Articles for category: Paleontology

Microbial Fossils in Shark Bay: Where Life on Earth May Have Started

Microbial Fossils in Shark Bay: Where Life on Earth May Have Started

Annette Uy

Imagine standing on the edge of an ancient world where time seems to have stopped. The crystal-clear waters of Shark Bay in Western Australia hold secrets that stretch back billions of years, hiding evidence of Earth’s earliest inhabitants in plain sight. This remote coastal paradise isn’t just a stunning natural wonder—it’s potentially the birthplace of ...

Ocean fossils

10 Unexpected Places People Have Discovered Fossils

Trizzy Orozco

Fossils, the time capsules of Earth’s history, often emerge from places you least expect. While many associate fossil discoveries with barren deserts or secluded mountain ranges, the truth is far more surprising. As we dig into the fascinating world of paleontology, you’ll find that these ancient remnants of life have surfaced in the most unusual ...

La Brea Tar Pits.

Secrets of the Tar Pits: What Trapped Fossils Reveal About Earth’s Past

Trizzy Orozco

Discovering the secrets of Earth’s ancient history often feels like piecing together a grand puzzle laid over millennia. One of the most fascinating pieces of that puzzle is found in tar pits, where time has essentially stood still. Beneath the sticky surface lies evidence locked in a time capsule, offering invaluable insights into ecosystems that ...

A complete stock of Gyrodendron lobatum coral fossil

The Ocean’s Past Speaks: Fossil Corals Unveil Urgent Climate Warnings

April Joy Jovita

New research suggests that sea levels could rise more steeply than previously predicted, based on fossil coral evidence from the Seychelles Islands. Scientists from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an international team analyzed fossilized corals to reconstruct past sea levels, revealing abrupt pulses of sea-level rise during the Last Interglacial period. Their findings indicate that ...

Short-beaked echidna walking on the grasses

Ancient Echidna Fossil Challenges Evolutionary Assumptions

April Joy Jovita

A newly analyzed fossil has revealed surprising insights into the evolutionary history of echidnas, suggesting that their ancestors may have lived in water before transitioning to a terrestrial lifestyle. This discovery challenges long-held beliefs about monotreme evolution and highlights a rare instance of mammals evolving from aquatic to land-based existence. The Discovery of Kryoryctes Cadburyi ...

An illustration of trilobites moving about on the bottom of a warm Paleozoic sea.

Discovery of Prehistoric Pompeii Trilobite Fossil

A remarkable fossil site in Morocco, dubbed “Prehistoric Pompeii,” has been discovered. The discovery offers an unprecedented glimpse into the life of trilobites from the Cambrian Period, as volcanic ash preserved the fossils in extraordinary detail. Let’s take a look at the findings! Location and Geological Context The new trilobite fossil was found in volcanic ...

Cheddar Man, National History Museum, London

Recent Study Challenges When European Skin Became “Light”

Jan Otte

For centuries, historians and scientists have speculated about the physical appearance of our ancestors. What color were their eyes? Did they have dark or light skin? Were early Europeans blond, brown-haired, or redheaded? Thanks to advancements in genetics, researchers can now analyze ancient DNA to reconstruct these traits, offering us a vivid glimpse into the ...