#paleontology

A reported embryo fossil from South Africa is being described as the world’s oldest proof that therapsids, the mammal ancestors that lived between 280 and 200 million years ago, laid eggs.

A new study finds that turtles specializing in hard-shelled prey were more than five times more likely to survive the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

A new fossil from southern China reveals that a meter-long bony fish from 425 million years ago had unique clusters of spiky teeth on soft tissue 'cushions' — a jaw design never seen before.

DNA extracted from a 12,000-year-old double burial in southern Italy has revealed that a mother and daughter both carried mutations causing a rare skeletal growth disorder. The discovery marks the earliest genetic diagnosis of its kind and offers a window into prehistoric community care.