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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: fossil

fossil stories: 41 news summaries

21 - 40 of 41 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 Next >>

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 Fossil Feces Revise History 

Evidence shows humans arrived in North America much earlier than thought

Apr 3, 08 9:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - Fossilized feces found in an Oregon cave have scientists rethinking how and when humans first came to North America. At 14,300 years old, the ancient poop was deposited at least 1,000 years before humans were thought to roam the area, National Geographic reports. Discoveries like this "help... More »

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origins of humanity • archeology • fossil • Oregon • discovery

 New Fossil Rocks Human History

Indicates man settled in Europe far earlier than thought

Mar 27, 08 8:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - An incredibly old jawbone discovered in a Spanish cave could rewrite human history, scientists say. The bone with teeth is 1.2 million years old and belongs to a long-extinct human ancestor called Homo antecessor. It's at least 300,000 years older than any other human fossil found in... More »

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archaeology • Europe • origins of humanity • Homo antecessor • fossil • jawbone • anthropology • Neanderthals

BC Movie Critters Strong
on Terror, Not Accuracy

Still, most of the beasts in the new flick did exist somewhere at some point

Mar 5, 08 8:42 PM CST
(Newser) - The computer-generated critters in the movie 10,000 BC—due out Friday—all actually existed at some point, but their portrayal in the film is scientifically sketchy. Saber-toothed tigers and woolly mammoths weren't as big as portrayed, and the film's huge terror birds died out 40 million years ago. One... More »

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fossil • woolly mammoth • ancient Egypt • prehistoric mammals • movies • 10,000 BC • saber-toothed cats • terror birds • special effects

Tiny Monkey Fossil Spurs Scientific Flap

Did oldest primate in
North America arrive
from east or west?

Mar 4, 08 1:10 PM CST
(Newser) - A diminutive fossil recently found in Mississippi is the oldest primate discovered in North America, and its exact age is raising questions about the timing of prehistoric animal migrations, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The existence of the tiny, tarsier-like creature, which could fit in the palm of a human hand,... More »

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fossil • Mississippi • primates • Christopher Beard • tarsier • Teilhardina magnoliana • Paleocene • Carnegie Museum of Natural History

'Frog From Hell' Fossil Turns up in Madagascar

'Beelzebufo' munched on baby dinosaurs

Feb 19, 08 3:15 AM CST
(Newser) - Fossil hunters digging in Madagascar have discovered a 70 million-year-old, 10 pound ancestor of the horned frog. Over twice as large as its modern-day descendants, the  "slightly squashed beach-ball" shaped creature probably lunched on small lizards and baby dinosaurs, and has earned the charming nicknames "frog from hell"... More »

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paleontology • fossil • dinosaur • frogs • scientific discoveries • continents • Cretaceous Period • animal

Sparrow-Sized Pterodactyl Found

Bird ancestor lived in trees, ate insects

Feb 12, 08 8:00 AM CST
(Newser) - Fossil hunters in China's Liaoning province have discovered the remains of a never-before-seen pterodactyl no bigger than a sparrow. Nemicolopterus crypticus, or hidden flying forest-dweller, had curved toes, which means it spent most of its time perched in trees. Unlike giant pterodactyls, the Nemicolopterus had no teeth and ate insects,... More »

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China • fossil • pterodactyl • pterodactyl Nemicolopterus • Liaoning province

'Mummified' Dinosaur Body Unearthed

'Breathtaking' rare find reveals well-preserved soft tissue, skin

Dec 3, 07 10:05 AM CST
(Newser) - A remarkably well-preserved hadrosaur discovered in North Dakota offers valuable clues about the appearance of dinosaurs, paleontologists say. Soft tissue such as skin and muscle were effectively "mummified" after the dinosaur died near a river, the Washington Post reports. "It's a dinosaur that was turned into stone, essentially,... More »

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fossil • dinosaur

Creation Geologists Rock World

They're well-credentialed and unafraid of data

Nov 25, 07 7:10 AM CST
(Newser) - Today's creationist geologists are not who the secular may think. Numerous and thriving, many hold advanced degrees from top universities, and are making evangelicals more open to scientific evidence. And they are experts for the nearly half of Americans who believe God created the Earth in the last 10,000... More »

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evolution • Christianity • creationism • Noah's Ark • geology • flood • fossil • Bible • Christian right • evangelicals • young earth

Arachnophobia! 8-Foot Fossil Scorpion Is Biggest Bug

Creepy swam sea with other giant crawlies

Nov 21, 07 8:40 AM CST
(Newser) - Scientists digging in Germany have found the fossilized claw of what is thought to be the largest bug ever to roam the earth—or, in the case of this 400-million-year-old scorpion, to navigate the seas. The eight-foot-long arachnid is an "amazing discovery" that highlights the remarkable sizes of ancient... More »

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Germany • paleontology • fossil • scorpion • Prum • University of Bristol

Long-Necked Dinosaur Grazed Like a Cow

Study finds plant-eater munched on ferns

Nov 16, 07 2:44 AM CST
(Newser) - The long-necked plant-eating dinosaur Nigersaurus ate its meals off the ground rather than reaching into trees, National Geographic reports. Fossils of the 30-foot-long creature reveal that the animal probably nibbled on plants such as ferns and horsetails. “We have seen nothing like this dinosaur,” said a paleontologist at... More »

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science • University of Chicago • paleontology • fossil • dinosaur

(Newser) - The recently discovered fossil of a giant dinosaur that roamed South America 80 million years ago is not only remarkably complete but also represents a new species, Brazilian and Argentine paleontologists announced today. Futalognkosaurus dukei, a four-legged, long-necked herbivore, measured about 110 feet from head to tail and was four... More »

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Brazil • Argentina • Patagonia • fossil • dinosaur • species • Futalognkosaurus dukei

'Hobbits' Were, Indeed, a Different Kind
of Human

Wrist-bone analysis shows link to apes

Sep 21, 07 1:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - A new study of three wrist bones from an 18,000-year-old fossil shows that the so-called hobbits of Indonesia were, indeed, a separate human species. When the bones were discovered in 2003, scientists trumpeted the find as evidence of a smaller species, Homo floresiensis. But skeptics argued that the... More »

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Indonesia • archaeology • fossil • homo sapien • human evolution • anthropology • Homo erectus • skeleton • primitive • hobbits

New Georgian Fossils May Link 'Lucy' and Homo Erectus

Less-evolved specimens in Europe indicate earlier emigration from Africa

Sep 20, 07 6:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Archaeologists have unearthed four fossilized skeletons of a human ancestor that shares characteristics with the humanesque Homo erectus and the earlier, smaller Australopithicus afarensis, of which the famous 'Lucy' skeleton is a member. The fossils in the republic of Georgia contradict the previously held idea that hominids developed all key... More »

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fossil • human evolution • Lucy

Lucy Debuts
in Houston

But dem bones ain't made for traveling,
say scientists

Aug 29, 07 5:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - Lucy kicks off her public debut  at the Houston Museum of Natural Science tomorrow amid controversy that the world's favorite human ancestor should never have left her home in Ethiopia. The public wants the chance to the 3.2 million-year-old remains, but scientists say Lucy's too fragile to travel. More »

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evolution • Ethiopia • Houston • fossil • human evolution • Lucy

Racing T-Rex? You'll Need
a Head Start

Computer projection shows 6-ton carnivore was fleet of foot

Aug 22, 07 6:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - If a professional soccer player raced a T-Rex, chances are the athlete would wind up a dino snack, according to a new computer model projection. The simulation, which is the first to rely mainly on data from fossils rather than modern descendants of prehistoric beasts, showed the 6-ton carnivore steaming... More »

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science • fossil • dinosaur • T Rex • Compsognathus • speed • ostrich

Kenyan Fossil Rattles Human
Family Tree

Skull suggests two precursors were actually concurrent

Aug 9, 07 8:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Two of our ancestors apparently lived alongside each other in Africa rather than evolving from one to the next on the path to Homo sapiens, as scientists once believed. National Geographic reports that a Homo habilis skull dug up in Kenya is surprisingly young, making its 1.4 million-year-old owner... More »

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Africa • Kenya • evolution • archaeology • origins of humanity • fossil • human evolution • homo sapiens • hominids • anthropology • Homo habilis • Homo erectus

Dinos Coexisted With Precursors

Pre-dinos coexisted with dinosaurs for 20 million years, dig finds

Jul 20, 07 6:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - Fossils newly discovered in New Mexico are challenging the theory that early dinosaurs quickly drove their reptilian predecessors into extinction. The bones, 215 million years old, indicate that these pre-dinosaurs lived alongside their more evolved relatives—which were merely the size of dogs—for up to 20 million years longer... More »

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fossil

Chinese Make Dino Soup

Jul 4, 07 7:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Chinese villagers in Henan province dug up a ton of fossilized dinosaur bones, using them to make traditional medicines, including soup and poultices. The villagers, not entirely inaccurately, believed that they were ‘dragon bones’ from flying dragons. Once they learned of their value to paleontologists, the villagers donated the... More »

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China • medicine • paleontology • fossil • dinosaur • Henan • bone

Oldest European Human Fossil Discovered

Million-year-old human tooth found in Spain

Jun 30, 07 10:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - A million-year-old tooth belonging to a distant human ancestor has been unearthed in northern Spain, the BBC reports. Scientists touted the pre-molar as western Europe’s “oldest human fossil remain” by more than 200,000 years. The tooth was found Wednesday at the Atapuerca site, where caves have already... More »

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Spain • tooth • Homo antecessor • fossil • Atapuerca

Giant Penguin Fossils Found in Peruvian Desert

Spearfishing birds waddled the earth 36 million years ago

Jun 26, 07 4:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Penguins haven't always lived on ice, scientists have concluded after unearthing fossils of giant penguins in Peru's Atacama desert. The penguins, nearly human-sized at 4.5 feet tall, had extraordinarily long beaks apparently used for spearfishing, and waddled the earth some 36 million years ago, the National Geographic News reports.... More »

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global warming • science • birds • Peru • paleontology • fossil • penguin • dinosaur • Atacama • species • animal

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