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Dinosaurs

Artist's impression of the Chicxulub impact.

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

The famous impact 66 million years ago kicked up soot into the atmosphere that played an even bigger role in blocking sunlight than experts had realized

Cricosaurus suevicus is an ancient relative of modern crocodiles that spent its life in the ocean.

New Research

Like Dolphins and Whales, Ancient Crocodiles Evolved to Spend Their Time at Sea

Researchers tracked changes in the crocodilian creatures’ inner ears to learn how they moved into the sea

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

Planet Positive

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

On April 22, 1970, Americans pledged environmental action for the planet. Here’s what scientists and we, the global community, have done since

Researchers recently scanned some of the oldest dinosaur embryos in the world

Digital Reconstructions Reveal 200-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Embryo’s Unusual Teeth

New scans suggest unhatched dinosaurs reabsorbed a set of teeth during development

This illustration is an artist's interpretation of what a toothed pterosaur may have looked like 100 million years ago.

Four New Species of Prehistoric Flying Reptiles Unearthed in Morocco

These flying reptiles patrolled the African skies some 100 million years ago

Stromatolites at Lake Thetis, Western Australia

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

Debate over Earth’s oldest fossils fuels the search for our deepest origins

Reconstruction of Dineobellator notohesperus and other dinosaurs from the Ojo Alamo Formation at the end of the Cretaceous Period in New Mexico by Sergey Krasovskiy. This reconstruction shows three Dineobellator near a water source, with the ceratopsid Ojoceratops and sauropod Alamosaurus in the background.

New Feathered Carnivorous Dinosaur Found in New Mexico

Dineobellator was a formidable predator and boasts the battle scars to prove it.

Asteriornis maastrichtensis, the world's oldest known modern bird, had a mashup of chicken-, turkey- and duck-like features.

At 67 Million Years Old, Oldest Modern Bird Ever Found Is Natural ‘Turducken’

Remarkable fossil hints at the traits birds evolved just before an asteroid wiped their nonavian dinosaur kin

The new dinosaur is called Thanatotheristes degrootorum.

Newly Discovered Tyrannosaur Was Key to the Rise of Giant Meat-Eaters

A partial skull found in Alberta helps put a timer on when the ‘tyrant lizards’ got big

An artist's illustration of Allosaurus jimmadseni, a newly described species of Jurassic carnivore

Newly Described Meat-Eating Dinosaur Dominated During the Jurassic Period

The new species is the oldest Allosaurus described yet and was a top predator of its time

An artist's illustration of juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex, which were more fleet-footed than their adult counterparts

Teenage T. Rex Fossils Reveal Haphazard Growth Spurts

A new study reaffirms that two debated dinosaur fossils named Jane and Petey weren’t a separate species

These are ten of the biggest strides made by scientists in the last ten years.

The Top Ten Scientific Discoveries of the Decade

Breakthroughs include measuring the true nature of the universe, finding new species of human ancestors, and unlocking new ways to fight disease

An artist's illustration of Dendromaia unamakiensis, a 310-million-year old land-dwelling vertebrate that looked a like a modern monitor lizard, pictured here with its offspring

Lizard-Like Fossil May Represent 306-Million-Year-Old Evidence of Animal Parenting

Shortly after transitioning from sea to land, our egg-laying ancestors may have started parenting their young

Artist‘s reconstruction of Mesophthirus engeli of elder development stage feeding on the dinosaur feathers from mid-Cretaceous amber.

Lice-Filled Dinosaur Feathers Found Trapped in 100-Million-Year-Old Amber

Prehistoric insects that resemble modern lice infested animals as early as the mid-Cretaceous, living and evolving along with dinosaurs and early birds

Students and teachers can download 3-D print-ready files of the Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops skulls.

Holiday Gift Guide

Ten Smithsonian Artifacts You Can 3-D Print

The list includes Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit, an Abraham Lincoln life mask and a coral skeleton

Although ammonoids died out around the same time as most dinosaurs, new computer models are revealing how these marine animals moved through the water.

Video Game-Inspired Models Demonstrate How Prehistoric Squid Relatives Swam Through the Seas

By simulating liquid flows around the shells of ammonoids, scientists study how these ancient animals moved

Life restoration of Fukuipteryx prima.

Newly Discovered Fossil Bird Fills in Gap Between Dinosaurs and Modern Fliers

A skeleton from the Cretaceous found in Japan reveals an early bird with a tail nub resembling the avians of today

Collections at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History are filled with all sorts of eerie specimens.

Smithsonian Voices

Six Bewitching Smithsonian Specimens to Get You Ready for Halloween

Check out some of the spookiest (read: coolest) items in the National Museum of Natural History’s collections.

CGI rendering of ancient Loxolophus mammal taken from the PBS NOVA special, Rise of the Mammals. In this recreation, Loxolophus scavenges for food in the palm dominated forests found within the first 300,000 years after the dinosaur extinction.

Fossil Site Reveals How Mammals Thrived After the Death of the Dinosaurs

Recent discoveries highlight how mammals lived before and after the asteroid impact that triggered the world’s fifth mass extinction

A visitor catches a whiff of T. Rex breath at the Field Museum.

Cool Finds

You Can Now Smell a T. Rex’s Stinky Breath at Chicago’s Field Museum

The museum recently added a multi-sensory experience to SUE’s new exhibit

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