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Science

One of the many dinosaur tracks figured in Edward Hitchcock's Ichnology of New England.

South America’s First Dinosaur Tracks

Tracks now readily recognizable as belonging to dinosaurs were once attributed to prodigious birds and other creatures

A leatherback turtle is just one of many predators in the ocean

Where the Pacific’s Predators Go

Scientists have found that predator species trade off between prey availability and water temperature in their travels

A stuffed solenodon in a museum Feedloader (Clickability)

Solenodons: No Bark But Plenty of Venomous Bite

Solenodons are unusual predators; they are among the few venomous mammals

A roadside dinosaur in Jensen, Utah

Dinosaur Sighting: Crocosaurus

It looks more like an alligator doing a dinosaur impression, but there is something unmistakably dinosaurian about it

Part of a fossil palm frond from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum in Wyoming.

Wyoming Paleontology Dispatch #3: How to date a fossil

The Bighorn Basin’s colorful stripes reveal an ancient riverbed

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Los Angeles’ New Dinosaur Hall

Buzz about the new displays, particularly a trio of Tyrannosaurus growth stages, has been growing for months

A snow leopard caught in a camera trap in Afghanistan

The Vanishing Cats

In a recent bit of good news, snow leopards have been spotted at 16 camera traps in northeastern Afghanistan

The loss of wolves in the American West set off a cascade of changes to the region's food web.

What Happens When Predators Disappear

It’s Predator Week here at the blog. What’s your favorite predator, either existing or extinct?

A dinosaur egg with preserved wasp cocoons inside

Making a Home in a Dinosaur Egg

There were five spherical eggs in the 70-something-million-year-old clutch. One egg was cracked in half and filled with cocoons

Great White Egret, by Antonio Soto, photographed March 2009, South Florida

How the Great White Egret Spurred Bird Conservation

I was certain that the bird’s plumage had to have been faked, but all the photographer did was darken the background. Those feathers were real

A paper "Brontosaurus" skeleton in a bottle, created by Akinobu

Brontosaurus in a Bottle

Dinosaurs are famous for the gargantuan sizes some attained, and that’s why these minuscule skeleton sculptures are so charming

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There’s a Drought—Is It Climate Change?

Despite the heat waves across the country, no one is screaming “climate change is real” because of them. Why?

The estimated sizes of several Allosaurus specimens, including "Epanterias."

A Truly Exceptional Allosaurus

Cope did not know it at the time, but he had described an especially large representative of a species his rival had named just a year before

Dinosaur, Colorado's Triceratops

Dinosaur Sighting: Roadside Triceratops

The main drag of Dinosaur, Colorado is festooned with a number of goofy-looking dinosaurs

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The Cambrian Explosion in Song

What does a music teacher do when he ends up teaching science?

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Wyoming Paleontology Dispatch #1: Why 56 Million Years Ago?

What did the earth look like during the Paleocene Epoch? A Smithsonian researcher investigates

After an hour or two of searching, Scott Wing and his team found a spot to set up camp.

Wyoming Dispatch #2: The Scene at Field Camp

Before digging, the paleobiologists must go through the arduous process of setting up camp

A pig-nosed turtle at the Shedd Aquarium

The Decline of the Pig-Nosed Turtle

Saving the turtle from extinction could be complicated, scientists find

The skull of Stegoceras

Dome-Headed Dinos Well-Suited to Butting Heads

The researchers compared the skulls of Stegoceras and Prenocephale with head-butting mammals including elk, duiker and musk ox

The formidable hand claw of Dryptosaurus

Dryptosaurus’ Surprising Hands

This enigmatic tyrannosauroid may have had the novel combination of short arms with big hands

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