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Extinction

The arthropod fossil used to describe a new species (left) and CT scans of the specimen (right)

Cool Finds

Scientists Reveal Rare 450-Million-Year-Old Arthropod Fossil Preserved in Glittering Fool’s Gold

The critter found in New York represents a new, extinct species of arthropod that could shed light on the evolution of today’s insects, crustaceans and spiders

At least 16,425 of the 47,282 tree species examined in a new IUCN report are at risk of extinction.

More Than One in Three Tree Species Around the Globe Are at Risk of Disappearing, New Report Finds

An assessment from the International Union for Conservation of Nature paints a grim picture of the extinction risk of the world’s trees

Researchers are trying to "bring back" the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, a species that has not been officially recorded since 1936.

A 110-Year-Old Pickled Thylacine Head Helped Build the Most Complete Ancient Genome to Date, Says ‘De-Extinction’ Company

Colossal Biosciences reports it extracted DNA and RNA from the Tasmanian tiger specimen, a key step forward in its effort to create a modern proxy of the extinct species. Other scientists are calling for data to back up the claim

Overall, the findings of a new survey suggest Americans are more scared in general than they have been in recent history.

These Are Americans’ Biggest Fears in 2024, as the Country Is ‘Becoming More Afraid’

Government corruption, loved ones becoming ill or dying, cyberterrorism and nuclear weapons topped the list of Chapman University’s annual survey

Scientists feared the giant salmon carp had gone extinct, but recent discoveries revealed the elusive species is still in the wild.

A Massive, Mysterious ‘Ghost’ Fish, Feared Extinct for Nearly 20 Years, Has Been Rediscovered in Cambodia

The giant salmon carp was formally identified in 1991, and since then, fewer than 30 individuals had been documented

The free museum is located in Williams, Arizona, about an hour south of the Grand Canyon.

Admire the World’s Largest Collection of Fossilized Poop at the New ‘Poozeum’ in Arizona

Owner George Frandsen has some 8,000 coprolites from dinosaurs, sharks and other creatures

Could a private citizen get hold of a genome and use it to bring an extinct animal back to life? 

Could Anyone Bring an Extinct Animal Back to Life? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

A worker of the fungus-farming ant species Mycetophylax asper, collected in Santa Catarina, Brazil, in 2014, on its fungus garden

Ants Farmed Fungi in the Wake of Dinosaurs’ Demise 66 Million Years Ago

A new study from Smithsonian scientists analyzes ant and fungus species, and uncovers the origins of their close partnership

Massive columns and karst formations decorate the vast chamber of Cenote Xulo.

Divers in Mexico’s Underwater Caves Get a Glimpse of Rarely Seen Artifacts, Fossils and Human Remains

Cenotes in the Yucatán Peninsula are time capsules preserving remnants of Maya culture and fossils of extinct megafauna

Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula is known for its extinct and active volcanoes.

New Research

Extinct Volcanoes May Be an Untapped Source of Rare Metals

Unexplored iron-rich magma could help power current and future technologies

An illustration of night parrots by Elizabeth Gould, completed in 1890.

Rare and Elusive Australian Bird, Once Thought Extinct for 100 Years, Discovered by Indigenous Rangers and Scientists

Using sound recordings, the team identified the largest known population of the night parrot, a secretive species known as the “Holy Grail of birdwatching”

An artist imagines what Globidens alabamaensis would have looked like when present-day Texas was still submerged.

Rare Jaw Fossils Discovered in Texas Shed Light on a 20-Foot-Long Mosasaur

Unearthed last year, the remains could reveal new information on the extinct sea reptile, which crushed mollusks and shelled creatures with its large, round teeth

This "everlasting" crystal contains the entire human genome, recorded using ultra-fast lasers, and is meant to instruct future species on how to create humans.

In Case Humans Go Extinct, This Memory Crystal Will Store Our Genome for Billions of Years

Scientists have created “a form of information immortality” meant to instruct future species on how to recreate humans. But who, or what, will find it?

Researchers discovered Thorin's fossilized remains in 2015 in a cave in southern France.

Ancient DNA Reveals Neanderthal Group Was Isolated for 50,000 Years

A new study, based on the remains of a Neanderthal nicknamed Thorin, is shaking up what archaeologists long thought about these early humans in Europe

Healthy little brown bats in Mt. Aeolus cave in Vermont in 2012

The Surprising Link Between Bats Dying and Human Infant Mortality

A new study finds that when bats in U.S. counties were decimated by the deadly white-nose syndrome, human deaths followed closely behind

The woolly rhino horn discovered by miners.

Miners Unearth a Mummified Woolly Rhino in Siberia, With an Intact Horn and Soft Tissue

The rare discovery will help scientists find out more about the prehistoric animal’s development, diet and living conditions

Columbian mammoths were larger and less hairy than woolly mammoths.

20,000-Year-Old Columbian Mammoth Bones Discovered in Texas

While fishing at an undisclosed lake, Sabrina Solomon slipped and fell—and came face to face with the remains

A species that was previously considered lost, the black-naped pheasant-pigeon, was rediscovered in 2022.

These ‘Lost’ Bird Species Haven’t Been Seen in at Least a Decade—and Scientists Want Help Finding Them

Some of the 126 species on their list haven’t been photographed or recorded in more than century

Archaeologists discovered stone tools at the site, though they dated to a few thousand years after the mastodon’s death. 

13,600-Year-Old Mastodon Skull Uncovered in Iowa

The hulking creature may have overlapped with Indigenous people

When an asteroid struck Earth about 66 million years ago, it wiped out some 80 percent of the planet's animals, including all of the non-avian dinosuars.

Asteroid That Ended the Dinosaurs Came From Beyond Jupiter, Study Finds

Metal isotopes delivered to Earth by the asteroid reveal it’s consistent with space rocks formed in the outer solar system

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