Scientists have uncovered what they are calling the oldest full-body impression of a flying insect, possibly an ancient mayfly.

More here picked by suebe 1 year ago

Scientists from Oregon State University and the Natural History Museum in London have announced the discovery of the oldest known fossil of a gecko, with body parts that are forever preserved in life-like form after 100 million years of being entombed in amber. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A newly found species small enough to fit in the palm of a hand is North America's oldest known primate, according to a new study. The fossil is 55 million years old. picked by MandolinOrange 2 years ago

Australian scientists have found a remarkable 380 million year old fossil placoderm fish with intact embryo and mineralised umbilical cord. Video included. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

A scientist who bought a fossilised insect on the web auction site eBay for £20 has discovered that it belongs to a previously unknown species of aphid. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

The world's oldest spider web was found by an amateur fossil hunter. The 1 millimeter threads of web, similar to those woven by orb spiders today, were encased in amber, and are around 140 million years old. picked by bingo 5 months ago

U.S. researchers say they have discovered what appears to be the oldest imprint of a prehistoric insect, made while the dragonfly-like creature was still alive. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

The analysis of a termite entombed for 100 million years in an ancient piece of amber has revealed the oldest example of "mutualism" ever discovered between an animal and microorganism, and also shows the unusual biology that helped make this one of the most successful, although frequently despised insect groups in the world. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

Mexican scientists said they have identified the world's oldest lobster fossil, a creature that was alive when Africa was only just breaking apart from the Americas some 120 million years ago. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

Few modern animals are as deserving of the title “living fossil” as the lowly horseshoe crab. Seemingly unchanged since before the Age of Dinosaurs, these venerable sea creatures can now claim a history that reaches back almost half-a billion years. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

The fossil evidence in hand, found in west-central India, predates the oldest previously known rabbits by several million years and extends the record of the whole category of the animal on the Indian subcontinent by 35 million years. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

French fossil hunters have pinned down the age of Toumai, which they contend is the remains of the earliest human ever found, at between 6.8 and 7.2 million years old. The fossil was discovered in the Chadian desert in 2001 and an intense debate ensued over whether the nearly complete cranium, pieces of jawbone and teeth belonged to one of our earliest ancestors. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

An ancient fossil crocodile coated in armadillo-like body armor was unveiled yesterday at an environmental museum in Brazil.

Dubbed Armadillosuchus arrudai, the newly described species of crocodile roamed the arid interior of Brazil about 90 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period, scientists said. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Howard Falcon-Lang discovered this fossil near Dorchester Cape last August. Lang believes the fossil is the oldest known reptile evidence in the world. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

Spanish researchers have reportedly unearthed a human tooth more than one million years old, which they estimated to be the oldest human fossil remain ever discovered in western Europe. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

Scientists today announced the discovery of the oldest fossil skeleton of a human ancestor. The find reveals that our forebears underwent a previously unknown stage of evolution more than a million years before Lucy, the iconic early human ancestor specimen that walked the Earth 3.2 million years ago. picked by drogue 6 months ago

The nearly intact fossil of an ancient sloth that lived 5 million years ago has been unearthed in Peru, a find about 4 million years older than similar ones discovered in the Americas, researchers said.

The sloth was found beneath the cement floor of a house in the Andean region of Espinar in southern Peru when workers were installing a water system. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

The oldest known human hairs could be the strands discovered in fossil hyena poop found in a South African cave, a new study hints. picked by Bornbad 1 year ago

The oldest known fossils of jellyfish have been found in rocks in Utah that are more than 500 million years old. The fossils are an unusual discovery because soft-bodied creatures, such as jellyfish, rarely survive in the fossil record, unlike animals with hard shells or bones. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Officials found the fossil of a giant dinosaur jawbone while investigating a suspicious package on a bus in the mountains of Peru on Tuesday. The fossil, weighing some 19 pounds (8.7 kilograms), was found in the cargo hold of the bus, which was headed for the capital of Lima, and had been sent on the bus company's package service. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago