A newly discovered feathered dinosaur from China may help solve a long-standing mystery surrounding a fossil bed filled with ancient bird remains. For years, one fossil site in northwestern China has posed a mystery. The area contains hundreds of fossilized birds, many remarkably well preserved. Mixed among them are strange clusters of shattered bones compressed [...]

A newly discovered tiny blue octopus from the Galápagos is a striking reminder that the deep ocean still holds countless secrets. The Galápagos Islands, located off the coast of Ecuador, are famous for their remarkable wildlife. More than a thousand species of plants and animals found there exist nowhere else on Earth, including giant tortoises [...]

Tanyka amnicola is a newly identified ancient tetrapod known from unusual twisted jawbones adapted for grinding plants. This rare herbivorous “living fossil” helps scientists better understand early evolution and ecosystems in Gondwana. In a dry riverbed in Brazil, deep within a forest near the Amazon, paleontologists uncovered a fossilized jawbone from an unknown ancient animal. [...]

A moss sample helped investigators prove that cemetery workers had moved human remains and resold burial plots by revealing both the origin and age of the plant evidence. In 2009, authorities uncovered a major scandal at a cemetery near Chicago. Employees at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, were accused of digging up older graves, [...]

The new species, named after the electro funk band Chromeo, helps explain the larger story of why only one small group of dinosaurs survived the extinction. A fossil rarely reveals an animal’s entire life story. Even when a body is well preserved, scientists often have only fragments of information, leaving many questions about how the [...]