] The Permian-Triassic Extinction Event, or the Great Dying, takes the cake for the worst extinction […]
The remote gorge of Kokkala dates as far back as the Jurassic era. Located in the Mangystau region of Kazakhstan, this landscape is the result of shifting tectonic plates, which hoisted layers of colorful limestone and clay sediments out into the open. The result was a prehistoric tableau with origins from a lost world. You won’t […]
A discovery from Australia’s Nilpena Ediacara National Park has revealed the oldest known asymmetrical animal, Quaestio simpsonorum. This creature, which lived around 555 million years ago, resembles a small marine vacuum cleaner, gliding across the ocean floor and feasting on tiny algae and bacteria. What sets Quaestio apart is a backward question-mark-shaped protrusion on its […]
In 1928, Elmer Cook, a rancher from Hagerman, Idaho, stumbled upon fossils eroding from the rock along the Snake River. He reported his remarkable discovery to the U.S. Geological Survey, which contacted the Smithsonian Institution. The result was a remarkable series of fossil expeditions between 1929 and 1934. The Hagerman digs revealed one of the […]