fossil

By Michael Le Page We now know ichthyosaurs also targeted larger preyJOHN SIBBICK / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Don’t bite off more than you can chew, goes the saying. But one ancient ichthyosaur did just that. The 5-metre-long marine reptile has the body of a 4-metre-long animal in its stomach – but apparently injured its neck…

By Michael Marshall A transmission electron micrograph of a modern bacterium, Helicobacter pylori. This section shows a spherical body and several flagellaBIOMEDICAL IMAGING UNIT, SOUTHAM Some of the earliest microorganisms may have been able to move around under their own power using whip-like “tails”, according to a study of fossils from 3.4 billion years ago.…

By Michael Marshall An artist’s recreation of the Tully Monsterdotted zebra / Alamy A bizarre ancient creature that looks like a sci-fi reject may actually have been a backboned animal related to fish. The claim relies on chemical analysis of fossils of the creature. However, other palaeontologists remain cautious. The animal is called Tullimonstrum gregarium,…

A board member of the petrochemical giant Phillips 66 with ties to Joe Biden has donated the maximum allowable amount to his presidential campaign, and Biden's campaign recently paid $85,000 to a travel company linked to the donor, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings from April show -- despite Biden's pledge "not to take contributions over $200 from oil, gas, and coal industry executives, lobbyists, and PACs."For…