fossils
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Monumental DNA Study Reveals Secrets of North American Mastodons
A new paper published today offers surprising insight into the American mastodon and its reactions to a changing environment. This stocky megafauna — whose tusks, trunk and four legs echo today’s elephant — is thought to have lived predominantly within forests and marshy environments throughout ancient North America before its extinction approximately 11,000 years ago.
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New Dinosaur Found on Isle of Wight Beach is Related to the T-Rex
Bones found on the Isle of Wight last year have turned out to belong to a previously-unknown species of theropod dinosaur, related to both the t-rex and present-day birds. Given the somewhat unwieldy name of Vectaerovenator inopinatus, the dinosaur roamed the earth during the Cretaceous period (115 million years ago, or approximately four 2020s) and…
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A Fossil Discovery Reveals the Earliest Relative of Modern Mammals
Over 300 million years ago, our ancestors diverged from the ancestors of reptiles and began the evolutionary journey towards becoming mammals. What were these earliest ancestors like? For one, they looked nothing like modern mammals. The group known as synapsids — described as “mammal-like reptiles” — looked much more like reptiles but could be distinguished…
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Old Nukes, Hot Dog Toasters, And Dr. Phil: Best Gizmodo Stories Of The Week
As we all try to adjust to our current new reality, I have some thoughts to share with you all. I have come to realise that it is likely that for the next few months, or year, we will have to learn to live with dry, papery hands. At least, that’s what my hands feel…