MS-LS4-1
Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
- Animals
Bird DNA leads to strange family tree
Field guides often group birds together by similarities in appearance or behavior. But a new study, based on DNA, confirms earlier suspicions that such groupings are only skin-deep.
- Fossils
Dino double whammy
Most scientists think an asteroid helped kill off the dinosaurs. But new calculations suggest that asteroid might have gotten some help from a long series of volcanic eruptions in what is now India.
- Fossils
Tar pit clues provide ice age news
New analyses of insects and mammals trapped in the La Brea Tar Pits point to climate surprises during the last ice age.
- Fossils
Feathers: What every dino wore?
A dino discovery in Siberia suggests feathers were common among the ancient ‘lizards.’
- Fossils
Dinos ‘quickly’ shrunk into birds
Scientists had long known birds descended from dinosaurs. A study now shows that the morphing from dinos into birds went along with a quick and steady shrinking of their body sizes.
- Fossils
Some Arctic dinos lived in herds
Fossil footprints retrieved from Alaska indicate that plant-eating duckbill dinos not only traveled as extended families but also spent their entire lives in the Arctic.
- Fossils
This dino-bird is super-feathered
This late-Jurassic dino was also a bird. Its ample coat of feathers emerged before any need for flight.
- Archaeology
Neandertal ancestor?
Fossils found in a Spanish cave have features that are a combination of Neandertals and other species. The mix suggests Neandertal roots go back even farther than scientists had suspected.
- Fossils
These prehistoric fliers likely nested together
Fossils in nest of newfound pterosaur species suggest these animals were part of a social network — and may even have lived communally.
- Animals
Surprise! Fossils in a flash
By studying how dead tissues decay — or turn to ‘instant’ fossils — scientists are gleaning helpful clues to what ancient life looked like.
- Fossils
Scary ‘chicken’ roamed Earth with T. rex
Scientists have just pieced together evidence of a weird new dinosaur that sported sharp claws, feathers and a beak. And it just may have been one of the last dinos to roam Earth about 67 million years ago.
- Fossils
Reviving dinosaurs
With the help of computers, researchers are getting a pretty good idea of how these ancient creatures moved, walked and ate.
