Archaeopteryx has long been hailed as a "missing link" between birds and dinosaurs. After a recent analysis of a different fossilized creature, however, Chinese researchers concluded that Archaeopteryx was not the first bird to have evolved, but was instead more like a dinosaur. This new categorization aptly illustrates the unreliability of evolutionary tree analyses.

The famous Confuciusornis sanctus fossil from China's northeast Liaoning Province contains patches that appear to be residue from the bird's original tissues. Long evolutionary ages should have made this impossible, since any such biological material would have completely decayed into the tiniest of its constituent chemicals millions of years ago.

Dragonflies dart with exceeding dexterity as they avoid obstacles and prey on other flying insects. This is made possible by the accuracy with which their eyes allow them to perceive their surroundings.

The term "fossil" is typically associated with once-living things that have been turned into rock. But wood, leaves, mosses, and insects from an ancient forest in Maine were found preserved without having been mineralized. A recent study delved into the mystery of how these plant and other remains could still be so fresh.

A Cambrian rock layer is considered to be "Cambrian" because of the particular fossils it contains. But what does it mean when a rock layer designated as "Ordovician" contains distinctly Cambrian fossils? Paleontologists are facing that question after a recent find in North Africa.