Honeybee remains found in a 3,000-year-old apiary have given archaeologists a one-of-a-kind window into the beekeeping practices of the ancient world.
“Beekeeping is known only from a few Egyptian sources, from a few tombs and paintings. …

A 3.6 million-year-old fossil from one of humanity’s earliest ancestors is more human-like than expected — and much taller.
The discovery makes Lucy, the best-known fossil of all, appear to be exceptionally short by comparison. Lucy …

Wear patterns on ancient antelope teeth have allowed researchers to reconstruct Europe’s environment 8 million years ago, when the continent’s great apes vanished.
One of those ape species could have given rise to the human lineage, …

New fossils have provided a snapshot of proto-human diets during a critical evolutionary moment, when better fare helped our small-brained ancestors boost their cognitive capacity.
Two-million-year-old bones that belonged to fish, crocodiles and turtles — aquatic …

Two 1.9 million-year-old skeletons found in a South African cave have added a new and intriguing member to the primate family.
Dubbed Australopithecus sediba, it has many features — including long legs and a protruding nose …

If bones could scream, a bloodcurdling din would be reverberating through a 500-year-old cemetery in Peru. Human skeletons unearthed there have yielded the first direct evidence of Inca fatalities caused by Spanish conquerors.
sciencenewsEuropean newcomers killed …

A new member of the human evolutionary family has been proposed for the first time based on an ancient genetic sequence, not fossil bones. Even more surprising, this novel and still mysterious hominid, if confirmed, …

Geologists have turned a series of 200 million-year-old lake-bed sediments into an epic narrative of the dinosaurs’ journey from ecological obscurity to Earthly supremacy, a mystery that has lingered even as their disappearance is explained.
The …

Despite a penchant for hanging out in trees, human ancestors living 3.6 million years ago in what’s now Tanzania extended their legs to stride much like people today do, a new study finds. If so, …

Paleontologists have stumbled across a scientific first that’s sure to inspire both fascination and disgust: coprolites, or fossilized fecal matter, bearing the distinct impressions of a creature’s teeth.
sciencenews The coprolites — one chunk of rock …

Scientists have discovered 243-million-year-old fossils of dinosaurs’ closest relatives, pushing back the origin of dinosaurs by at least 10 million years.
The dinosaur-like creature, Asilisaurus kongwe, was about the size of a Labrador retriever and had …

Scientists have found a 67 million-year-old fossil of a snake coiled around dinosaur eggs and a hatchling. This is the first evidence of snakes eating dinosaurs.
“It’s a stunning, once-in-a-lifetime find,” said paleontologist Paul Sereno of …

A fresh look at forgotten fossils has revealed two new species of giant, filter-feeding fish that swam Earth’s oceans for 100 million years, occupying the ecological niche now filled by whales and whale sharks.
Until now, …

Meet Inuk, a 4,000-year-old man known from a tuft of hair found in Greenland permafrost.
In those frozen strands, enough DNA was preserved to sequence the first ancient-human genome and confirm an unexpected ancient migration from …

Scientists have unearthed an almost perfectly preserved spider fossil in China dating back to the middle Jurassic era, 165 million years ago. The fossilized spiders, Eoplectreurys gertschi, are older than the only two other specimens …

Another week, another colorful feathered dinosaur. Hot on the heels of a recent report identifying pigments in fossilized dino feathers and filaments (SN Online: 1/27/10), a different team of scientists says that it has mapped …

Federal court hearings continued Tuesday on a lawsuit that could transform biotechnology in the United States by eliminating gene patents.
The case hinges around the claims of Utah-based Myriad Genetics on BRCA1 and BRCA2, a pair …

May 19, 2009—Meet “Ida,” the small “missing link” found in Germany that’s created a big media splash and will likely continue to make waves among those who study human origins.
In a new book, documentary, and …

Beauty is famously in the eye of the beholder; but it’s also in the beholder’s brain, and may work differently in the brains of men and women.
In men, images they consider to be beautiful appear …

If you’ve ever wondered why humans don’t have long, prehensile toes that would turn our feet into extra hands, here’s an answer: stubby toes may be custom-made for running.
Biomechanical analysis shows that long toes require …