A new trove of plant, insect, fish and other fossils offers an unprecedented snapshot of Australia’s wetter, forest-dominated past. McGraths Flat in New South Wales contains thousands of beautifully preserved…
Category: Life
This dinosaur had a weapon shaped like an Aztec war club on its tail
A newly discovered species of ankylosaur had a bizarre club on its tail unlike that of any known dinosaur. With its flat surface and sharp blades along the sides, this…
‘Penis worms’ may have been the original hermits
Hermit crabs have been taking shelter in abandoned shells for millions of years, but scientists now have evidence suggesting that the “hermit” lifestyle has existed far longer than that. Besides…
Giant ground sloths may have been meat-eating scavengers
Modern sloths may be dedicated vegetarians, but at least one of their massive Ice Age cousins chowed down on meat when it had the chance. Darwin’s ground sloth — which…
Some dinosaurs may have lived in herds as early as 193 million years ago
A treasure trove of fossilized eggs, nests and skeletons represents the earliest evidence yet of dinosaurs traveling in herds, a study finds. The newly unearthed egg clutches were found alongside…
Cleared tropical forests can regain ground surprisingly fast
Tropical forests are disappearing at an alarming clip across the globe. As lush land is cleared for agriculture, climate-warming carbon gets released and biodiversity declines. But when farmland is left alone,…
Baleen whales eat (and poop) a lot more than we realized
Whalers have plucked giant whales from the sea for much of the last century, reducing their numbers by up to 99 percent for certain species. Some scientists thought that krill…
Fires may have affected up to 85 percent of threatened Amazon species
Much of the Amazon’s biodiversity is under fire — literally. In the last two decades, deforestation and forest fires have encroached on the ranges of thousands of plant and animal…
Female hummingbirds may sport flashy feathers to avoid being harassed
Some female hummingbirds don flashy feathers to avoid being bothered by other hummingbirds, a new study suggests. Male white-necked jacobin hummingbirds (Florisuga mellivora) have bright blue heads and throats. Females…
An incredibly resilient coral in the Great Barrier Reef offers hope for the future
A coral the size of a carousel is the widest known in the Great Barrier Reef. Found just off the coast of Goolboodi Island in Northeast Australia, this reef-building Porites…
