Tag: Fossils

Prehistoric Amphibian Ancestor Is Named for Kermit the Frog

One crawled across the rain-drenched ground of what is now Texas more than 270 million years ago, possibly feasting on fast-moving insects. The other endeared himself to millions as the banjo-playing roving newscaster, and reluctant beau of Miss Piggy, known as Kermit the Frog. Now, they share a name. On Thursday, scientists announced that they […]

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Fossil Trove From 74,000 Years Ago Points to Remarkably Adaptive Humans

In 2002, a crew of paleoanthropologists were working in northwestern Ethiopia when they came across chipped stones and fossilized animal bones — telltale signs of a place where ancient people had once lived. After years of excavations, the researchers discovered that hunter-gatherers had indeed lived there 74,000 years ago. As described in a study published […]

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On the Trail of the Denisovans

ORIGINS DNA has shown that the extinct humans thrived around the world, from chilly Siberia to high-altitude Tibet — perhaps even in the Pacific islands. March 2, 2024 Neanderthals may have vanished 40,000 years ago, but they are no strangers to us today. Their stocky skeletons dazzle in museums around the world. Their imagined personas […]

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What’s in a Name? The Battle of Baby T. Rex and Nanotyrannus.

When fossil hunters unearthed the remains of a dinosaur from the hills of eastern Montana five years ago, they carried several key characteristics of a Tyrannosaurus rex: a pair of giant legs for walking, a much smaller pair of arms for slashing prey, and a long tail stretching behind it. But unlike a full-grown T. […]

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Estate of T. Rex Skeleton Landowner Is at the Center of Court Fight

Darlene Williams died in 2020, more than a dozen years after the $8 million sale of a fossilized skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue that was found on her family’s ranch in South Dakota in 1990. Now, her children are fighting over who should inherit her money, pointing to conflicting wills that Ms. Williams […]

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New Mosasaur Found in North Dakota: Jormungandr Walhallaensis

In Norse mythology, a monstrous sea serpent wrapped itself around the world’s waters. Its name was Jormungandr. The ancient Norse also believed in a place called Valhalla, or heaven. And in North Dakota, there’s a small town called Walhalla, a name that reflects the area’s Scandinavian heritage. It was near there that a new kind […]

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In Peru, a Fossil-Rich Desert Faces Unruly Development

Millions of years ago, this desert in Peru was a gathering place for fantastical sea creatures: whales that walked, dolphins with walrus faces, sharks with teeth as large as a human face, red-feathered penguins, aquatic sloths. They reproduced in the gentle waters of a shallow lagoon buffered by hills that still wrap across the landscape […]

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In Peru, a Fossil-Rich Desert Faces Unruly Development

Millions of years ago, this desert in Peru was a gathering place for fantastical sea creatures: whales that walked, dolphins with walrus faces, sharks with teeth as large as a human face, red-feathered penguins, aquatic sloths. They reproduced in the gentle waters of a shallow lagoon buffered by hills that still wrap across the landscape […]

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