Animals, features and articles | Educational Science

Dec 8, 2023

Teenage tyrannosaurs gorged on dino 'drumsticks,' 1st-of-their-kind fossils show

Paleontologists in Canada have uncovered a first-of-its-kind fossilized meal after finding dinosaur drumsticks in the belly of a teenage tyrannosaur. The unique fossils are the first direct evidence that these apex predators switched up their diets from early years to adulthood, a new study shows. Researchers discovered the partial remains...

Dec 23, 2023

11 jaw-dropping fossil discoveries that weren't dinosaurs in 2023

Dinosaurs often steal the limelight when it comes to fossils, but other prehistoric critters are just as deserving of our attention. As 2023 comes to a close, it's time to look back on some of the most jaw-dropping fossil discoveries that weren't all about T. rex. From a fish with...

Dec 24, 2023

Science news this week: An ancient 'blue dragon' and atom-size black holes

This week in science news, we discovered the near-complete remains of a never-before-seen mosasaur that dominated the ancient Pacific Ocean, learned of atom-size black holes that could be devouring stars from the inside out, and investigated no burp syndrome, which causes flatulence and awkward gurgling. The holiday season may be...

Jan 4, 2024

Megalodon tooth found on unexplored seamount 10,000 feet below the ocean's surface

A remotely operated submarine was collecting samples on a previously unexplored deep sea mountain when it scooped up a rare megalodon tooth. The gold-colored tooth, which is 2.7 inches (6.8 centimeters) long, was discovered more than 10,000 feet (3,090 meters) below the surface near the Johnston Atoll in the Pacific...

Jan 16, 2024

Mummified skin from creature that lived 290 million years ago is older than the dinosaurs

Crocodile-like skin belonging to an early species of reptile is the oldest fossilized skin ever discovered, dating back almost 290 million years — 130 million years older than the previous record holder. The skin, dating from the Paleozoic era (541 million to 252 million years ago), has similar features to...

Jan 21, 2024

Megalodon didn't look like a 50-foot great white shark, controversial study claims

Megalodon, the biggest shark to have ever lived, may not have looked like an uber great white shark as is generally assumed — but instead may have been longer and thinner, scientists have revealed. By reanalyzing the incomplete spine of a fossilized megalodon (Otodus megalodon) held at the Royal Belgian...

Feb 7, 2024

Jurassic 'mist wing' fossil discovered on Scottish island could be missing link in pterosaur evolution

Researchers have discovered a never-before-seen mist wing pterosaur on the Isle of Skye in Scotland that could be a missing link in the evolution of these flying reptiles. The newly discovered creature lived 168 to 166 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic period. The new species is called Ceoptera...

Feb 14, 2024

Watch 30-foot Jurassic sea monster come back to life in David Attenborough's new pliosaur show

Researchers have reconstructed a deadly Jurassic sea monster after excavating an enormous fossilized pliosaur skull from a U.K. cliff face. The discovery of the skull and subsequent reconstruction are highlighted in a new documentary, Attenborough and the Jurassic Sea Monster, which airs Wednesday (Feb. 14) on PBS. The pliosaur —...

Feb 16, 2024

Only part of rare 280 million-year-old fossil is real — the rest is mostly paint

A rare 280 million-year-old fossil resembling a lizard-like creature is mostly just a carved rock painted black, a new analysis reveals. The Permian fossil, discovered in the Italian Alps in 1931 and named Tridentinosaurus antiquus, is shaped like a lizard and has a dark coloration, which researchers thought was preserved...

Mar 6, 2024

Dinosaur-age sea monster with 'face full of huge, dagger-shaped teeth' discovered in Moroccan mine

Paleontologists in Morocco have discovered the fossilized remains of a huge, never-before-seen species of marine lizard with dagger-like teeth. The reptile was around 26 feet (8 meters) long — about the same length as an orca — and hunted in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of what is now...

Mar 8, 2024

Colossus the enormous 'oddball' whale is not the biggest animal to ever live, scientists say

A weird extinct whale with a plump body and tiny limbs isn't the heaviest animal to ever live after all, a new study has claimed, bringing with it a whale of a debate. Last year, a team of researchers unveiled Perucetus colossus, a 39-million-year-old whale from Peru with an estimated...

Mar 12, 2024

Courtship cut short for termites trapped in 38 million-year-old amber fossil

A rare piece of amber has preserved the mating behavior of 38 million-year-old termites, researchers have revealed. The amber, or fossilized tree resin, holds the oldest and only described pair of Electrotermes affinis termites and reveals that these long-extinct insects likely engaged in the same mating behavior as termites that...

Nov 10, 2011

'Jealous' Hermaphrodite Shrimp Murder Their Rivals

Like creepy stalkers, cleaner shrimp won't share their partner with anyone else. When placed in groups of more than two, the creatures attack in the dark of night, killing off the competition. We enlarged the group size to triplets and quartets, and we observed the molting cycle and the interactions...

Jan 3, 2012

Yeti Crabs & Ghost Octopus! Unique Life Found at 1st Antarctic Deep-Sea Vents

Scientists doing their first exploring of deep-sea vents in the Antarctic have uncovered a world unlike anything found around other hydrothermal vents, one populated by new species of anemones, predatory sea stars, and piles of hairy-chested yeti crabs. It was almost like a sight from another planet, said expedition leader...

Feb 2, 2012

'Supergiant' Crustaceans Found in Deep Sea

Scientists on an expedition to sample a deep-sea trench got a surprise when their traps brought back seven giant crustaceans glimpsed only a handful of times in human history. The supergiant amphipods are more than 20 times larger than their typical crustacean relatives, which are generally less than a half-inch...