Dinosaurs | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/dinosaurs/RSS feed for DinosaursenFri, 29 May 2026 15:53:48 +0000Tyrannosaurus Rex and Other Terrifying Predatory Dinosaurs Had Itty-Bitty Arms. Scientists May Have Finally Figured Out Whyhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tyrannosaurus-rex-and-other-terrifying-predatory-dinosaurs-had-itty-bitty-arms-scientists-may-have-finally-figured-out-why-180988803/A new study suggests that certain theropods—two-legged, mostly meat-eating dinosaurs—had shrunken forelimbs as an evolutionary trade-off for their strong skullsFri, 29 May 2026 15:53:48 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tyrannosaurus-rex-and-other-terrifying-predatory-dinosaurs-had-itty-bitty-arms-scientists-may-have-finally-figured-out-why-180988803/What Was the Biggest Dinosaur? Fragmentary Fossils Make It Hard to Tellhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-was-the-biggest-dinosaur-fragmentary-fossils-make-it-hard-to-tell-180988840/Pinning down the most titanic of the large sauropod dinosaurs is not an easy task, since the odds were generally against the biggest ones being buried and preservedThu, 28 May 2026 14:58:30 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-was-the-biggest-dinosaur-fragmentary-fossils-make-it-hard-to-tell-180988840/Paleontologists Discover an Ancient Marine Reptile They've Dubbed the T. Rex of the Sea, Crowning Another King of the Cretaceoushttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/paleontologists-discover-an-ancient-marine-reptile-theyve-dubbed-the-t-rex-of-the-sea-crowning-another-king-of-the-cretaceous-180988792/Scientists figured out that the predators were lumped in with a previously named mosasaur species. The new one, called Tylosaurus rex, could grow to 43 feet long, about the length of a school busFri, 22 May 2026 21:00:26 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/paleontologists-discover-an-ancient-marine-reptile-theyve-dubbed-the-t-rex-of-the-sea-crowning-another-king-of-the-cretaceous-180988792/A Man Spotted Strange-Looking Rocks Near a Pond in Thailand. They Turned Out to Be the Bones of a Massive New Dinosaur Specieshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-man-spotted-strange-looking-rocks-near-a-pond-in-thailand-they-turned-out-to-be-the-bones-of-a-massive-new-dinosaur-species-180988744/Paleontologists have dubbed the long-necked, plant-eating creature "Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis." It's the 14th named dinosaur from Thailand, and it might be the biggest one ever found in Southeast AsiaFri, 15 May 2026 14:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-man-spotted-strange-looking-rocks-near-a-pond-in-thailand-they-turned-out-to-be-the-bones-of-a-massive-new-dinosaur-species-180988744/This Bone-Crunching Octopus Was Nearly the Size of a Semitruck and May Have Feasted on Giant Reptiles 100 Million Years Agohttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-bone-crunching-octopus-was-nearly-the-size-of-a-semitruck-and-may-have-feasted-on-giant-reptiles-100-million-years-ago-180988616/The massive invertebrates may have been top predators, according to an analysis of their fossilized jaws. The work suggests that ancient oceans weren't completely ruled by spine-bearing creatures, as previously thoughtMon, 27 Apr 2026 16:04:46 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-bone-crunching-octopus-was-nearly-the-size-of-a-semitruck-and-may-have-feasted-on-giant-reptiles-100-million-years-ago-180988616/The Hell Creek Formation Is North America's Legendary Boneyard. See the Top Five Discoveries Found in the Iconic Fossil Bedhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-hell-creek-formation-is-north-americas-legendary-boneyard-see-the-top-five-discoveries-found-in-the-iconic-fossil-bed-180988545/From preserved plants to T. rex, the material found in these Late Cretaceous rocks has resulted in countless breakthroughs for paleontologistsWed, 15 Apr 2026 11:30:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-hell-creek-formation-is-north-americas-legendary-boneyard-see-the-top-five-discoveries-found-in-the-iconic-fossil-bed-180988545/