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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: fossil

fossil stories: 41 news summaries

1 - 20 of 41 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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 Fossil Hunter 
 Finds Giant 
 Sea Monster 

Colossal pliosaur was big enough to snack on T. Rex

Oct 28, 09 2:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - A sea monster big enough to have munched on T. Rex has been found by an amateur fossil collector scouring Britain's south coast. The collector gathered chunks of the prehistoric beast's 8-foot-long skull as they fell from a cliff face over several years. Paleontologists believe the pliosaur skull is the... More »

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paleontology • fossil • dinosaur • Tyrannosaurus rex • sea creatures

Scientists Unearth Fossils of 'Missing Link' Flying Reptiles

Researchers believe Darwinopterus is proof of modular evolution

Oct 14, 09 2:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the remains of a flying reptile in China that they believe represents the "missing link" in a controversial theory of evolution. The reptile—named Darwinopterus in honor of Charles Darwin—lived some 160 million years ago and has features from both early, short-tailed pterodactyls and their... More »

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evolution • fossil • Charles Darwin • pterodactyl • reptiles

 'Ballerina-Like' T. Rex 
 Cousin Discovered 

Size, light skeleton and delicate teeth suggest different prey from larger relative

Oct 6, 09 3:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - A smaller, more agile cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex has been identified. The skull and a nearly complete skeleton of Alioramus altai was discovered in Mongolia in 2001, and has features that distinguish it from its more lumbering cousin. Unlike its “big bad boy” relatives, a study author... More »

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paleontology • fossil • Gobi desert • dinosaur • Mongolia • predators • Tyrannosaurus rex • Alioramus altai

 Fossil Find 
 Shakes Up 
 Evolution 
 Timeline 

Ardipithecus ramidus lived in trees and walked upright

Oct 1, 09 11:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - A primate fossil found in Africa in 1994 predates the famous “Lucy” skeleton by 1 million years and offers clues to human evolution, researchers say. “This is huge,” a paleoanthropologist tells the Washington Post. “This is the biggest discovery really since” Lucy. The researchers believe... More »

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Africa • evolution • archaeology • paleontology • fossil • chimpanzees • Lucy • primates • scientific study • Australopithecus • Ardipithecus ramidus

 Pint-Size T-Rex 
 Surprises Scientists 

'Raptorex' was 1/100th the weight of its descendant

Sep 17, 09 5:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Paleontologists have unearthed a miniature predecessor of Tyrannosaurus Rex, a finding that may rewrite the origins of the most iconic of dinosaurs. “Raptorex,” discovered in China, has all the distinctive features of a Tyrannosaurus—large head and jaws, long legs, and small arms—but it weighed only 150... More »

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paleontology • fossil • dinosaur • T Rex • T. rex • Tyrannosaurus rex

 Giant Dinos 
 'Held Heads High' 

Study suggests museums wrongly show sauropods slouching forward

May 27, 09 5:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Giant dinosaurs like Diplodicus and Apatosaurus spent most of their time with their incredibly lengthy necks held tall like giraffes instead of slouching forward as seen in most museum reconstructions, according to a new study. Reseachers compared the bones of sauropods with mammals and birds, the only modern animals that... More »

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paleontology • fossil • dinosaur

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the oldest intact primate fossil on record, ABC News reports. Nicknamed “Ida,” the 47-million-year-old lemur-like creature had opposable thumbs, fingernails instead of claws, and legs that could have evolved to walk upright. Scientists don’t think Ida is a direct ancestor of humans, though. “... More »

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evolution • paleontology • fossil • scientific discoveries • primates • opposable thumbs

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a 47 million-year-old primate fossil that they believe represents the common ancestor of all later monkeys, apes, and humans, reports the Wall Street Journal. The find supports a theory that humans' ancient ape-like ancestor was an adapid, which is also believed to be linked to lemurs. The... More »

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paleontology • fossil • anthropology • skeleton • Neanderthals • prehistoric • Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology • primates

 Meet 
 the First 
 European 


Forensic artist reconstructs face of first modern human found in Europe

May 5, 09 3:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Meet the first modern European. His face—or hers, as researchers have been unable to determine the sex—was reconstructed by a forensic artist based on a partial skull and jawbone discovered in a Romanian cave. The facial features linked to the 35,000-year-old bones recall the continent's immediate African... More »

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evolution • BBC • fossil • homo sapien • bone • anthropology • Homo habilis • Homo erectus • Neanderthals • Romania • caves • cavemen • ice age

 'Hobbit' 
 Fossils 
 Mesmerize 
 Scientists 



Number of supporters grow for 'distinct' hominid species theory

Apr 28, 09 7:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Six years after their discovery on an Indonesian island, fossils of 3-foot-tall people creatures nicknamed "hobbits" continue to captivate researchers, reports the New York Times. So far, they haven't been clearly linked to other known human fossils. They may be descendants of Homo erectus who migrated from Africa... More »

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fossil • hominids • Homo erectus • hobbits • Flores • Homo floresiensis

Fossil of 'Missing Link' Walking Seal Found

Arctic creature's existence was predicted by Charles Darwin

Apr 23, 09 3:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - The fossil of a semi-aquatic creature unearthed in northern Canada may hold the key to how seals and walruses evolved, the BBC reports. The carnivore—which resembles a cross between an otter and a seal—had feet that were webbed but weren't flippers. Scientists believe the animals walked on land... More »

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evolution • Arctic • fossil • Charles Darwin • walruses • marine mammals • seal

 Sea Monster 
 Makes T-Rex 
 Look Wimpy 

50-ft Jurassic creature had crushing jaws

Mar 17, 09 10:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - A fossil sea monster dug up last year had a bite far more crushing than T-Rex’s, scientists in Norway have found. The jaws of the 50-foot Jurassic reptile, known as "Predator X," carried a force of 33,000 pounds per square inch, 10 times more than that... More »

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fossil • jawbone • Tyrannosaurus rex

Ancient Footprints
Reveal Path to Humanity

Tracks in Kenya are 1.5 million years old

Feb 28, 09 3:12 AM CST
(Newser) - Scientists have unearthed ancient footprints that reveal humanity's ancestors walked with a modern stride as long as 1.5 million years ago, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Researchers believe the tracks—left beside a muddy river bank in Kenya and preserved when the river changed course—belong to human ancestor Homo ... More »

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Kenya • archaeology • fossil • anthropology • Homo erectus • prehistoric

 LA Unearths 
 Mammoth 
 Fossil Stash 

Giant cache of Ice Age fossils unearthed from under city park

Feb 18, 09 8:24 AM CST
(Newser) - Workers digging up an underground Los Angeles parking garage have unearthed the biggest cache of fossils from the last Ice Age ever discovered, including a nearly intact mammoth skeleton, reports the Los Angeles Times. Researchers have lifted huge chunks of earth from the site adjacent to the La Brea tar... More »

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Los Angeles • paleontology • fossil • woolly mammoth • Mammoth

World's Largest Dinosaur Trove Found in China

7,600 fossils dug up, including biggest hadrosaur on record

Dec 30, 08 12:01 PM CST
(Newser) - Scientists in eastern China have uncovered the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in the world, they say. They’ve pulled some 7,600 fossils from a 980-foot-long pit over the past 7 months, including what could be the biggest duck-billed hadrosaur ever discovered, at more than 65 feet long, state... More »

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China • fossil • dinosaur

 Dino Dads: Original Mr. Mom

Male raptors sat on the eggs while females went out foraging

Dec 19, 08 7:43 AM CST
(Newser) - Some of the fearsome birdlike predators of the Cretaceous and Jurassic ages had a softer side as stay-at-home dads, a team of paleontologists says. The researchers analyzed leg bones found on nests of unhatched eggs and concluded that in at least three dinosaur genuses, it was the males who guarded... More »

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parenting • paleontology • fossil • dinosaur • Cretaceous Period

 Fossil of Giant 
 Flying Reptile 
 Found 

Newly discovered species had car-sized wingspan

Dec 4, 08 5:31 AM CST
(Newser) - Scientists have uncovered a new species of gigantic reptile that flew the skies over Brazil 115 million years ago, the BBC reports. The reptile, by far the largest of its kind ever found, had a wing span of over 16 feet. Lacusovagus—meaning lake wanderer—had a huge jaw, suggesting... More »

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Brazil • paleontology • fossil • dinosaur • reptiles

(Newser) - Meet the newest member of the family tree: a 9-foot fish that lived 375 million years ago. Scientists say its fossil is providing the best look to date at how creatures made the transition from water to land, the New York Times reports. The “fishapod”—thought to be... More »

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evolution • fish • fossil

For TB Clues, Researchers Turn to Bones

Key to disease's evolution may lie in 6,000-year-old DNA

Jul 14, 08 6:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists are analyzing bones found in the ancient city of Jericho, in what's now the West Bank, for clues to fighting tuberculosis. The German, Israeli, and Palestinian researchers hope the 6,000-year-old DNA they're studying will reveal how the disease evolves and how to combat it. More »

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disease • DNA • Jericho • fossil • TB • skeleton • bones • tuberculosis • Gulf • Nile delta

Tyrannosaurus Rex: Tastes
Like Chicken?

Study says birds are dinosaurs' closest living descendants

Apr 24, 08 8:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Dinosaurs are more closely related to birds than reptiles, protein extracted from a Tyrannosaurus rex bone suggests. T. rex collagen, the main protein in bones, is similar to chicken and ostrich collagen but much different than material from alligators and lizards, scientists say. The findings could remap the evolutionary tree... More »

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birds • fossil • dinosaur • bones • DNA evidence • reptiles • Tyrannosaurus rex • collagen

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