Palaeontologists are forever claiming that their latest fossil discovery will "rewrite evolutionary history." Is this just boasting or does our "knowledge" of evolution radically change every time we find a new fossil?

9/1/2010 8:00:00 AM

A new study indicates extinct carnivorous mammals shrank in size during a global warming event that occurred 55 million years ago. The study describes a new species that evolved to half the size of its ancestors during this period of global warming.

8/31/2010 8:00:00 AM

Paleontologists have discovered that a close relative of Velociraptor hunted the dwarfed inhabitants of Late Cretaceous Europe, an island landscape largely isolated from nearby continents. While island animals tend to be smaller and more primitive than their continental cousins, the theropod Balaur bondoc was as large as its relatives on other parts of the globe and demonstrated advanced adaptations including fused bones and two terrifyingly large claws on each hind foot.

8/30/2010 2:00:00 PM

A new study of the High Arctic climate roughly 50 million years ago helps to explain how ancient alligators and giant tortoises were able to thrive on Ellesmere Island well above the Arctic Circle, even as they endured six months of darkness each year.

8/25/2010 5:00:00 AM

The cave bear started to become extinct in Europe 24,000 years ago, but until now the cause was unknown. An international team of scientists has analyzed mitochondrial DNA sequences from 17 new fossil samples, and compared these with the modern brown bear. The results show that the decline of the cave bear started 50,000 years ago, and was caused more by human expansion than by climate change.

8/25/2010 2:00:00 AM

Fires and floods which raged across the Isle of Wight some 130 million years ago made the island the richest source of pick ’n’ mix dinosaur remains of this age anywhere in the world. A new study has revealed the Island’s once violent weather explains why thousands of tiny dinosaur teeth and bones lie buried alongside the huge bones of their gigantic relatives.

8/24/2010 5:00:00 PM

The ancient "terror bird" Andalgalornis couldn't fly, but it used its unusually large, rigid skull -- coupled with a hawk-like hooked beak -- for a fighting strategy reminiscent of boxer Muhammad Ali. The agile creature repeatedly attacked and retreated, landing well-targeted, hatchet-like jabs to take down its prey, according to a new study.

8/19/2010 11:00:00 AM

A massive reduction in grasslands and the spread of forests may have been the primary cause of the decline of mammals such as the woolly mammoth, woolly rhino and cave lion, according to scientists.

8/18/2010 8:00:00 AM

A team of scientists in the UK has published new research on a fossilized landscape, providing insights into how an ancient environment functioned.

8/17/2010 11:00:00 PM

In findings that push back the clock on the scientific world's thinking about when animal life appeared on Earth, scientists may have discovered the oldest fossils of animal bodies, suggesting that primitive sponge-like creatures were living in ocean reefs about 650 million years ago. The shelly fossils, found beneath a 635 million-year-old glacial deposit in South Australia, represent the earliest evidence of animal body forms in the current fossil record by at least 70 million years.

8/17/2010 2:00:00 PM

Scientists have discovered evidence that human ancestors were using stone tools and consuming meat from large mammals nearly a million years earlier than previously documented. Two fossilized bones with cut marks and percussion marks were unearthed in Ethiopia. The bones are about 3.4 million years old and provide the first evidence that Australopithecus afarensis used stone tools and consumed meat.

8/11/2010 11:00:00 AM

The Gondwana supercontinent underwent a 60-degree rotation across Earth's surface during the Early Cambrian period, according to new evidence uncovered by a team of geologists. The study has implications for the environmental conditions that existed at a crucial period in Earth's evolutionary history called the Cambrian explosion, when most of the major groups of complex animals rapidly appeared.

8/11/2010 2:00:00 AM

One of the ocean's most formidable marine predators, the mosasaur Platecarpus, lived in the Cretaceous Period some 85 million years ago and was thought to have swum like an eel. That theory is debunked in a new article. Scientists have reconceived the animal's morphology, or body plan, based on a spectacular specimen housed at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

8/10/2010 5:00:00 PM

A discovery of fossilized footprints reveals when reptiles first conquered dry land. The 318-million-year-old reptile footprints were found in sea-cliffs on the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. They show that reptiles were the first vertebrates (animals with a backbone) to conquer dry continental interiors.

8/2/2010 8:00:00 AM

The tropics owe their stunning biodiversity to consistent year-round temperatures, not higher temperatures or more sunlight, according to a novel survey of insect diversity at different latitudes and at different points in the planet's history. The finding may finally answer a question that has dogged scientists for centuries.

7/22/2010 5:00:00 AM

The discovery of a remarkable 15-million-year-old Australian fossil limestone cave packed with even older animal bones has revealed almost the entire life cycle of a large prehistoric marsupial, from suckling young in the pouch still cutting their milk teeth to elderly adults.

7/18/2010 5:00:00 PM

When paleontologist Iyad Zalmout went looking for fossil whales and dinosaurs in Saudi Arabia, he never expected to come face-to-face with a significant, early primate fossil.

7/15/2010 8:00:00 AM

Triceratops and Torosaurus were the same dinosaur at different stages of growth, according to new research. Since the late 1800s, scientists have believed that Triceratops and Torosaurus were two different types of dinosaurs. Triceratops had a three-horned skull with a rather short frill, whereas Torosaurus had a much bigger frill with two large holes through it.

7/14/2010 2:00:00 PM

"Living fossil" cycads now number about 300 species, and many of these species are endangered, especially those on islands like Guam. New molecular research on a threatened species, Cycas micronesica, shows these plants are not relics and that there is hope in careful management of the remaining plants.

7/14/2010 8:00:00 AM

Scientists studying ancient species migration believe northern birds had the ability to colonize continents that southern species lacked. The research reveals how the ancient 'land bridge' of Panama, which first connected North and South America, caused an uneven species migration, leading to a new understanding of species diversity today.

7/14/2010 5:00:00 AM

Saber-toothed cats may be best known for their supersized canines, but they also had exceptionally strong forelimbs for pinning prey before delivering the fatal bite, says a new study.

7/13/2010 5:00:00 PM

When Nicholas Longrich discovered a new dinosaur species with a heart-shaped frill on its head, he wanted to come up with a name just as flamboyant as the dinosaur's appearance. Over a few beers with fellow paleontologists one night, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind: Mojoceratops. With the publication of Longrich's paper describing his find in the Journal of Paleontology, the name is now official.

7/8/2010 5:00:00 PM

Archeologists have unearthed the earliest evidence of human occupation in Britain. Their findings demonstrate that ancient humans occupied Britain over 800,000 years ago, marking the first known settlement in northern Europe -- far earlier than previously thought.

7/8/2010 8:00:00 AM

The flightless ostrich uses its wings as sophisticated air-rudders and braking aids when running at high speed and may provide valuable information about how its dinosaur ancestors used their feathered forelimbs to move more efficiently. A small leg muscle, if also present in dinosaurs may have reduced the energetic cost of carrying a heavy body.

7/2/2010 8:00:00 AM

A new analysis of the extinction of woolly mammoths and other large mammals more than 10,000 years ago suggests that they may have fallen victim to the same type of "trophic cascade" of ecosystem disruption that scientists say is being caused today by the global decline of predators such as wolves, cougars and sharks.

7/1/2010 5:00:00 PM

The discovery in Gabon of more than 250 fossils in an excellent state of conservation has provided proof, for the first time, of the existence of multicellular organisms 2.1 billion years ago. This finding represents a major breakthrough: until now, the first complex life forms (made up of several cells) dated from around 600 million years ago. These new fossils, of various shapes and sizes, imply that the origin of organized life is a lot older than is generally admitted, thus challenging current knowledge on the beginning of life.

7/1/2010 11:00:00 AM

Even before the dawn of agriculture, people may have caused the planet to warm up, a new study suggests.

7/1/2010 5:00:00 AM

Species extinction is a fundamental part of evolution: the best adapted species survive, while others die out. A new study shows why, after 800,000 years of successful survival, a species of rhinoceros suddenly disappeared.

6/29/2010 5:00:00 AM

The separation of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens might have occurred at least one million years ago, more than 500,000 years earlier than previously believed, according to recent research in Spain using DNA-based analyses of teeth and computer modeling.

6/23/2010 2:00:00 PM

The robust jaws and formidable teeth of some of our ancestors and ape cousins may suggest that humans are wimps when it comes to producing a powerful bite: but a new study has found the opposite is true. The surprise findings suggest that early modern humans did not necessarily need to use tools and cooking to process high-nutrient hard foods, such as nuts, but may have lost an ability to eat very tough items, such as tubers or leaves.

6/23/2010 8:00:00 AM

An international team of scientists discovered and analyzed a 3.6 million-year-old partial skeleton found in Ethiopia. Research indicates that advanced human-like, upright walking occurred much earlier than previously thought.

6/21/2010 2:00:00 PM

Paleontologists have discovered the oldest mammalian tooth marks yet on the bones of ancient animals, including several large dinosaurs.

6/17/2010 8:00:00 AM

The world's oldest known example of a fig wasp has been found on the Isle of Wight. The fossil wasp is almost identical to the modern species, proving that this tiny but specialized insect has remained virtually unchanged for more than 34 million years.

6/16/2010 11:00:00 AM

Between 200 and 65 million years ago, fearsome marine reptiles reigned over the oceans. Were they warm-blooded like today's mammals and birds or cold-blooded like nowadays fish and reptiles? For the first time, a study has settled the debate: some large marine reptiles were warm-blooded (in other words, they were endothermic), giving them a considerable advantage to swim fast over long distances and to conquer cold regions.

6/15/2010 5:00:00 AM

A new study has found a connection between La Nina-like sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific and droughts in western Europe and in what later became the southwestern United States and Mexico.

6/10/2010 8:00:00 AM

Fish really is "brain food." And it seems that even pre-humans living as far back as 2 million years ago somehow knew it.

6/10/2010 5:00:00 AM

If you think summer in your hometown is hot, consider the Turkana Basin of Kenya, where the average daily temperature has reached the mid-90s or higher, year-round, for the past 4 million years. Could the climate have influenced the way humans evolved in that region?

6/8/2010 2:00:00 PM

Sea level has not been as high as the distinctive ridges that run down the length of Florida for millions of years. Yet recently deposited marine fossils abound in the ridges' sands. Now, a geologist may have helped crack that mystery.

6/8/2010 2:00:00 AM

Archaeologists have found evidence that Neanderthals were living in Britain at the start of the last ice age, 40,000 years earlier than previously thought.

6/1/2010 2:00:00 PM

A team of paleontologists has described a new species of herbivore dinosaur based upon an incomplete skeleton found in western New Mexico. The new species, Jeyawati rugoculus, thrived near the shore of a vast inland sea 91 million years ago.

6/1/2010 5:00:00 AM

More than 100 years ago, paleontologist E. D. Cope of "Dinosaur Wars" fame found a few fragmentary bones of a reptile in the deserts of New Mexico. He named the reptile Typothorax. A century later, Typothorax -- which belongs to a group of reptiles called aetosaurs -- remained something of a mystery, known mainly from pieces of armor, a few limb bones, and some sections of tail. Now, thanks to two remarkably complete skeletons, paleontologists are finally revealing what Typothorax really looked like.

5/31/2010 8:00:00 AM

Evolutionary biologists have looked back 35 million years to provide the first test of why whales show such rich diversity. Species diversification and body size of whales were established early in their evolution.

5/30/2010 11:00:00 PM

A new horned dinosaur, Medusaceratops lokii, has been discovered. Approximately 20 feet long and weighing more than 2 tons, the newly identified plant-eating dinosaur lived nearly 78 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Montana. Its identification marks the discovery of a new genus of horned dinosaur.

5/30/2010 2:00:00 PM

A new species of horned dinosaur unearthed in Mexico has larger horns that any other species -- up to 4 feet long -- and has given scientists fresh insights into the ancient history of western North America, according to paleontologists.

5/29/2010 2:00:00 PM

Pre-humans living in East Africa 4.4 million years ago inhabited grassy plains, not forests, a team of researchers has concluded.

5/27/2010 11:00:00 PM

Researchers sheds new light on a previously unclassifiable 500 million-year-old squid-like carnivore known as Nectocaris pteryx.

5/27/2010 5:00:00 PM

With the help of ancient fossils unearthed in the Sahara desert, scientists have identified a new type of pterosaur (giant flying reptile or pterodactyl) that existed about 95 million years ago.

5/27/2010 5:00:00 AM

The evolution of flight took longer than previously thought with the ancestors of modern birds "rubbish" at flying, if they flew at all, according to scientists.

5/26/2010 11:00:00 AM