A chemically unstable ostrich eggshell peptide survives for at least 3.8 million years at the equator, stabilized by strong mineral interactions.

eLife has published papers on topics as diverse as paleoproteomics, ancient insects and the discovery of a new hominin species.

An association mapping in wild mice revealed the first candidate loci for within-population molar shape variation and the phenotypic impact of such candidate loci was quantified and validated.

Well-preserved fossils reveal an extreme morphological specialization of fly larvae, and broaden our understanding of the diversity of ectoparasitism in Mesozoic insects.

Fossilized feces (coprolites) of extinct bone-crushing dogs, Borophagus parvus, from late Miocene (6 million years ago) of California demonstrates consumption and preservation of bones in digestive tracts and potential social hunting behavior by these predators.

The ability to share resources for the benefit of all members of a group may have driven ancient organisms to evolve from a unicellular to a multicellular state.

The extinct stilt-legged equids of North America are not related to Asiatic asses or horses, but instead represent a distinct lineage outside of living equid diversity that became extinct in the terminal Pleistocene.