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Deep Time

New Research

Pink Was the First Color of Life on Earth

Researchers have found bright pink pigments in 1.1 billion year old fossils of cyanobacteria drilled in West Africa

New Research

Oldest Footprints Show When Life On Earth Got Legs

Tiny fossil tracks found in South China firmly date appendages back to the Ediacaran period

Habelia optata

New Research

This Fierce 508-Million-Year-Old Relative of Scorpions Had Five Jaws and Body Armor

A new analysis of Habelia optata could help us understand the history of modern arthropods

The rock from the Apex Chert in which the fossils were found

New Research

At 3.5 Billion Years Old, Are These the Oldest Fossils?

A new analysis of this decades-old find suggests that they were indeed once biological life—but not all are convinced

Researchers have documented more than 4,000 fossils on clifftop beds accessible to the public.

Canada

Darwin Would Have Loved the Cliffs of Newfoundland, Where 500-Million-Years-Old Fossils Reside

Step back in time half a billion years to a world of mysterious sea creatures that would have thrilled Darwin

Hutton, as painted by Sir Henry Raeburn in 1776.

Journey to the Center of Earth

The Blasphemous Geologist Who Rocked Our Understanding of Earth’s Age

James Hutton was a leading light of his time, but is rarely talked about today

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Age of Humans

Travel Through Deep Time With This Interactive Earth

Explore key moments in Earth’s transformative history as continents drift and climate fluctuates over 4.6 billion years

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Beyond the Childhood Dinosaur Phase: Why Dinosaurs Should Matter to Everyone

Dinosaurs can help us unlock essential secrets about the history of life on Earth

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