Paleontologists have discovered fossils of two previously unknown conifer species dating back 100 million years in ...

In an exciting first, an Australian team of scientists identified a new species of freshwater fish that swam in nearby waters over 15 million years ago, offering fresh insights into Australia’s ...

But, when the fish were alive during the Miocene epoch, the region was a lush, temperate rainforest. Paleontologists stumbled upon several intact F. brocksi fossils while exploring a research site ...

“The discovery of the 15 million-year-old freshwater fish fossil offers us an unprecedented opportunity to understand Australia’s ancient ecosystems and the evolution of its fish ...

creating amber-like fossils from pine resin in 24 hours. The technique could help reveal the biochemistry of amber as it forms, a process that otherwise would remain hidden in the fog of prehistory.

“Ferruaspis brocksi is the first fossil freshwater Australian Smelt to be found in Australia,” said study lead author Matthew R. McCurry from the Australian Museum and UNSW Sydney in a press release.

The study team excavated multiple fossils containing F. brocksi, each entombed in goethite, an iron-rich mineral that maintained the fish in extraordinary detail. This rare fossilization process ...

Dr. McCurry, the lead author of the paper, said that before this fossil discovery scientists lacked concrete evidence to pinpoint when this group of fish arrived in Australia and how they evolved ...

Tiny structures and soft tissue features are so well preserved in the fossil, scientists could see what colour the fish was when it was alive. The discovery provides evolutionary clues for the ...