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Fossils

In Cretaceous Brazil, a prehistoric mammal the size of a cougar or a large dog left telltale tracks on sand dunes.

Fossil Footprints in Brazil Hint at a Cougar-Size Mammal That Walked Among Dinosaurs. It’s Another Sign That Some Early Beasts Grew to Impressive Sizes After All

Don’t think of all Mesozoic mammals as meek and tiny—alongside the terrible lizards, some were giants in their own right

Infernogallus jamesi was about the size of a turkey.

This Ancient ‘Hell Chicken’ Might Be the First Known Fruit-Loving Dinosaur, Revealing a Whole New Cretaceous Lifestyle

Infernogallus jamesi had beak and mouth adaptations that hint it could mash soft foods, like today’s frugivorous birds. The dinosaur probably munched on fruits resembling modern-day cherries and peaches, and may have helped spread seeds via its poop

The fossil was discovered in a mine in northeastern Brazil in 2008.

Scientists Say They’ve Found Preserved Dinosaur Blood in a 115-Million-Year-Old Fossil, but Not Everyone Is Convinced

Soft tissues like blood generally break down relatively quickly after death. Environmental factors can also produce red blood cell look-alikes, so many outside researchers are cautious about the new study’s claims

An artist's illustration of Invictibellatrix amberina on what's now the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, around 120 million years ago.

After Sitting in a London Museum Since 1924, This Dinosaur Fossil Was Named a New Predatory Species—an ‘Unconquered Female Warrior’

Invictibellatrix amberina was a long-clawed, tiger-size dinosaur that lived around 120 million years ago. It’s helping scientists piece together the global spread of megaraptors, which later became apex predators

The newly described species, Gerrothorax maritimus, was around 30 inches long.

Paleontologists Discover the First Known Amphibian That Lived Entirely at Sea: a Flat, Armored Creature From 237 Million Years Ago

Two nearly complete fossilized skeletons of the strange new species were found in southwestern China. Scientists suspect its marine lifestyle was an evolutionary accident

"Jodi" is the most complete known skeleton of a Nanotyrannus

A Rare Nanotyrannus Skeleton Sells for $47.3 Million, Becoming the Second Most Valuable Dinosaur Ever Auctioned

Paleontologists have long argued over whether some small tyrannosaur skeletons belonged to a new genus, called Nanotyrannus, or were young Tyrannosaurus rex. “Jodi” was sold just one year after researchers reported the most conclusive evidence yet that Nanotyrannus is valid

An artistic representation of Megacauda sungei

This Ancient Animal Looked Like a Platypus-Otter Hybrid. It’s Providing Clues About the Origins of Mammalian Suckling and Swallowing

The roughly two- to four-pound predator lived alongside dinosaurs some 165 million years ago. A fossil found in northern China shows the strange creature had a surprisingly modern throat structure

Artist's impression of the new crocodilian species

A Century Ago, an Extinct Crocodilian’s Skull Was Found in the Rocks That Built the Sphinx. Turns Out, It Belonged to a New Species

The specimen was long mislabeled, according to a new study. Paleontologists identified it as a previously undescribed genus and species of gavial—a cousin of crocodiles and alligators—which they named after the ancient Egyptian god Horus

Tyrannosaurus rex’s image has seen major adjustments over the past century.

Five Discoveries That Changed Our Understanding of T. Rex Forever, From Warm Blood to Lips

Paleontologists are still unraveling the secrets of the world’s most famous dinosaur, such as its outward appearance or the way that it hunted. With each new finding, our view of the “tyrant lizard king” has gotten a little clearer—and sometimes has radically shifted

An artistic rendering of the newly discovered species Norellraptor barsboldi.

Remarkable Fossil of a Feathered, Winged Dinosaur Further Hints That Flight Evolved Multiple Times Among the ‘Terrible Lizards’

The fossil belonged to a category of dinosaurs called microraptors, which were bird-like but not ancestors of modern-day avians. A new study found that this group of ancient predators evolved similar anatomical adaptations to birds, but developed them in a different order

In the new study, researchers analyzed fossilized teeth, including two from Thomas the T. rex.

Tyrannosaurus Rex Was a Warm-Blooded Dinosaur, With a Body Temperature Similar to That of Humans, Study Suggests

A tooth analysis hints that the fearsome predator ran at a toasty 97 degrees Fahrenheit. Maintaining that internal temperature may have allowed it to inhabit a range stretching from modern-day Alaska to Mexico during the Cretaceous period

The Earth in the Mesozoic Era, when dinosaurs roamed the planet, looked much unlike how it does today—even beyond presence of creatures like Giganotosaurus.

Five Ways the World of the Dinosaurs Looked Different From Ours, Beyond the Presence of the ‘Terrible Lizards’

Earth has changed dramatically since the Age of Dinosaurs, from its climate to geography and animal life

Scientists think a Nanotyrannus or a young Tyrannosaurus rex might have eaten the bird.

A 66-Million-Year-Old Feather Trapped in Dinosaur Poop Might Help Explain Why Some Birds Survived Mass Extinction

Discovered in Montana in 2016, the cherry-size coprolite contains feathers, bones and evidence of the bird’s last meal before the creature was eaten by a theropod

A geologist first spotted the tooth while conducting a survey for conservation purposes. 

Cool Finds

A Geologist in California Found Something Strange Sticking Out of a Creek. A Reverse Image Search Told Her It Was an Ancient Mastodon Tooth

Pacific mastodons roamed parts of North America before disappearing along with other Ice Age megafauna around 11,700 years ago

Researchers estimate the T. rex was walking at a speed of roughly 3.4 to 4.5 miles per hour.

These Four Giant Dinosaur Footprints Discovered in North Dakota Might Represent the First Trackway Made by an Adult T. Rex Ever Found

A high school teacher first spotted the remarkable trail while volunteering on a paleontological dig. Researchers suspect a hulking, full-grown dinosaur marched through the then-swampy landscape roughly 66.5 million years ago

Miracinonyx trumani that lived in modern-day Wyoming hunted mainly herbivores, such as the Saiga antelope illustrated here, according to the study.

For Decades, Scientists Thought an ‘American Cheetah’ Once Roamed North America. Turns Out the Extinct Cat Wasn’t a Cheetah

Ancient DNA from fossils found in Wyoming and Canada’s Yukon Territory suggests the wild cat more closely resembled modern pumas than modern cheetahs

An artist's rendition of a titanosaur nest. 

To Researchers’ Surprise, This Giant Dinosaur Laid Eggs in a Cold Climate

A new study suggests that titanosaurs used rotting vegetation to keep their eggs warm much like crocodiles do today

Scientists studied the fossils of prehistoric relatives of katydids.

Scientists Recreated the Long-Lost Chirps of Jurassic Insects. Listen to the Simulated Soundscape of 165 Million Years Ago

With artificial intelligence and careful modeling of fossilized wings, researchers reproduced how some extinct, katydid-like insects might have made noise

The researchers have collected thousands of coral samples since 2006.

Corals Reveal El Niño Events Have Become Stronger in Recent Decades, Probably Because Humans Have Been Heating Up the Planet

Researchers used elements trapped within Galápagos corals to understand natural swings in the climate over the past millennium. They hint that variability has gone up over the past 40 years compared to preindustrial times

An artist's interpretation of what Chosha praecursor might have looked like while splitting its time between water and land 324 million years ago in what is now Texas.

This Ancient Insect Had 24 Legs—and Could Help Explain How the Ancestors of Modern-Day Bugs Took Over the Land

A previously undescribed critter that lived 324 million years ago appears to have been a transitional species that lived between land and sea. It could help researchers fill an 80-million-year gap in the fossil record of how crustaceans evolved into insects

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