Science

Until now, the first fossil evidence of land plants was from the Devonian period (420 million years ago). However, molecular evidence suggests an earlier origin in the Cambrian period. In a new paper in the journal Science, paleontologists described an assemblage of spore-like microfossils from Early Ordivician (480 million years …

A new, pseudo-cryptic species of the Amazonian marmoset genus Mico has been identified by a team of researchers led by Dr. Rodrigo Costa-Araújo of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi and the Federal University of Amazonas and Dr. Tomas Hrbek of the Federal University of Amazonas and Trinity University. The Schneider’s …

A team of paleontologists has digitally reconstructed the facial skeleton and brain endocast of Ichthyornis dispar, a toothed stem bird that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous epoch and has traditionally been considered the nearest known well-understood relative of living birds. The ancestors of living birds had a …

Boeing will miss its Starliner launch window, the company has confirmed after a week of uncertainty. Four of the 13 stuck valves that delayed the OFT-2 launch last week are still not working, so Boeing and NASA have decided to unstack the spacecraft and rocket. Starliner will go back to …

Scientists have examined isotopes collected from the tusk of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) that lived in Alaska approximately 17,100 years ago, during the latest Ice Age, to elucidate its movements and diet; this included its time — likely with a herd — as an infant and juvenile, then as …

In a paper published this week in the journal iScience, an international team of researchers documented chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) purposefully using signals to start and then end social activities, a behavior not seen outside of the human species until now. Joint action structure of chimpanzees and bonobos …

An international team of botanists has discovered three new endemic species of the orchid genus Lepanthes in the highlands of Ecuador. Lepanthes oro-lojaensis growing in its natural habitat. Image credit: Francisco Tobar Suarez. Lepanthes is a large genus of orchids with up to 1,000 species distributed in the Neotropics. The …

Fasting before and during exposure to invasive food-borne bacteria protects mice from developing a full-blown gastrointestinal infection, in part through the actions of the gut microbiome, according to new research led by University of British Columbia scientists. Graef et al. highlight how food intake controls the complex relationship between host, …

Archaeologists have uncovered 2,640- to 2,550-year-old clay moulds for casting spade coins as well as fragments of finished spade coins at Guanzhuang in Xingyang, Henan province, China. The technical characteristics of the moulds demonstrate that the site — which was part of the Eastern Zhou period (770-220 BCE) bronze foundry …

Paleontologists in Brazil have unveiled a new species of unenlagiine dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Maastrichtian age of the Cretaceous period. An artist’s reconstruction of two individuals of Ypupiara lopai foraging in an alluvial river, the setting of the Marilia Formation during the Maastrichtian age of the Cretaceous period. Image credit: …