7+ hour, 55+ min ago  (304+ words) Sponges rank among the oldest known animals on Earth, yet scientists have struggled to pinpoint exactly when they first appeared. DNA from living sponges and chemical traces preserved in ancient rocks indicate they emerged at least 650 million years ago. The…...

2+ day, 9+ hour ago  (657+ words) A new scientific study has found that the Old Irish Goat shares a genetic connection with goats that lived in Ireland about 3,000 years ago during the Late Bronze Age. The findings indicate that this rare native breed represents an unbroken…...

3+ day, 12+ hour ago  (308+ words) About 250 million years ago, a region that is now a harsh desert in remote northwestern Australia lay along the edge of a shallow bay connected to a vast prehistoric ocean. Fossils collected there more than six decades ago and largely…...

3+ day, 13+ hour ago  (442+ words) "We now finally know how the two fundamental frequencies that make up a whinny are produced by horses," says author Elodie Briefer of the University of Copenhagen. "In the past, we found that these two frequencies are important for horses,…...

4+ day, 9+ hour ago  (450+ words) A remarkably complete skeleton uncovered along the UK's Jurassic Coast has been identified as a previously unknown species of ichthyosaur -- a group of prehistoric marine reptiles that once dominated the world's oceans. The dolphin-sized creature, named Xiphodracon goldencapensis and nicknamed…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago  (345+ words) Scientists from the CNRS and collaborating institutions made the discovery in China, where they uncovered the fossilized remains of a remarkably well preserved young iguanodontian. What makes this specimen extraordinary is not just its skeleton, but its preserved skin. Soft…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago  (463+ words) A new peer reviewed study is challenging one of the most widely shared claims about Yellowstone's wolves. In a formal comment published in Global Ecology and Conservation, scientists from Utah State University and Colorado State University argue that a 2025 paper…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago  (400+ words) A sweeping new study led by a researcher at the University of Hawai'i at M'noa reveals that almost every forest bird species in Hawai'i can transmit avian malaria. That widespread ability to spread infection helps explain why the disease shows…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago  (1055+ words) Life began in the sea. Around 475 million years ago, plants started spreading from water onto dry ground. Roughly 100 million years later, vertebrate animals followed. Yet even after animals established themselves on land, they remained meat eaters for tens of millions…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago  (733+ words) In a set of playful experiments modeled after children's tea parties, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have shown for the first time that apes can use imagination and take part in pretend play. This ability was long believed to belong…...