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,

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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

An artist’s illustration of Quetzalcoatlus flying

How Pterosaurs Might Inform the Next Generation of Flight

An artist's interpretation of Fujianvenator prodigiosus

This 'Weird,' Bird-Like Dinosaur Had Really Long Legs

So far, volunteers have counted roughly 75 newly revealed footprints.

Drought Reveals 113-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tracks in Texas

The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs are the world’s first attempt to model prehistoric animals at full scale.

How a Victorian Dinosaur Park Became a Time Capsule of Early Paleontology

In the past decade, paleontologists have named several new dinosaur species and found that some previously discovered species belonged to their own groups.

How Many Dinosaurs Remain Undiscovered?

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.

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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.

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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.

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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