Fossils
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The discovery of rare painted rock art featuring cattle in one of the driest parts of the Sahara Desert indicates that the region was once covered in grass, swamps and waterholes, making it a resource-rich home to a diverse community of animal species.
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The six-foot-tall raptors in the Jurassic Park movies were terrifying enough, but now scientists have described a giant new raptor species whose legs alone were that tall.
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If a giant prehistoric salmon isn't scary enough for you, how about one with warthog-like tusks? According to a new study, Oncorhynchus rastrosus possessed just such appendages – even though the fish likely fed on tiny plankton.
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A newly described species of marine reptile could be the largest to ever swim the world’s oceans. The “giant fish lizard” lived more than 200 million years ago, and may give the blue whale a run for its money, size-wise.
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Scientists have uncovered the oldest fossilized forest, dating back 390 million years. The ancient forest was made up of the first trees to ever grow on Earth – bizarre “prototype” trees that had to rip their skeletons apart in order to grow.
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A 280-million-year-old fossil from the Italian Alps is pretty much just black paint in the lizard-shaped grooves of a rock. So say researchers who examined the specimen and laid to rest questions that have long puzzled paleontologists.
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Upending existing theories, there was no peaceful transition of power from hunter-gathers to the first farmers. New DNA analysis reveals that instead it was a deadly takeover – one that completely wiped out the hunter-gathers within a few generations.
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Most of us picture megalodon as a Jason-Statham-hunting monster that looked like a giant great white shark, but that probably wasn’t the case. A new study re-examines fossil evidence and suggests the creature was longer and more slender than thought.
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Genetic and isotopic analyses have pieced together a remarkable narrative of a 20-year-old female woolly mammoth, detailing her health, status, travels and ultimate ending in interior Alaska – even though her story is now more than 14,000 years old.
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If T. rex is too mainstream, discerning 10-year-olds may now have a new answer when asked their favorite dinosaur – Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis. The newly identified species appears to be more primitive than its famous cousin, but just as big and scary.
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The debate rages on about the identity of fossils of small tyrannosaurs. A new study claims to have found evidence that a mini tyrannosaur species stomped around alongside its famous, giant cousin – but other scientists aren’t convinced.
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Still prized at the dinner table today, it appears the drumstick was just as popular with tyrannosaur kids 75 million years ago. A fascinating find in a dinosaur's stomach offers clues as to why these giant predators became the most successful on Earth.
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