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Fossils

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Obama Just Established Three New National Monuments Covering Over a Million Acres

Art, fossils and natural beauty

Researchers found pieces of dinosaur egg shells at a possible nesting site in Kamitaki, Japan.

New Research

Researchers Just Found a Surprising Stash of Dinosaur Eggshells in Japan

The eggs belonged to a slew of different species and represent the first nesting site discovered in Japan

A collection of fish teeth and shark scales from the Early Cenozoic period.

New Research

After the Dinosaurs Died, Earth Experienced the Age of Fish

The fossil record shows how ray-finned fishes took over the planet’s oceans

A Deep Dive Into the Skeleton of the Oldest-Known Modern Bird

A fossil found in China may offer new clues about avian evolution

What Did Insects Evolve From and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

A reconstruction of "grandfather turtle."

New Research

This Ancient Creature Shows How the Turtle Got Its Shell

The 240-million-year-old “grandfather turtle” may be part of the evolutionary bridge between lizards and shelled reptiles

Mosasaur

14 Fun Facts About the Animals of “Jurassic World”

While the lead predator of the film might be a genetically modified fiction, these real fossil species were just as amazing and bizarre

The modern Mystacina tuberculata, depicted in the sketch above, may be a distant relative of a newly discovered ancient bat called Mystacina miocenalis.

New Research

16 Million Years Ago This Giant Bat Walked the Jungles of New Zealand

A new fossil gives clues to just how long ago bats arrived on the islands

Fossils of an ancient mini beaver suggest it may be related to the modern American beaver (Castor canadensis)

Cool Finds

Mini Beavers Once Roamed Oregon

Fossils of a squirrel-sized from in eastern Oregon may be related to modern beavers

An artistic reconstruction of the Regaliceratops peterhewsi, the newly discovered Triceratops cousin with a built-in crown.

New Research

The ‘Hellboy’ Dinosaur, a New Cousin of Triceratops, Is Fossil Royalty

The horned dinosaur wears a built-in crown and offers evidence of many more undiscovered species in North America

The dusty white rock of the Las Vegas Formation, near the edge of Tule Springs National Monument, bakes in the midday heat.

Urban Explorations

Discover a Fossil Jackpot Off the Las Vegas Strip

Remains of mammoths, camels and other beasts of the Ice Age tempt visitors out of Sin City and into Tule Springs National Monument

Why Do Humans Have Chins?

The most distinctive human feature might be that bony protrusion that made Jay Leno famous

Saurornitholestes sullivani attacks a subadult hadrosaur Parasaurolophus tubicen

New Research

Meet Your New Favorite Dinosaur: The Velociraptor’s Cousin

A keen sense of smell gave this dino an edge

Welcome back, Brontosaurus?

New Research

Back to Brontosaurus? The Dinosaur Might Deserve Its Own Genus After All

The popular name could be pulled back out of the scientific wastebasket, based on new analysis of dozens of related dinosaurs

Three new proposed cone snail species (L-R): Conus carlottae, Conus garrisoni and Conus bellacoensis, under regular light (top) and ultraviolet light (middle) and with colors reversed to approximate how they would have appeared (bottom)

New Research

UV Light Reveals the Colors of Fossil Shells

Patterns made visible help a researcher discover 13 new species of ancient cone snails

A model of Metoposaurus algarvensis

Cool Finds

Hundreds of Car-Sized Fossil Amphibians Found in a Mass Grave

The huge creature is related to modern-day newts, salamanders and frogs

It's a beetle invasion! These lady beetles (also known as lady bugs) are just one of Earth's family of beetles.

New Research

Beetle Species, Weirdly, Almost Never Go Extinct

The world is disproportionately filled with beetles—now, a new study suggests that’s because few species have ever been wiped out

Terrifying. An ancestor of the modern-day croc stood nine feet tall and walked on its hind legs. It's been lovingly christened the "Carolina Butcher."

Before There Were Crocodiles, There Was the “Carolina Butcher”

A newly discovered crocodilian ancestor was a nine-foot-tall predator that stood on its hind legs

Cool Finds

Divers Discover Graveyard Filled With Giant Lemur Skeletons

A Madagascar cave is packed with the bones of extinct species

New Research

Fossils Show How Flying Fish Started to Glide

In the quest to avoid being eaten, some fish took a leap into the open air

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