Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Humanity’s understanding of life was forever altered when ...

(CNN) — When a fossil preserves an animal’s complete body in a death pose, seeing it is observing a snapshot in time. Several such fossils exist for Archaeopteryx — the earliest known bird — and now, ...

A newly identified species of pterosaur has provided critical insights into the evolutionary changes that shaped these ancient flying reptiles, bridging the gap between early species and their larger, ...

(CNN) — When a fossil preserves an animal’s complete body in a death pose, seeing it is observing a snapshot in time. Several such fossils exist for Archaeopteryx — the earliest known bird — and now, ...

The earliest feathered dinosaurs may have evolved their bird-like features while still retaining lizard-like scales on other parts of their body. This theory is based on the discovery of a fossilized ...

A research team from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has identified a fossil acanthocephalan, Juracanthocephalus, from the 160-million-year-old ...

If you've ever watched a documentary about the history of life on Earth, chances are you've heard the term "missing link." Applied to our own evolutionary story, it conjures a vivid image: a half-ape, ...

Scientists analyzing 443-million-year-old Scottish fossils have uncovered the early evidence that some of the first groups of vertebrates possessed surprisingly advanced eyes and traces of bone, ...

Coelacanths, often termed “living fossils”, represent an extraordinary lineage of lobe‐finned fishes with a fossil record spanning from the Devonian to the present. Their evolutionary history is ...

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. When a fossil ...