Geology Page

How were fossil tracks made by Early Triassic swimming reptiles so well preserved?

How were fossil tracks made by Early Triassic swimming reptiles so well preserved?

Tracy J. Thomson stands next to a block with numerous swim tracks in Capitol Reef National Park, ...

Map outlines western Oregon landslide risks from a subduction zone earthquake

New landslide maps have been developed that will help the Oregon Department of Transportation det...

NASA Image of Colima Eruption

Colima Volcano, one of Mexico’s most active, is at it again. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on...

Colima volcano erupts in Mexico "Video"

A volcano in Mexico erupted during a "phase of heightened activity", sending huge plume...

Crocodiles rocked pre-Amazonian Peru

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This model is a life reconstruction of the head of Gnatusuchus pebasensis, a 13-million-year-old, short-faced crocodile with globular teeth that was thought to use its snout to "shovel" mud bottoms, digging for clams and other mollusks. Model by Kevin Montalbán-Rivera.<br>Credit: Copyright Aldo Benites-Palomino</i></td></tr>
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Thirteen million years ago, as many as seven different species of crocodiles hunted in the swampy waters of what is now northeastern Peru, new research shows. This hyperdiverse assemblage, revealed through more than a decade of work in Amazon bone beds, contains the largest number of crocodile species co-existing in one place at any time in Earth's history, likely due to an abundant food source that forms only a small part of modern crocodile diets: mollusks like clams and snails. The work, published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, helps fill in gaps in understanding the history of the Amazon's remarkably rich biodiversity.<br>
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Crocodiles rocked pre-Amazonian Peru

This model is a life reconstruction of the head of Gnatusuchus pebasensis, a 13-million-year-old,...

International team of scientists launches fossil database

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fossil calibrations for select groups: Here is a look at the way the new fossil calibration database will help to tell evolutionary time.<br>Credit: The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT</i></td></tr>
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Have you ever wondered exactly when a certain group of plants or animals first evolved? This week a groundbreaking new resource for scientists will go live, and it is designed to help answer just those kinds of questions. The <a href="http://fossilcalibrations.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fossil Calibration Database</a>, a free, open-access resource that stores carefully vetted fossil data, is the result of years of work from a worldwide team led by Dr. Daniel Ksepka, Curator of Science at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, and Dr. James Parham, Curator at the John D. Cooper Archaeological and Paleontological Center in Orange County, California, funded through the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent).<br>
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International team of scientists launches fossil database

Fossil calibrations for select groups: Here is a look at the way the new fossil calibration datab...

Climate-change clues from turtles of tropical Wyoming

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>University of Florida paleontologist Jason Bourque reconstructs the 56-million-year-old shell of a newly described genus and species of ancient tropical turtle in his lab on Feb. 9, 2015. The fossil turtle gives clues to how today's species might react to warming habitats.<br>Credit: Photo by Jeff Gage/Florida Museum of Natural History</i></td></tr>
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Tropical turtle fossils discovered in Wyoming by University of Florida scientists reveal that when Earth got warmer, prehistoric turtles headed north. But if today's turtles try the same technique to cope with warming habitats, they might run into trouble.<br>
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Climate-change clues from turtles of tropical Wyoming

University of Florida paleontologist Jason Bourque reconstructs the 56-million-year-old shell of ...

Kenyan fossils show evolution of hippos

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Right, a hemi mandible of Epirigenys lokonensis with premolars 3 and 4 and molars 1 and 2. <br>|Compared with, to the left, a hemi mandible from a hippopotamid fossil.<br>Credit: © LPRP/J.-R. Boisserie</i></td></tr>
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A French-Kenyan research team has just described a new fossil ancestor of today's hippo family. This discovery bridges a gap in the fossil record separating these animals from their closest modern-day cousins, the cetaceans. It also shows that some 35 million years ago, the ancestors of hippos were among the first large mammals to colonize the African continent, long before those of any of the large carnivores, giraffes or bovines. This work, co-signed by researchers of the Institut des sciences de l'évolution de Montpellier (CNRS/Université de Montpellier/IRD/EPHE) and Institut de paléoprimatologie et paléontologie humaine : évolution et paléo-environnements (CNRS/Université de Poitiers) is published in the journal Nature Communications.<br>
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