Special Report

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

From the formation of Earth through the changing climates and creatures of the past, the Smithsonian's Hall of Fossils explores our planet's Deep Time. Smithsonian Magazine shares stories about the hall, along with the latest news about ancient creatures.

When visitors step into the new hall, they’re welcomed by ice-age creatures like the woolly mammoth.

Gary Mulcahey, Smithsonian Institution

Inside the Hall

Towering over the Fossil Hall is the plant-eating sauropod <em>Diplodocus,</em> which has been on display since 1931 and now is posed with tail in the air.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Amid All the Fossils, Smithsonian's New Dinosaur Exhibition Tells the Complex Story of Life

“In order to interpret the past,

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Meet the Master Muralist Who Inspired Today's Generation of Paleoartists

The sequoia tree slab is an invitation to begin thinking about a vast timescale that includes everything from fossils of armored amoebas to the great <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em>.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

A 16-Million-Year-Old Tree Tells a Deep Story of the Passage of Time

Dinosaur News

Despite only uncovering one bone, researchers were able to identify it as an abelisaurid by the distinct structures that stuck out on the top left and top right of the neck vertebrae called epipophyses. (Pictured: Graduate student, Belal Salem holding the neck vertebra of the unamed abelisaurid theropod found in the Bahariya Oasis)

New Dinosaur Species With Bulldog-Like Face Uncovered in Egypt

Elizabeth Gamillo

Scientists had long speculated that egg-laying dinosaurs would have an umbilical scar, but this study is the first to find evidence of one. (Pictured: artist representation of a Psittacosaurus and its umbilical scar)

First Dinosaur Belly Button Discovered in Fossil From China

Elizabeth Gamillo

Located alongside New Jersey’s southernmost point, Cape May is a stunning Victorian shore community that once played a role in guiding Black enslaved laborers to freedom.

The 15 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2022

Paleontologists are just beginning to uncover the evolutionary backstory of armored dinosaurs like the ankylosaur Euoplocephalus.

New Fossil Finds Track When Armored Dinosaurs Spread Around the World

Thanatosdrakon amaru flew around the planet for 20 million years before the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event wiped out the dinosaurs.

Paleontologists Find Biggest Pterosaur Species Ever Unearthed in South America

Elizabeth Gamillo

Ancient Earth

The Irish elk, or Megaloceros giganteus, ranged across northern Eurasia from Siberia to Ireland and shed its giant antlers every year. It is on display in the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils—Deep Time at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Biggest. Antlers. Ever. Meet the Irish Elk

Illustration from the graphic novel 'Martina and the Bridge of Time' by Aaron O'Dea and Ian Cooke Tapia.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Time Travel Into Panama's Deep History With This Richly Illustrated New Graphic Novel

Artist's impression of the Chicxulub impact.

After the Dinosaur-Killing Impact, Soot Played a Remarkable Role in Extinction

Nola Taylor Redd

The list covers findings in biology, justice and human rights, the environment, and more.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Fifty Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since the First Earth Day

Smithsonian magazine

Stromatolites at Lake Thetis, Western Australia

Why It’s So Difficult to Find Earth’s Earliest Life