The Lamniformes are an order of sharks commonly known as mackerel sharks. It includes some of the most familiar species of sharks, such as the great white and mako sharks as well as less familiar ones, such as the goblin shark and megamouth…
Category: Paleontology
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Ancient long snouted croc from Egypt rewrites evolution
In the remote Western Desert of Egypt, where striking layers of red sandstone and green shale rise above the dry plains surrounding Kharga Oasis, researchers have uncovered a fossil that significantly shifts current views on how crocodiles…
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Combining soft-bodied and three-dimensional fossils to reveal evolutionary modifications in early lingulellotretid brachiopods
Wood, R. & Zhuravlev, A. Yu. Escalation and ecological selectively of mineralogy in the Cambrian Radiation of skeletons. Earth Sci. Rev. 115, 249–261 (2012).
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“A Paleontologist’s Dream”: The Breakthrough That Changes How We Date Dinosaurs
An international group of geologists and paleontologists has developed a new method to accurately determine the age of rocks that contain fossils by directly dating preserved dinosaur eggshells. An international group of geologists and…
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Giant Ancient Shark Discovered in Australia Stuns Scientists
Scientists have uncovered evidence of a colossal shark that lived off northern Australia about 115 million years ago, revealing that modern shark lineages grew to immense sizes far earlier than expected. Rare vertebrae from rocks once part of the…
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242-million-year-old mini predator changes lizard evolution
A recently analyzed fossil from Devon is giving scientists a rare look at what the earliest members of the lizard lineage may have looked like, and the findings come with several unexpected twists, according to researchers at the University of…
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Study Challenges Long-Held Beliefs: Scavenging Carcasses May Have Made Us Human
A study with IPHES CERCA redefines the role of scavenging in human evolution and shows that it was an efficient strategy that complemented hunting and gathering. A research group from IPHES-CERCA took part in a project led by the National…
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New Study Reveals How Pterosaurs Evolved Flight-Ready Brain
In new research, an international team of researchers used high-resolution 3D imaging techniques, including microCT scanning, to reconstruct brain shapes from more than three dozen species. These included pterosaurs, their close relatives,…
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A strange ancient foot reveals a hidden human cousin
Thanks to newly discovered fossil bones, scientists have now been able to match an enigmatic 3.4-million-year-old hominin foot, first found in 2009, to a species that is different from the famous fossil Lucy. This link strengthens the case that…
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Ancient Sponges May Be Earth’s First Animals, New MIT Evidence Shows
MIT researchers traced chemical fossils in ancient rocks back to the ancestors of today’s demosponges. A team of geochemists at MIT has uncovered compelling signs in ancient rocks that some of Earth’s earliest animals may have been the…
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