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8380 results for "** fossil discovery"
A parking lot construction project uncovered the first new dinosaur fossils excavated at Dinosaur National Monument in over a century. The 150-million-year-old bones likely belong to a massive long-necked Diplodocus and extend far beyond the parking lot site.
Scientists found the first real evidence that giant Diplodocus dinosaurs had patterned, colorful skin 150 million years ago. Microscopic structures in fossilized skin from Montana reveal young dinosaurs likely sported dark spots and reflective patches for camouflage.
Scientists discovered minuscule fossils of humanity's earliest-known primate relative in Colorado, filling a crucial gap in our evolutionary story. The breakthrough shows these tiny, tree-dwelling ancestors spread across North America right after dinosaurs vanished 66 million years ago.
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Paleontologists in Egypt's northern desert discovered 17-million-year-old ape jaw fossils that could change where scientists believe humans' ancestors first evolved. The new species, found where only monkey remains had been discovered before, closely resembles predictions of what our common ancestor looked like.
A 550-million-year-old sea sponge fossil just explained why the earliest animals seemed to vanish from history. The discovery reveals that ancient sponges were too soft to fossilize, solving a puzzle that has stumped scientists for decades.
Construction crews renovating a Colorado parking lot got a prehistoric surprise when they uncovered fossils from a long-neck dinosaur that had been hidden under asphalt for over a century. The discovery marks the first fossil excavation at Dinosaur National Monument in more than 100 years.
When paleontologist John Ostrom saw photos of a fluffy dinosaur fossil in 1996, he began to cry and nearly collapsed. The discovery finally proved his decades-old theory that modern birds evolved from dinosaurs.
Workers paving a parking lot in Colorado accidentally discovered the first new dinosaur fossils at Dinosaur National Monument in over a century. The 3,000-pound haul likely belongs to a Diplodocus and is now being studied alongside fossils dating back 150 million years.
A forgotten fossil stored in a museum drawer since 1962 just solved a 500-million-year mystery about life on Earth. Scientists say the discovery proves ancient oceans teemed with life during a period once thought nearly empty.
A paleontologist's rediscovered field notebooks just unlocked the secrets of a spectacular fish fossil found 27 years ago in New Zealand. The emotional family donation made it possible to finally honor their father's remarkable discovery.
Construction workers struck scientific gold at Dinosaur National Monument when their equipment uncovered a long-necked dinosaur fossil during routine parking lot repairs. The discovery marks the first new dinosaur find at the Utah site in over a century.
Scientists in Canada's Northwest Territories discovered fossils that are 567 million years old, making them the oldest evidence of animal movement and sexual reproduction ever found. The discovery suggests complex life may have begun in deep ocean waters, not shallow coastlines as scientists long believed.
A fishing trip turned into a major scientific discovery when an Alabama family spotted unusual bones in limestone and helped scientists identify a new species of ancient sea turtle. The remarkably preserved fossil is rewriting what we know about how leatherback turtles evolved.
A Calgary girl's curiosity about rocks during recess led to the discovery of an ancient sea star fossil now headed to a museum. Her find is one of only a handful of such specimens in the world.
A family outing near a shopping center in Mansfield, Texas turned into a paleontological treasure hunt when a curious kindergartener spotted fossils that scientists later identified as a 100-million-year-old nodosaur. What started as a child's innocent curiosity became a scientifically significant discovery of one of North America's rarest armored dinosaurs.
Scientists in China have uncovered nearly 9,000 fossils representing 153 species from an ancient ocean ecosystem that thrived after Earth's first mass extinction. The discovery is filling crucial gaps in our understanding of how life bounced back and spread across the planet.
Nearly 500 beautifully preserved fish fossils in Egypt reveal how ocean life rapidly recovered just a few million years after the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. The discovery fills a massive gap in our understanding of how the seas came back to life.
A spiky fossil that sat unnoticed in a museum drawer for 60 years is rewriting what scientists thought was a dark chapter in Earth's history. The discovery suggests ancient oceans teemed with life during a period once believed to be nearly barren.
A scientist cleaning a fossil after a long teaching day discovered the oldest known ancestor of spiders and scorpions, pushing their evolutionary history back 20 million years. The discovery shows that the complex body plan of modern spiders was already emerging during Earth's most explosive period of evolution.
A forgotten fossil sitting in a museum drawer for 62 years is helping scientists solve a mystery about a supposedly barren period in Earth's ancient history. The discovery suggests life was far more diverse 500 million years ago than we ever knew.
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