While Earth may have been a habitable planet long before the Paleoarchean Era [3.6 to 3.2 billion years ago (Ga)], as rocks of this age retain a diversity of fossil […]
fossils
Posted inFossils & Paleontology
Fossil Secret May Shed Light On The Diversity Of Earth's First Animals
A large group of iconic fossils widely believed to shed light on the origins of many of Earth’s animals and the communities they lived in may be hiding a secret. […]
Posted inFossils & Paleontology
Microscopic Fossils Record Ancient Climate Conditions
Fifty-six million years ago, as the Earth’s climate warmed by five to eight degrees C, new land mammals evolved, tropical forests expanded, giant insects and reptiles appeared and the chemistry […]
Posted inFossils & Paleontology, Press Release
Traces Of Ancient Life Tell Story Of Early Marine Ecosystem Diversity
If you could dive down to the ocean floor nearly 540 million years ago just past the point where waves begin to break, you would find an explosion of life–scores […]
Posted inFossils & Paleontology, Press Release
Discovery Of The Oldest Evidence Of Mobility On Earth
A few years ago, geologist Abderrazak El Albani and his team at the Institut de chimie des milieux et matériaux de Poitiers (CNRS/Université de Poitiers) discovered the oldest existing fossils […]
Posted inFossils & Paleontology, Press Release
Biosignatures May Reveal a Wealth of New Data Locked Inside Old Fossils
Step aside, skeletons — a new world of biochemical “signatures” found in all kinds of ancient fossils is revealing itself to paleontologists, providing a new avenue for insights into major […]
Posted inFossils & Paleontology, Press Release
1 Billion-year-old Green Seaweed Fossils identified, Relative Of Modern Land Plants
Virginia Tech paleontologists have made a remarkable discovery in China: 1 billion-year-old micro-fossils of green seaweeds that could be related to the ancestor of the earliest land plants and trees […]
Posted inFossils & Paleontology, Press Release
There Was Collective Animal Behavior On Earth 480 Million Years Ago
Though our understanding of the anatomy of the earliest animals is growing ever more precise, we know next to nothing about their behaviour. Did group behaviour arise recently or is […]
Posted inFossils & Paleontology
Rare Fossils Provide A Detailed Picture Of Middle Ordovician Biodiversity
A clutch of marine fossil specimens unearthed in northern Portugal that lived between 470 and 459 million years ago is filling a gap in understanding evolution during the Middle Ordovician […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
Tracking Records Of The Oldest Life Forms On Earth
The discovery provides a new characteristic ‘biosignature’ to track the remains of ancient life preserved in rocks which are significantly altered over billions of years and could help identify life […]