A new study finds more than one early human species lived on the landscape in Northern Tanzania 3.66 million years ago. But there are reasons to be cautious about the findings.
If scientific research is to take decolonization seriously, names for species should reflect this approach and consider the political, social and emotional implications.
In 2015, a published article described the fossil of a four-legged snake. New research has revealed that it is in fact a lizard, and the fossil is the centre of a scientific ethics debate.
The complex social behaviour in early dinosaurs observed in a new study lines up with other fossil evidence that dinosaurs were more bird-like than crocodilian-like.
Studying these deposits gives scientists information about how past environments change. That, in turn, gives us informed estimates on how climates and environments will change in the near future.
Fossilized comb jellies, or ctenophores, are rare because the creatures are almost completely soft-bodied. Rare fossil finds are helping us learn more about ancient animals and evolution.
Birds have always been charged with carrying the burden of our feelings, writes Delia Falconer. Yet we’ve never treated these inscrutable, vivacious companions particularly well.
Archaehierax sylvestris, whose remains have been unearthed in the arid South Australian outback, was the apex predator in a lush prehistoric forest filled with marsupials and waterfowl.
Finding a fossil tooth embedded in bone is always great news for palaeontologists, as it is the gateway to some otherwise out-of-reach understanding of the behaviour of extinct animals.
Jackals appeared and established themselves in Africa in at least the last five million years. These animals have evolved and adapted to the changing environment, allowing them to survive.
This is a crucial dinosaur for palaeontologists; the variety of fossils available means researchers can study the species’ growth through its whole life span.