Jurassic Period
(199.6 - 145.5 MYA)Paleontologists Uncover Oldest Known Dinosaur Nest Site
The "lay 'em and leave 'em" strategy might not have been the ancestral state for these dinosaurs
January 25, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
The Largest Ceratosaurus
How many species of this rare, ornamented genus were there?
January 19, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
A Comedy of Dinosaur Errors
If any dinosaur has a tortured history, it's the giant predator Saurophaganax
December 16, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Paleontologists Track Dinosaurs Near Las Vegas
Very few skeletons have been found from this period, and much of what we know about the dinosaurs of the Early Jurassic Southwest comes from tracksites
November 21, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
The Mysterious Marshosaurus
The collected remains seem to represent an approximately 18-foot-long predator in a lower weight class than the giants living in the same environment
November 16, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Paleontologists Unveil the 11th Archaeopteryx
Just in time for the 150th anniversary year of Archaeopteryx, paleontologists announce an 11th specimen of the dinosaur-like bird
October 19, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
A Beautiful Baby Dinosaur
One of the most stunning theropod dinosaurs ever discovered may add to our understanding of how feathers evolved
October 14, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
A Juvenile Apatosaurus Makes Its Debut
Many newly hatched sauropods were so diminutive that they could have stood in the palm of your hand. A new reconstruction goes on display this month
October 11, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Why Did Carnotaurus Have Such Wimpy Arms?
Tyrannosaurus gets a lot of guff for having small hands, but if we're going to poke fun at any dinosaur for having wimpy forelimbs, it should probably be the "meat-eating bull"
September 22, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
An Ode to Archaeopteryx
The many fuzzy and feathery dinosaurs that have been discovered reveal one of the most magnificent evolutionary transformations in the history of life
August 26, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Tendaguru’s Lost World
The African fossil sites preserve dinosaur fossils that are strangely similar to their North American counterparts
July 28, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Kentrosaurus Had a Formidable Swing
In one of my favorite bits of fossil terminology, the spiked tails of stegosaurs are known as "thagomizers." Get hit with a tail like that and you'd be turned into an instant shish kebab
July 08, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Dinosaur Skin Scraps Are a Jurassic Mystery
Though not nearly as common as the bone fragments and bits of tooth found at dinosaur fossil sites, remnants and impressions of dinosaur skin are not as rare as you might think
May 20, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Where Dinosaurs Roamed
Footprints at one of the nation's oldest—and most fought over—fossil beds offer new clues to how the behemoths lived
May 2008 |
By Genevieve Rajewski
Shadows on the Rock
Spain wants Gibraltar; the people of the Rock hate the very idea; England is caught in the middle
September 1997 |
By Timothy Foote
