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Bear Island in the Barents Sea which is a paleontological hotbed known for preserving ancient microfossils. Credit: Wikipedia

On The Hunt For Earth’s First Complex Life

Representative samples of the modern fauna (left three samples) and the Paleozoic fauna (right four samples). (Image credit: Sarah Leibovitz)

Researchers confirm cause of Earth’s biggest mass extinction

Homo erectus crania from the Turkana Rift. Left: WT 15000, ‘Turkana Boy’ from West Turkana. Right: ER 3733 from East Turkana. Photo: John Rowan

Scientists just discovered Africa is closer to breaking apart than we...

Map showing potential migration routes of the human ancestor, Homo erectus, in Africa, Europe, and Asia during the early Pleistocene. Key fossils of Homo erectus and the earlier Homo habilis species are shown, including the new face reconstruction of the DAN5 fossil from Gona, Ethiopia dated to 1.5 million years ago. Credit: Dr. Karen L. Baab. Scans provided by National Museum of Ethiopia, National Museums of Kenya and Georgian National Museum

1.5-million-year-old fossil face is forcing a rethink of human origins

One of Yuka's legs, illustrating the exceptional preservation of the lower part of the leg after the skin had been removed, which enabled recovery of ancient RNA molecules. Photo credit: Valeri Plotnikov. Credit: Valeri Plotnikov

World’s oldest RNA extracted from woolly mammoth

Earliest oceanic tetrapod ecosystem from 249 million years ago. A pod of the small-bodied ichthyopterygian ('fish-lizard') Grippia longirostris hunting squid-like ammonoids (top left). The marine amphibian Aphaneramma captures the bony fish Bobastrania (foreground). The gigantic ichthyosaur Cymbospondylus lurks in the depths (bottom right). Fossil of these ancient marine reptiles and amphibians are today preserved on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. Credit: Robert Back

Oldest oceanic reptile ecosystem from the Age of Dinosaurs found on...

New research suggests that higher-latitude marine environments, such as those around the Selmaneset section in western Svalbard, seen here, may have provided a refuge for sea life during the Great Dying. Credit: Tereza Mosociova

How algae helped some life outlast extinction

The new fossil snake species, Paradoxophidion richardoweni, lived in a much warmer England more than 37 million years ago. Credit: Jaime Chirinos

‘Weird’ new species of ancient fossil snake discovered in southern England

Credit: J. Lacerda

Fossil lichen from Devonian era shows how fungi-algae alliance paved way...

A commissioned artwork by Andrey Atuchin illustrates Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis on a belemnite battleground. Credit: Andrey Atuchin. CC-BY 4.0

New ichthyosaur species with robust ribs discovered in Jurassic clay pit

The first pandemic? Scientists find 214 ancient pathogens in prehistoric DNA

Evan Saitta, the paper’s lead author, with an emperor penguin in the Field Museum’s bird collections. Photographer(s): Kate Golembiewski (c) Field Museum

When birds lose the ability to fly, their bodies change faster...

A close-up of two tiny, whitefly puparia.

Insect fossil find ‘extremely rare’

Geobiologist Shuhai Xiao (at left) and colleague in the field in Canada. Photo courtesy of Danielle Fitzgerald.

Chart of life extended by nearly 1.5 billion years

Fluorescent and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of fossil and modern juniper leaves. (a, b) Fluorescent microscope imagery of fossil juniper branchlet (LACMHC 1469B). (b) Close-up of leaf scale with smooth leaf margins and acute-slightly obtuse apical shape. (c) SEM image of entire fossil leaf scale from adaxial (dorsal) perspective. (d–g) Close-up imagery of abaxial (ventral) side of modern (d) J. blancoi, (e) J. scopulorum, (f) J. virginiana, and (g) fossil juniper leaf (P23-47594).

Researchers identify a mysterious fossil seed to reveal new chapters in...

UV photography of Pterodactylus. Ultraviolet light reveals remarkable details of the fossil invisible under normal lighting. This famous specimen showcases preserved soft tissues, including the delicate wing membranes, which fluoresce vividly under UV illumination.

A festive flying reptile family reunion 150 million years in the...

Results of the multimodal analysis conducted on microfossils mounted on ITO glass. Optical observation, electron microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry were performed on the same sample. The analysis successfully detected phosphorus and molybdenum aligned with the microfossil's membrane structure for the first time. ©Tohoku University

Unveiling ancient life: New method sheds light on early cellular and...

Robsonomyia baltica sp. nov. (NHMD-300551): (A) male (holotype No NHMD-300551a); (B) amber piece with position of male; (C) female (paratype No NHMD-300551b); (D) female (paratype No NHMD-300551c); (E) amber piece with position of females. Credit: Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59448-y

Fungus gnat entombed in a 40-million-year-old piece of amber is a...

Aaron Bufe investigates the weathering of rocks. | © C. Trepmann

Rock weathering and climate: Low-relief mountain ranges are largest carbon sinks

Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, seen here from an aerial photo, provides a modern-day glimpse into the types of environments where sulfites may have accumulated and possibly played a role in kick-starting the earliest life on Earth.

Sulfur and the origin of life

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