Scientists have found an ‘almost perfectly preserved’ skull of a previously unknown animal that lived some 230 million years ago and is the ancestor of most modern reptiles. Known as Taytalura alcoberi, this member of the Lepidosauromorpha, a group of reptiles that predates the dinosaurs, lived in what is now modern-day Argentina during the Late … Read more
Our ancient ancestor ‘Little Foot’ was a creature of the trees! New analysis of the hominin’s shoulder reveals she was hanging from branches more than 3 MILLION years ago Little Foot is a skeleton of our ancient ancestor that lived 3.67 million years ago A new analysis of the creature’s shoulder assembly shows it adapted to … Read more
Homo erectus was the first animal to have a similar body structure and behavior as modern humans, but just how old our ancient ancestor is has eluded scientists for centuries – until now. A skull fragment belonging to a Homo erectus found in the 1970s dates back two million years, making it the oldest specimen … Read more
The ancestor of the coronavirus could have been lurking in animals for millions of years before it jumped to humans, a virologist has claimed. The coronavirus, known scientifically as SARS-CoV-2, became able to infect humans when it mutated while inside an animal and then jumped across species. This happened for the first time last year in … Read more
Scientists have reconstructed the brain of a dinosaur that roamed Britain 205 million years ago, revealing startling insights into how it lived. Thecodontosaurus is related to herbivore descendants Diplodocus and Brontosaurus. But it is believed the creature, which was roughly the size of a dog, ran fast on two legs, ate meat and had good … Read more
Scientists have reconstructed the brain of a dinosaur that roamed Britain 205 million years ago, revealing startling insights into how it lived. Thecodontosaurus is related to herbivore descendants Diplodocus and Brontosaurus. But it is believed the creature, which was roughly the size of a dog, ran fast on two legs, ate meat and had good … Read more
A small dragon-like species of wingless reptile that lived 237 million years ago has been identified as one of the earliest ancestors of pterosaurs in a new study. Similarities between fossils of the so-called lagerpetids, which were wingless but had characteristically long hind-legs, and winged pterosaurs were revealed in CT scans. Although one could fly and the other … Read more
Insects’ wings evolved from a random outgrowth or ‘lobe’ on the legs of one of their crustacean ancestors that moved to land about 300 million years ago, a new study has revealed. US researchers claim sections of the crustacean’s leg were gradually pushed back and fused into its body to support its weight when it … Read more
Insects today have wings because their primitive crustacean ancestors moved to land about 300 million years ago, a new study has revealed. The wings originally evolved from a random outgrowth or ‘lobe’ on the legs of the crustacean ancestors, US researchers claim. Sections of the crustacean’s leg were gradually pushed back into its body to support … Read more
A newly discovered fossilised ape tooth found in India is the earliest known ancestor of the modern-day gibbon and it lived 13 million years ago, study finds. The fossil belongs to a new species of ape named Kapi ramnagarensis and was discovered by fossil hunters at the Ramnager dig site in northern India. Experts from … Read more