Roughly 66 million years ago an asteroid slammed into the Yucatan peninsula. New research shows darkness, not cold, likely drove a mass extinction after the impact. Credit: NASA

Fossil Pollen Record Suggests Vulnerability to Mass Extinction Ahead

-A grain-size comparator chart (to scale). The chart shows the different size fractions from silt (63 µm) through to large cobbles (128256 mm). Such charts are useful for field comparisons.

Grain Size : What is Grain Size? How is Grain Size...

Phenotypic difference between each specimen for each landmark in the 11-module dataset and the mean skull shape.For each specimen, the mean landmark configuration is plotted with points coloured relative to the Procrustes distance between the position of that point in the mean shape and in that specimen. Warmer colours denote landmarks having higher displacement from the mean, and cooler colours are more similar to the mean shape. Data and code archived at www.github.com/rnfelice/Dinosaur_Skulls . Credit: Felice et al, 2020 (PLOS Biology, CC BY 4.0)

Bird skull evolution slowed after the extinction of the dinosaurs

A team of researchers led by professor Brian Fields hypothesizes that a supernova about 65 light-years away may have contributed to the ozone depletion and subsequent mass extinction of the late Devonian Period, 359 million years ago. Pictured is a simulation of a nearby supernova colliding with and compressing the solar wind. Earth’s orbit, the blue dashed circle, and the Sun, red dot, are shown for scale. Graphic courtesy Jesse Miller

Exploding stars may have caused mass extinction on Earth, study shows

seismogram

Machine learning unearths signature of slow-slip quake origins in seismic data

A 23-million-year-old leaf preserved in a onetime New Zealand lake bed, key to past atmospheric conditions. One can see veins, glands along the teeth, and holes gnawed by insects, with resulting stunted growth and scar tissue. Credit: Jennifer Bannister/University of Otago

Fossil leaves show high atmospheric carbon spurred ancient ‘global greening’

Professor Scott Bryan recovering pumice. Credit: QUT

Pumice arrives delivering ‘vitamin boost’ to the reef

Minerals inside tiny crystals could reveal how Earth's crust began moving.

Unearthing evidence for the origins of plate tectonics

The ichthyosaur specimen with its stomach contents visible as a block that extrudes from its body. Credit: Ryosuke Motani

Massive, well-preserved reptile found in the belly of a prehistoric marine...

Artists impression of the dinosaur's final moments. Credit: Trudie Wilson

New species of dinosaur discovered on Isle of Wight

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