Tag: fossil evidence
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Perfect Snack of the Late Jurassic: Baby Sauropods and the Dry Mesa Food Web
What the Dry Mesa Quarry Reveals A recent reconstruction of the Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry ecosystem in southwestern Colorado casts new light on who ate whom during the Late Jurassic. Among the surprises is a simple, almost counterintuitive takeaway: the smallest steps on the ground—baby and juvenile sauropods—made an outsized impact on the local food…
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The Perfect Snack from the Jurassic: How Baby Sauropods Shaped a Tiny But Mighty Food Web
Unearthing a Hidden Jurassic Menu When we think of the Late Jurassic, towering sauropods typically steal the spotlight. But beneath their colossal shadows, a more delicate drama played out on the forest floor: the predator-prey relationships that revolved around the smallest, most vulnerable diners of the time. Recent reconstructions of the Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry…
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Earliest Human Ancestor: Fresh Bone Analysis Sparks Debate Over First Bipedal Step
New clues emerge in the murky dawn of human evolution The search for the earliest ancestor of humankind has long read like a saga of partial clues and stubborn debates. New bone analyses have reignited the conversation, suggesting a more nuanced story of how our predecessors first left the ground-and how they went from moving…
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First-of-its-Kind ‘Butt Drag Fossil’ in South Africa Rewrites Furry-Earth History
Unearthing a Surprising Fossil Footprint In fossil records, the ordinary lifeways of small mammals can yield extraordinary clues about the past. Archaeologists and paleontologists in South Africa have announced a remarkable discovery: a fossil associated with a small, furry creature that once inhabited rocky terrains. The find has been nicknamed the “butt drag fossil,” a…
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Ancient Flight-Enabled Ancestors Carried Flightless Birds Across Oceans
Rewriting the dispersal tale: oceans, not just drift Birds are celebrated for their aerial prowess, yet a surprising twist in their story emerges from new research. Scientists have found that the ancestors of today’s flightless giants, including ostriches, emus and kiwis, were once capable of long distance flight across open oceans. This challenges the traditional…