Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Fossils

An artistic rendering shows an early proto turtle Eunotosaurus (foreground) burrowing into the banks of a dried-up pond to escape the harsh arid environment present 260 million years ago in South Africa.

New Research

Why the Turtle Grew a Shell—It’s More Than Safety

Its armor may have developed for more than safety

Two skulls belonging to extinct marine mammal herbivores used in the new study, both from the Smithsonian's collections.

When Did Today’s Whales Get So Big?

More recently than you might think, say scientists who scoured the fossil record

Illustration of Gualicho shinyae hunting with its jaws, not arms.

Arm Day at the Gym Apparently Not a Thing for Newly Found, Tiny-Armed Dino

Turns out T. rex doesn’t have a copyright on those adorably awkward, itty-bitty arms

Portrait of paleontologist Mary Anning and her trusty assistant, Tray.

These Paleo Pets Made Fossil Hunting Less Lonely

In the solitary hunt for bones, furry companions provide company, act as field assistants and sometimes even make the ultimate sacrifice

“I hope people of the future will look back on us and see that we learned the lessons of deep time,” says Smithsonian paleontologist Scott Wing.

Age of Humans

Studying the Climate of the Past Is Essential for Preparing for Today’s Rapidly Changing Climate

A Smithsonian scientist explains why in the new Age of Humans, we must turn from crisis management to planet management

99-million-year-old flight feathers.

New Research

99-Million-Year-Old Bird Wings Found Encased in Amber

The rare fossils from the age of the dinosaurs look a lot like modern-day bird wings

Fossilized teeth from an ancient sperm whale

Cool Finds

Landfill Surprises Scientists With 12-Million-Year-Old Whale Fossils

The fossilized remains of a sperm whale were discovered in a newly cleared area of an Orange County landfill

You'll never guess how researchers found this fossil of the petite terrestrial crocodile Hoplosuchus kayi.

These Are Some of the Weirdest Ways Paleontologists Find Fossils

Sometimes you pee on them, sometimes you’re just trying to get away from other paleontologists. Here are the discovery stories scientists won’t tell you

Pie chart showing the number of times ankylosaur fought a particular foe.

Sadly, “Ankylosaur Fight Club” Is Probably Wishful Thinking

Ornate armor may have had more to do with communication than combat

Prospecting for fossils in the Morrison Formation near Shell, Wyoming

Family Travel

Hunting Lost Worlds in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin

A geology tour with Kirk Johnson, Director of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, and Will Clyde, a geology professor at University of New Hampshire

An artist's reconstruction of what the hobbit may have looked like housed in Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The “Hobbit” Lineage May Be Much Older Than Previously Thought

A new find hints that the short-statured hominins could have been living in Indonesia over a half a million years earlier than previous estimates

Little penguins are the only penguins now found in Australia.

Australia Used to be a Haven for Giant Penguins

A single species, the little penguin, is left on Aussie shores today

Chris Torres and Eric Gorscak take in the scenery at Cape Lamb—scenery that included lots of fossils.

Cool Finds

Fossil Hunters Uncover 71-Million-Year-Old Trove in Antarctica

After a plane flight, boat ride, helicopter lift and a lot of hiking, the scientists returned with a massive cache of fossils

The footprints of ankylosaurs and other 122-million-year-old dinosaurs are preserved outside Moab, Utah.

Paleontologists Unveil Dinosaur Stomping Ground in Utah

Visitors can view ghostly footprints that record prehistoric steps in pale blue stone

The Ichthyornis is a toothed bird that links birds with reptiles.

The “Sistine Chapel of Evolution” Is in New Haven, Connecticut

Charles Darwin never visited the Yale museum, but you can, and see for yourself the specimens that he praised as the best evidence for his theory

When Dinosaurs Roamed the (Not Yet) Petrified Forest

Recent surprise discoveries at the national park have prompted a complete rethinking about the creatures of the Jurassic Era

An artist's rendering shows what a Tully Monster might have looked like 300 million years ago.

New Research

What Is a Tully Monster? Scientists Finally Think They Know

The oddball fossil that puzzled experts for almost 60 years is probably an ancient fish akin to today’s bloodsucking lampreys

These ancient amber fossils from Burma in Southeast Asia help complete the patchy record of lizard evolution.

New Research

Pint-Sized Lizards Trapped in Amber Give Clues to Life 100 Million Years Ago

The trove of Cretaceous reptiles includes an early relative of the chameleon—the oldest yet discovered

New Research

440-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Fungi May Be The Oldest Land Dwellers Yet Discovered

Though not the oldest living creatures, these fungi may have paved the way for living creatures to take hold of the land

The hell-ant's fearsome fangs are on full display in this 3D false-color rendering of a Haidomyrmex scimitarus queen, produced by combining several hundred two-dimensional x-ray snapshots.

New Research

These Tiny Saber-Toothed Terrors Are Among the World’s Oldest Ants

Analysis of insects entombed in amber shows that the “hell ants” were among the first to diverge from the original ant-wasp ancestor

Page 35 of 61