Earth's first animal was the ocean-drifting comb jelly, not the simple sponge, according to a new find that has shocked scientists who didn't imagine the earliest critter could be so complex. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Paleontologists from the University of Rennes (France) and the ESRF have found the presence of 356 animal inclusions in completely opaque amber from mid-Cretaceous sites of Charentes (France). The team used the X-rays of the European light source to image two kilogrammes of the fossil tree resin with a technique that allows rapid survey of large amounts of opaque amber. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Researchers have discovered the first fossil orchid, a 15 to 20-million-year-old pollen specimen encased in amber, in the Dominican Republic. It suggests that the first orchids bloomed about 84 million years ago. picked by misswinkle 2 years ago

Dressed in a suit, this person would not look out of place in a busy street in a modern city.

The clay sculpture, however, portrays the face of the earliest known modern European - a man or woman who hunted deer and gathered fruit and herbs in ancient forests more than 35,000 years ago. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

Horses were first domesticated on the plains of northern Kazakhstan some 5,500 years ago -- 1,000 years earlier than thought -- by people who rode them and drank their milk, researchers said on Thursday. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

A "bald" bird discovered in Laos is Asia's first new species of bulbul, a type of songbird, in more than 100 years, scientists say. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Wednesday announced the discovery of 11 new animal and plant species in a remote area of central Vietnam. Scientists have found a snake, five orchids, two butterflies and three other plants new to science and exclusive to the Annamites Mountain Range. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Scientists have found the oldest fossilised tracks of a tiny legged animal, providing further evidence that complex creatures existed on earth 570 million years ago. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

The forest is composed of a bizarre mixture of extinct plants: abundant club mosses, more than 40 metres high, towering over a sub-canopy of tree ferns, intermixed with shrubs and tree-sized horsetails. Nowhere elsewhere on the planet is it possible to (literally) walk through such an extensive swathe of Carboniferous rainforest. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

Scientists have discovered what they believe is an eight-armed creature, which colonised a large section of the world's oceans over 300 million years before the first dinosaurs emerged. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Meet the honey badger, named “world’s most fearless animal” by the Guinness Book of World Records. Its ferocious reputation stems from the fact that the honey badger doesn’t hesitate to attack animals
larger than itself. Scorpions, porcupines, snakes, young gazelles, lions and even small crocodiles picked by Bornbad 3 months ago

Researchers have found that the spectacular courtship dive of the Anna's Hummingbird makes it comparatively speedier than a jet fighter at full throttle or the space shuttle re-entering the atmosphere. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

Amusing article, although the page is wayyy too busy. I'm pretty sure witty Plimates could add more to the list. picked by gnikgnok 3 years ago

French fossil hunters have pinned down the age of Toumai, which they contend is the remains of the earliest human ever found, at between 6.8 and 7.2 million years old. The fossil was discovered in the Chadian desert in 2001 and an intense debate ensued over whether the nearly complete cranium, pieces of jawbone and teeth belonged to one of our earliest ancestors. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

It’s exactly forty years ago today that Neil Armstrong took man’s first step on the moon.

And to mark the historic occasion Google Earth has taken the same leap in cyberspace.

The search engine leader today launched Moon in Google Earth, an interactive 3D atlas of the moon which allows space fans to take their very own virtual steps on the surface of our closest satellite. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

Beetles first appeared on Earth at the same time as the earliest dinosaurs but turned out to be much better survivors, a new evolutionary study has shown. Today, there are an estimated 350,000 known species of beetle on Earth, and probably several million more yet to be discovered, say scientists. The insects account for about a quarter of all life forms on the planet. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

The first fossil tracks belonging to large, carnivorous dinosaurs have been discovered in Victoria, Australia, by paleontologists. The tracks are especially significant for showing that large dinosaurs were living in a polar environment during the Cretaceous Period, when Australia was still joined to Antarctica and close to the South Pole. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

"Rainbow Animals," the world's first exhibition on animal homosexuality, will be opening at the Swedish Museum of Natural History on Nov. 8. picked by Bornbad 1 year ago

Diamonds more than 4 billion years old -- nearly as old as the Earth itself -- have been discovered in Western Australia, giving scientists vital clues about the early history of our planet. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

American scientists who announced one of the most significant fossil finds in the Arctic have set their sights on the North again, in hopes of finding more discoveries that could further bridge the gap between fish and land animal. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago