Nearly 80 years ago, a British expedition discovered the battered remains of a giant fossil on the peak of an Arctic island. Unable to take it with them, they snapped some pictures, took some bones and left the fossil to be ravaged by the icy winds and rain. Little did they know it would be found again decades later and turn out to be the first of its kind and a giant among its peers.

Ancient animal waste may have helped fuel the development and diversification of early marine ecosystems. Tiny pellets of fossilized waste may preserve evidence of a major transformation in early animal life. An international study led by Flinders University proposes that excrement helped reshape ancient oceans during one of evolution’s most important turning points. The researchers [...]

Exceptionally preserved Brazilian fossil reveals early snakes explored several habitats. More than 4,000 snake species live today, yet the evolutionary path that produced their elongated, limbless bodies remains difficult to reconstruct. Snakes are highly modified lizards, but their limited fossil record has left one of evolutionary biology’s central questions unresolved. Scientists have long debated whether [...]