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Fossils

A restoration of Ichthyovenator by Michel Fontaine

Ichthyovenator: The Sail-Backed Fish Hunter of Laos

The spinosaur, apparently the first confirmed in Asia, had a wavy sail that dipped downwards at the hips, creating the appearance of two smaller sails

Did egg-laying spell doom for non-avian dinosaurs, such as this crispy Troodon at the San Diego Natural History Museum?

How Eggs Shaped Dinosaur Evolution

Eggs may have been the secret to dinosaur success, but did they also lead to the dinosaurs’ doom?

A pair of bristly Fruitadens models on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

Fruitadens and the Dinosaur Diet

The dinosaur diet was not a simply a choice between steak or salad

A feathery Troodon on the Museum of Life and Science Dinosaur Trail, in Durham, North Carolina.

Dinosaur Egg Hunt

A well-timed analysis suggests that non-avian dinosaurs, not the Easter bunny, are the best candidates for laying the candy eggs hidden away on lawns

The skull of Yutyrannus

Scientists Discover a Gigantic Feathered Tyrannosaur

A newly described dinosaur confirms that even the formidable tyrannosaurs were covered in feathers

Titanoboa, pictured with a dyrosaur and a turtle, ruled the swampy South American tropics 58 million years ago.

How Titanoboa, the 40-Foot-Long Snake, Was Found

In Colombia, the fossil of a gargantuan snake has stunned scientists, forcing them to rethink the nature of prehistoric life

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Are There Any Fossils Left and Other Questions From Smithsonian Readers

We brought your questions on paleontology, Civil War photography and other subjects to the Institution’s experts

A partial Tenontosaurus skeleton on display at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana.

How Tenontosaurus Grew Up

A reconstruction of Corythosaurus at the Royal Ontario Museum

The Case of the Headless Hadrosaur

After nearly a century, a mystery is solved and a skull has been matched to its skeleton

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Paleontologists Announce Two Tiny Ceratopsians

A pair of mysterious, tiny dinosaur specimens have turned out to be new species of horned dinosaurs

A reconstruction of a hypothetical adult Brachiosaurus next to a possible juvenile Brachiosaurus, SMA 0009.

A Baby Brachiosaur?

Brachiosaurus was once thought to be the ultimate prehistoric titan, but we know surprisingly little about this Jurassic dinosaur

Microraptor, covered in iridescent plumage

Microraptor Was a Glossy Dinosaur

The feathered, four-winged dinosaur had a glorious sheen

The chest cavity of Velociraptor MPC-D100/54. The white arrow indicates a broken rib, and the black arrows point to pterosaur bones preserved inside the dinosaur's skeleton.

A Dinosaur’s Pterosaur Lunch

Styracosaurus at the American Museum of Natural History

The Last Styracosaurus Standing

Within just a few years, three species of Styracosaurus were cut down to just one

Triceratops (left) and Torosaurus (right)

The Torosaurus Identity Crisis Continues

Was Torosaurus really just a grown-up Triceratops? A new paper says “no”

Possible postures of Triceratops

Did Triceratops Slouch or Stand Tall?

A new study investigates whether old “three-horned face” held its forelimbs straight down like other dinosaurs or waddled around with its elbows out

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How to Make Sense of Dinosaur Variation

Paleontologist Jordan Mallon describes how he figured out how many Anchiceratops species actually existed

The known skeleton of Juratyrant (black outline) compared to the dinosaur Guanlong for size. The scale bar is one meter.

England’s Jurassic Tyrant

Meet the mysterious small predators that set the stage for the later rise of more imposing tyrants

A silhouette of the dinosaur Nemegtomaia barsboldi, indicating the dinosaur's bones and the nest it was sitting on. Much of the skeleton was lost to beetles.

When Beetles Ate Dinosaurs

Even the world’s most formidable consumers eventually became food themselves

A restoration of Lambeosaurus magnicristatus, a dinosaur once thought to represent the male form of Lambeosaurus lambei, but now known to be a distinct species.

Intimate Secrets of Dinosaur Lives

Scientists are searching for dinosaur sex differences in features like size, ornamentation and bone structure—not the bits actually used during mating

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