Extinction
What is the Anthropocene and Are We in It?
Efforts to label the human epoch have ignited a scientific debate between geologists and environmentalists
January 2013 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Beyond the Childhood Dinosaur Phase: Why Dinosaurs Should Matter to Everyone
Dinosaurs can help us unlock essential secrets about the history of life on Earth
December 11, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
The Saddest Dinosaur Cartoon Ever
Mountain of Dinosaurs, from 1967, uses extinction as a metaphor for Soviet oppression
October 16, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
The Fall of Domino Dinosaurs
A delicately-balanced domino setup replays the end of the Age of Dinosaurs
October 05, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Disease and the Demise of the Dinosaurs
Cataracts, slipped discs, epidemics, glandular problems and even a loss of sex drive have all been proposed as the reason non-avian dinosaurs perished
June 15, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
The Noah's Ark of Plants and Flowers
Scientists at a British laboratory are racing to preserve thousands of the world’s threatened plants, one seed at a time
June 2012 |
By Rob Sharp
Ten Extremely Rare Seeds on the Brink of Extinction
The Millennium Seed Bank has set out to collect 25 percent of the world's plant species by 2020—before it is too late
May 14, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
New Wrinkle to the Story of the Last Dinosaurs
Were the last dinosaurs thriving or declining just before Tyrannosaurus and kin disappeared?
May 01, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Pachysuchus Actually a Hidden Dinosaur
A strange jaw fragment, once thought to belong to a crocodile-like predator, turned out to be a dinosaur
April 26, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
How Eggs Shaped Dinosaur Evolution
Eggs may have been the secret to dinosaur success, but did they also lead to the dinosaurs' doom?
April 18, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaurs From Space!
Might there be advanced, hyper-intelligent dinosaurs on other planets?
April 11, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Deep Freeze
An animated short suggests dinosaurs died out for want of winter coats
February 06, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Scrambled Eggs and the Demise of the Dinosaurs
Did egg-eating lizards and snakes contribute to the dinosaurs' extinction?
February 02, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
The Dinosaurs That Never Were
If the non-avian dinosaurs hadn't died out 65 million years ago, what would they look like today?
January 12, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
The Way of the Dinosaur
"Going the way of the dinosaur" is a popular phrase, but one drawn from bizarre 20th century ideas that dinosaurs were due for an extinction
January 11, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Living Sauropods? No Way
Dinosaurs have long been rumored to still survive in the Congo Basin, but is there any truth to the tall tales?
October 28, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Pixar Rewrites Dinosaur History
What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet and giant dinosaurs never went extinct?
August 25, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Will the Dinosaurs Return?
When the American Museum of Natural History's paleontologist William Diller Matthew published his book Dinosaurs in 1915, no one understood how the famous Mesozoic creatures originated or went extinct. Both the beginning and end of the "Age of Dinosaurs" were mysterious. Yet, tucked away in a foot...
April 22, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Did Dinosaurs Die Out Because Males Couldn't Find a Date?
What caused the end-Cretaceous mass extinction is one of the greatest mysteries of all time. Paleontologists have racked up a long list of victims---including the non-avian dinosaurs---and geologists have confirmed that a massive asteroid that struck the earth near the modern-day Yucatan peninsula ...
February 18, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
What Killed Alaska's Dinosaurs?
In northern Alaska, along the banks of the Colville River, a series of fossil bonebeds preserve remnants of the Late Cretaceous world. These ancient environments were quite different from those found farther south.Even though the climate of Cretaceous Alaska was warmer than that of today, areas nea...
December 23, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
