Fossilized feathers discovered 136 years ago are still revealing new secrets. Researchers found that the volcanic rock preserving the feather holds microscopic details preserved within the fossil. The team’s research—published today in Geology—found that the feathers are preserved in zeolite, a mode of preservation that hasn’t been reported for soft tissues until now. “Fossil feathers […]
‘Old Stump’ in Texas Turns Out to Be Incredibly Rare Mammoth Tusk
While hunting in West Texas, a deer hunter spotted a strange object in a creek bed. Suspecting it might be a fossil, he took a photo and showed it to a ranch manager. “I was skeptical,” O2 Ranch manager Will Juett said in a Sul Ross State University statement. “I figured it was likely just […]
Some Megalodons Reached 80 Feet—But They Weren’t Built Like Great Whites, Research Suggests
15 million years before movies like Jaws and Open Water gave swimmers the heebie-jeebies, a prehistoric shark species called Otodus megalodon reached gargantuan sizes. Researchers have reassessed just how large the now-extinct beast would have been—and the results are fin-tastic. To refine its own estimates of megalodon’s size, an international team of biologists, paleontologists, and […]
Yep, That’s 66-Million-Year-Old Vomit
Paleontologists in Denmark found a once-gloopy, now-hardened mess that they believe was spat up by a Cretaceous-era fish. Humans aren’t the only animals that lose their lunch. Just look at your family dog or cat—or, for that matter, the ancient upchuck recently found by a fossil hunter in Denmark. Scientifically speaking, the find is regurgitalite—or […]
Paleontologists Claim to Have Discovered Terrifying New Dinosaur Species in Pre-WWII Photographs
Paleontologists might have discovered a new dinosaur species—even though its fossil doesn’t exist anymore. Researchers in Munich, Germany, claim to have identified a new species of large predatory dinosaur from modern day Egypt in a surprising way. As detailed in a January 14 study published in the journal PLOS one, the researchers studied the 95-million-year-old […]