My, what small teeth they had. A newfound treasure trove of ancient fish fossils unearthed in southern China is opening a window into the earliest history of jawed vertebrates — a group that ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Pterosaurs dominated Mesozoic skies with their intimidating ...

Researchers report that ancient viruses may be to thank for myelin -- and, by extension, our large, complex brains. The team found that a retrovirus-derived genetic element or 'retrotransposon' is ...

Because we're a member of the group, it's easy to see vertebrates as the pinnacle of evolution, a group capable of producing bats, birds, and giant whales in addition to ourselves. But when they first ...

The fossil of an ancient sea squirt found in a collection at the Utah Museum of Natural History turned out to be the oldest of its kind. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an ...

A tiny Brazilian frog about the size of a pea may threaten the current record-holder for the world’s smallest vertebrate. The flea toad Brachycephalus pulex, which is actually a frog species, was ...

Charles Darwin proposed that evolution is driven by gradual variations in organisms that have a survival advantage in a changing environment. But University of Maryland evolutionary biologist Karen ...

Tree cavities play a key role in the structure and func-tioning of forest ecosystems. Though they host rich and specialized assemblages of numerous vertebrate and invertebrate species, they have ...

Nearly one third of all known vertebrate species are either used or traded by humans around the world. “We’ve become this kind of super-predator,” says Rob Cooke at the UK Centre for Ecology & ...