Paleontology

The arthropod fossil used to describe a new species (left) and CT scans of the specimen (right)

Scientists Reveal Rare 450-Million-Year-Old Arthropod Fossil Preserved in Glittering Fool’s Gold

The critter found in New York represents a new, extinct species of arthropod that could shed light on the evolution of today's insects, crustaceans and spiders

An artist depicts the tadpole and frog individuals of the Notobatrachus degiustoi species. The oldest known tadpole fossil, which belongs to this species, was found in the Patagonia region of Argentina.

Scientists Unearth the Oldest Tadpole Fossil Ever Found, and It's a 161-Million-Year-Old 'Giant'

Found in a rock in Argentina, the six-inch-long tadpole sheds light on the history of frog metamorphosis

The first dinosaur fossils discovered in Hong Kong went on display last week.

Paleontologists Discover Dinosaur Fossils in Hong Kong for the First Time

The metropolis is an important center for paleontological research, but until now, fossils of plants and fish were the only remains of dinosaur-era life found there

Allosaurus

This Captivating Guide Uncovers the History and Mystery of Dinosaurs in 50 Fossils

A paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London chronicles the age of the famous and fascinating massive reptiles

A visualization of Tiktaalik roseae, an extinct aquatic animal with fossils that shed light on the evolution of land animals from marine animals millions of years ago.

New 'Paleo-Robots' Could Shed Light on Animal Evolution, Revealing How Some Fish Evolved to 'Walk' on Land

A team of roboticists, paleontologists and biologists are building robots to simulate crucial evolutionary developments that can’t be tested with static fossils

A 2007 illustration of Arthropleura, the largest known arthropod, which grew nearly as large as a car. New research suggests previous visualizations of the animal's head were incorrect.

Fossils Reveal the Face of an Extinct Nine-Foot-Long 'Millipede,' the Largest Arthropod to Ever Live

Scientists in France solved the evolutionary mystery of this prehistoric monster, which resembles both the centipedes and millipedes of today

Massive columns and karst formations decorate the vast chamber of Cenote Xulo.

Divers in Mexico's Underwater Caves Get a Glimpse of Rarely Seen Artifacts, Fossils and Human Remains

Cenotes in the Yucatán Peninsula are time capsules preserving remnants of Maya culture and fossils of extinct megafauna

The Horned Serpent Panel, painted by the San people in southern Africa, shows a mysterious creature's tusks in blue at the upper right.

Remarkable 200-Year-Old Rock Painting May Depict a Strange Animal That Went Extinct 250 Million Years Ago

The Horned Serpent Panel from southern Africa predates the first Western scientific description of the dicynodont, a large mammal ancestor with tusks, by at least a decade

Dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes sported feathers.

Dinosaurs Evolved Feathers for Far More Than Flight

Fluff and fuzz helped the creatures keep warm, blend in and communicate

This fossil palm leaf (Sabalites sp.) found in Alaska can be seen in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Sixty million years ago, dense, wet forests covered North America, and many plants, including palms, grew in places such as Alaska where temperatures are too frigid for them today. A new study published in Science gives scientists a picture of when the Earth was warm and when it was cool over the past 485 million years.

In a Landmark Study, Scientists Discover Just How Much Earth's Temperature Has Changed Over Nearly 500 Million Years

Researchers show the average surface temperature on our planet has shifted between 51.8 to 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit

A vertebra fossil of an extinct dolphin species found at the site.

Construction Project Unearths Millions of Fossils Beneath a Los Angeles High School

The discoveries include sharks, shorebirds, mammals and saber-toothed salmon, with the oldest remains dating to almost nine million years ago

A reconstruction of Lokiceratops in the 78-million-year-old swamps of northern Montana—as two Probrachylophosaurus move past in the background.

Why Did Dinosaurs Have Horns? It May Not Have Been Simply for Defense

Triceratops and its relatives may have evolved the structures for fighting, impressing mates, and more

The woolly rhino horn discovered by miners.

Miners Unearth a Mummified Woolly Rhino in Siberia, With an Intact Horn and Soft Tissue

The rare discovery will help scientists find out more about the prehistoric animal’s development, diet and living conditions

A track of dinosaur footprints preserved in floodplain deposits in Brazil. The tracks date to around 120 million years ago.

'Matching' Dinosaur Footprints Discovered in Africa and South America

The fossils show how dinosaurs may have crossed between landmasses around 120 million years ago, when the continents were still connected

An artist's rendition of the prehistoric sea cow's death.

Fossils Capturing a Sea Cow's Violent End Shed Light on Prehistoric Food Chains

New research suggests the dugong-like sea creature was attacked by a crocodile, then its remains were scavenged by a tiger shark—a rare series of events to be immortalized in the fossil record

Columbian mammoths were larger and less hairy than woolly mammoths.

20,000-Year-Old Columbian Mammoth Bones Discovered in Texas

While fishing at an undisclosed lake, Sabrina Solomon slipped and fell—and came face to face with the remains

A model of the Smilodon fatalis skeleton (right) on display as part of a special exhibition in Schöningen, Germany, on April 12, 2017

‘Fearsome’ Saber-Toothed Cats Needed Their Baby Teeth and Mommies, Too

According to new research, two sets of sabers and unusual lower jaw anatomy show that the saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis delayed adulting with a long weaning period

Archaeologists discovered stone tools at the site, though they dated to a few thousand years after the mastodon’s death. 

13,600-Year-Old Mastodon Skull Uncovered in Iowa

The hulking creature may have overlapped with Indigenous people

This specimen is the first complete tusk of its kind found in Mississippi.

Rare Seven-Foot Mammoth Tusk Unearthed in Mississippi Creek

The enormous fossil belonged to a Columbian mammoth, a larger relative of the woolly mammoth

PaleoScan operates at Plácido Cidade Nuvens Museum of Paleontology (known by the Portuguese abbreviation MPPCN) in Brazil. For a typical procedure, multiple fossils are placed together on the calibration board to be scanned simultaneously.

This Innovative Device Allows South American Paleontologists to Share Fossils With the World

PaleoScan offers scientists at far-flung institutions a less expensive way to digitize their collections and preserve at-risk specimens of fish, turtles, pterosaurs and more

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