Articles tagged as Fossils | Smithsonian Magazine

Cows graze near a huge replica of a dinosaur at the Balasinor fossil park. The area is littered with hundreds of dinosaur bones, teeth, skulls and eggs tens of millions of years old.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: India

Aaliya Sultana Babi is doing everything in her power to protect and promote India’s most significant fossil park

January 21, 2016

A Hoplophoneus pseudo-cat skull in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Utah.

The Dakota Badlands Used to Host Sabertoothed Pseudo-Cat Battles

The region was once home to a plethora of catlike creatures called nimravids, and fossils show they were an especially fractious breed

January 15, 2016

University of Colorado Denver researcher Martin Lockley (right) and Ken Cart pose beside large a dinosaur scrape they discovered in Western Colorado.

New Research

Dinosaurs May Have Dug Trenches to Woo Mates

Ancient grooves discovered in Colorado suggest dinos had bird-like mating rituals

January 8, 2016

The Verreaux's sifaka is one of the unique mammals found only on Madagascar.

Tiny Fossils Reveal the Rise of Mammals on Madagascar

Recent finds are helping paleontologists piece together what happened after dinosaurs vanished from the island

December 28, 2015

A gibbous moon shines over a large petrified log embedded in the sandstone at Blue Mesa in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park.

Protecting Arizona’s Petrified Forest Can Be as Easy as Taking a Hike

After dispelling myths about vandals and thieves, rangers are working to make this national park more open and engaging

December 7, 2015

This is an artist's impression of sauropod dinosaurs on the Isle of Skye.

New Research

Hundreds of Dinosaur Tracks Discovered Along the Scottish Coast

Giant sauropods once roamed the Isle of Skye

December 2, 2015

Lucy gets a Google Doodle for the anniversary of her discovery

November 24, 2015

"Baby Louie," formerly of the Indianapolis Children's Museum, is now back home, at the Henan Geological Museum.

Big Baby Dinosaur Finally Goes Home

An infant oviraptorosaur smuggled out of China decades ago comes back to Henan Province with new stories to tell

November 20, 2015

Bees are not so picky when they stop for a snack.

New Research

Ancient Bees Were Voracious Snackers on Their Pollen-Gathering Treks

Fossils from Germany could help researchers better understand modern bee eating habits and better protect the beloved pollinators

November 12, 2015

Researcher Julien Louys holds the jaw bone of an ancient giant rat species discovered in East Timor (left) and the same bone from a modern rat (right)

New Research

Fossils Show Ancient Rats Were the Size of a Small Dog

And our ancient ancestors likely ate them

November 10, 2015

This image shows a Fuxianhuia protensa specimen from the Chenjiang fossil beds in southwest China. The ancient arthropod was just under 5 inches in length.

New Research

How to Fossilize a Brain

A new study shows that brains can can fossilize like bones

November 9, 2015

Scientists gather around the Yuka mammoth, which was so well-preserved in the permafrost its brain was mostly intact

Cool Finds

Ice Age Cave Lion Cubs and a Look Back at Permafrost Mummies

A recent find in Siberia is the latest on a list of well-preserved Ice Age mammals

October 29, 2015

These Are the Oldest Known Flowers in the World

Found in the fossil record, these plants are more than 100 million years old

November 2015

A fuzzy Tyrannosaurus roars across the Utah desert at Moab Giants.

New Dinosaur Museum Tracks the “Terrible Lizards” Through Time

The Moab Giants museum in eastern Utah makes a roaring debut

October 14, 2015

New Research

Researchers Devise Way to Determine Color from Fossils

Researchers now know how to tell what color an ancient animal was from its fossils

October 1, 2015

New Research

Early Australians May Have Lived With Giant Lizards

Researchers discover early Australians shared the continent with enormous lizards

September 25, 2015

The fossils, encased in rock and sediment, were collected from marine rocks that date to around six million years ago before the Isthmus of Panama formed and a seaway connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

New Species of Ancient Dolphin Shows How the Animals Moved From Seas to Rivers

The newly discovered fossil gives scientists a fresh glimpse into the evolution of ocean life

September 1, 2015

New Research

Fossilized Poop is Rare, Fossilized Poop Inside a Fossilized Dinosaur is Even Rarer

Fossilized feces are always interesting, and researchers may have just found an extra special example

August 24, 2015

New Research

Dinosaurs May Have Lived (and Died) Among Ancient Daisies

Triceratops loves me, Triceratops loves me not…

August 14, 2015

New Research

The Oldest Fossilized Animal Sperm Comes From a Worm That Lived 50 Million Years Ago

The discovery points to a new way that microscopic critters might be preserved in the fossil record

July 20, 2015