Paleontologists | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/paleontologists/RSS feed for PaleontologistsenMon, 13 Jul 2026 20:13:00 +0000This T. Rex Fossil Could Fetch the Largest Sum of Any Dinosaur Ever Auctioned. Scientists Worry They'll Lose the Chance to Study Ithttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-t-rex-fossil-could-fetch-the-largest-sum-of-any-dinosaur-ever-auctioned-scientists-worry-theyll-lose-the-chance-to-study-it-180989114/Bids on "Gus" will start at $19 million, a steep price for public institutions. Specimens in private collections can be harder for researchers to examine, and they're practically impossible to include in studies in top-tier scientific journalsMon, 13 Jul 2026 20:13:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-t-rex-fossil-could-fetch-the-largest-sum-of-any-dinosaur-ever-auctioned-scientists-worry-theyll-lose-the-chance-to-study-it-180989114/After Decades of Debate, Scientists Say These Fossils Belong to the Largest Known Scorpion, Which Lived 415 Million Years Agohttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-decades-of-debate-scientists-say-these-fossils-belong-to-the-largest-known-scorpion-which-lived-415-million-years-ago-180989022/Researchers have wondered whether Praearcturus gigas was a giant crustacean called an isopod or some other creature. A new analysis of museum specimens suggests that it was a scorpion that stretched more than three feet longWed, 01 Jul 2026 18:55:43 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-decades-of-debate-scientists-say-these-fossils-belong-to-the-largest-known-scorpion-which-lived-415-million-years-ago-180989022/Tyrannosaurus 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/