Around 540 million years ago, Earth’s biosphere underwent a pivotal transformation, shifting from a microbe-dominated world to one teeming with animal life, as nearly all major animal phyla appeared abruptly […]
Paleontology
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
410 Million Year Old Fossil Of Prototaxites Defies Classification
The genus ‘Prototaxites’ had previously been thought to be an early type of fungus. However, in a new paper published in Science Advances, researchers from the University of Edinburgh and […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Sample Return
Ancient Chemical Clues Reveal Earth’s Earliest Life 3.3 Billion Years Ago
A new study uncovered fresh chemical evidence of life in rocks more than 3.3 billion years old, along with molecular traces showing that oxygen-producing photosynthesis emerged nearly a billion years […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Fossils & Paleontology, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report
Unusual Red Rocks In Australia Are Rewriting The Rules On Exceptional Fossil Sites
Highly detailed fossils are typically found in shale or other fine-grained sedimentary rocks. These ones? They’re made of iron.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Neutron Scanning Of Coral Fossils Reveals Earth’s Hidden Climate History
A University of Sydney student has developed a completely new way to peer inside coral fossils to recover lost records of past climate change.
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Sample Return, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Dynamic Deep Marine Oxygenation During The Early And Middle Paleozoic
The Early Paleozoic radiation of diverse animal life is commonly connected to a well-ventilated global ocean. Yet the oxygenation history of Paleozoic deep oceans remains debated.
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Sample Return, Science Fiction
New Grand Canyon Fossils Show The Evolution Of Early Animals On Earth
A treasure trove of exceptionally preserved early animals from more than half a billion years ago has been discovered in the Grand Canyon, one of the natural world’s most iconic […]
![Reef scene off the coast of St. Croix, USVI [Photo credit: NOAA CCMA Biogeography Branch]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/How-Earths-Biomass-Changed-Over.jpg?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
How Earth’s Biomass Changed Over 500 Million Years
In a first-of-its-kind study, Stanford researchers have measured how the abundance of ocean life has changed over the past half-billion years of Earth’s history.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Fossils Reveal New Clues About Early Ocean Life On Earth
More than 514 million years ago, long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, sponge-like creatures called archaeocyathids were already busy building some of the planet’s earliest reefs — just north of […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Biosignatures: The Oldest Ant Ever Discovered Found Fossilized In Brazil
Editor’s note: we currently have three rovers on Mars – and other in orbit – searching in one way or another for biosignatures – chemical and/or geological traces that life […]