History
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A squid attack that went awry
Rare fossil captures an ancient confrontation.
These seemingly benign images may in fact show the oldest known example of a squid-like creature attacking its prey –...
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'Crazy beast' discovered in Madagascar
Mammal lived with dinosaurs on Gondwanaland.
When in isolation, animals evolve bizarre features and behaviours. Adding to the weird and wonderful fauna on the...
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Fossil frogs offer insights into early Antarctica
Researchers find first traces of amphibians.
The discovery of the earliest known modern amphibians in Antarctica provides further evidence of a warm and temperate...
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The origin of faeces
How to tell dog poo from human poo.
The archaeological record is littered – aha – with poo, a potential goldmine for insights into ancient health and die...
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Learning to fly – from dinosaurs
It’s not just modern aeronautical feats that can inspire us.
Pterosaurs, the largest animals ever to fly, soared the skies for 160 million years – much longer than any species of...
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A most successful egg hunt
Researchers explore the complex story of an ancient luxury good.
This isn’t quite an Easter story, but it does date back centuries and it is about eggs. Scientists say they are cl...
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Fibre fragment strikes a chord
Research suggests Neanderthals knew a thing or two.
This may look like just a bit of old rope and, OK yes, it is a bit of old rope. But it’s an important bit. Researc...
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Amazonia domesticated plants early
International team gathers evidence from 'forest islands'.
Southwest Amazonia has been confirmed as one of the earliest centres of plant domestication in the world. From the...
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Polynesian settlers came earlier than thought
Drought motivated often dangerous voyages.
Settlers first arrived in East Polynesia around 200 years earlier than previously thought, according to new research....
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Homo erectus keeps getting older
Researchers make an important find in fossil-rich South Africa.
It continues to be a big week for archaeological revelations. Yesterday Cosmos reported on three new papers that p...
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Gondwana in amber
Fossil trove sheds light on ancient antipodean ecology.
An international team of palaeontologists has discovered an assortment of intact amber fossils in the Southern Hemisp...
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More clues to the story of our past
Three studies take a detailed look at important discoveries.
It’s been a landmark day for learning about our ancestry, with the publication of not one but three major studies. ...