Ordovician

For years, a mysterious fossil specimen defied categorization, until one paleontologist made a surprising discovery.

Meet Keurbos susanae, the inside-out fossil named after the discoverer's mom.

As a kid, it was tough for me to grasp the massive time scale of Earth's history. Now, with nearly two decades of experience as a geologist, I think one of the best ways to understand our planet's history and evolution is by condensing the entire timeline into a single calendar year. It's not a new ...

Did Earth have rings eons ago? A new study suggests that Earth had its own ring system 466 million years ago, which formed from the breakup of an asteroid. The post Did Earth have rings 466 million years ago? first appeared on EarthSky.

Researchers found evidence of asteroid debris belt in our planet's early history

A long-term record of global mean surface temperature (GMST) provides critical insight into the dynamical limits of Earth's climate and the complex feedbacks between temperature and the broader Earth system. Here, we present PhanDA, a reconstruction of ...

To reach that surprisingly conclusion, scientists studied the positions of 21 asteroid impact craters during the Ordovician period – the second of six periods in the Paleozoic...

New research suggests that early species of the scorpion-like carcinosomatoid eurypterids, with spiny limbs, fed on trilobites and later species preferred armoured fishes.

A pair of amateur paleontologists recently dug up an extensive collection of fossils in southern France, revealing how species tried to escape prehistoric global warming.

Paleontologists have described ten new species of trilobites from the tuff-bearing Cambrian-Ordovician layers of Ko Tarutao island, Satun province, southernmost peninsular Thailand.

Ten newly discovered species of trilobites, hidden for 490 million years in a little-studied part of Thailand, could be the missing pieces in an intricate puzzle of ancient world geography.

Minterichnus shieldi, a new type of trace fossil (resting trace) of a phyllocarid crustacean from Texas shows animals trapped in a tidal pool, just before animals first emerged onto land.

Lampreys belong to an ancient group of fish called Agnatha that evolved 450 million years ago, predating both dinosaurs and trees.

Paleontologists have uncovered a miniature world of sea creatures whose tiny guts, eyes and even brains remain visible 462 million years after they perished

Exceptionally well-preserved fossils of tiny worms, starfish, sponges, barnacles and other creatures with no modern parallel discovered at a quarry in Wales are painting a picture of life on Earth 462 million years ago.

The highly-diverse Middle Ordovician fossil site at Castle Bank, Wales, is directly comparable with the famous Burgess Shale and Chengjiang biotas in paleoenvironment and preservational style.

The number of exploding stars (supernovae) has significantly influenced marine life's biodiversity during the last 500 million years. This is the essence of a new study published in Ecology and Evolution by Henrik Svensmark, DTU space.

A new study has revealed that a group of prehistoric sea creatures is not as ancient as we thought—their earliest fossils are actually seaweeds.

Paleontologists have discovered a new marine fossil-bearing locality -- part of the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota -- at Taichoute in Morocco.

A global drop in oxygen levels about 550 million years ago led to Earth's first known mass extinction, new evidence suggests.