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Fossils

Yunxian 1 (left) and Yunxian 2 (right) are skulls unearthed in China that had been badly crushed. Scientists digitally reconstructed Yunxian 2 (center) and analyzed its relationship to other early human fossils.

Scientists Reconstruct a Million-Year-Old Skull and Suggest It Could Rewrite Our Timeline of Human Evolution

A recent study dramatically pushes back the date for the emergence of our species, though some researchers call for further evidence

An artistic rendering of a Joaquinraptor casali with a croc leg in its mouth.

Cool Finds

Paleontologists Discover Megaraptor Fossil With a Crocodilian’s Leg Still in Its Mouth

The finding in Argentina reveals a new megaraptor species that would have ruled at the same time as North America’s T. rex, shedding light on what it took to be a prehistoric top predator

An artistic rendering featuring a confrontation between two dome-headed dinosaurs

Cool Finds

Paleontologists Discover Earliest Known Dome-Headed Dinosaur in Excellent Condition, Shedding Light on Its Mysterious Anatomy

Most of what researchers previously knew about the iconic Cretaceous dinosaurs came from their domed heads, which endured better than the rest of their skeletons

A fly trapped in a studied amber sample. 

Cool Finds

112-Million-Year-Old Amber Samples Preserve a Snapshot of an Ancient Forest

The deposits from the time of the dinosaurs contain fragile insects and a spider’s web

An illustration of a Pterodactylus hatchling struggling in a tropical storm

Baby Pterosaur Fossils Reveal Mid-Flight Injury and Watery Death, Helping Solve a Paleontological Mystery

A 150-million-year-old fossil hotspot in southern Germany yields an astounding number of well-preserved juvenile pterosaurs, and scientists wondered why it contained fewer adults

Animal life seemed to explode into a wide variety of new forms in the Cambrian period.

What Led Life to Flourish Roughly 520 Million Years Ago?

Changes to the world’s oceans and the rise of certain predators may have driven diversification

An artist's interpretation of what early penguins in New Zealand might have looked like

Early Penguins Had Long, Dagger-Like Beaks for Skewering Fish, New Zealand Fossils Reveal

Paleontologists describe four new species of extinct ancestral penguins that help shed light on how the iconic birds evolved after dinosaurs went extinct

Predatory dinosaurs like Acrocanthosaurus perform a mating dance. Fossils indicating such a dance took place, possibly by this species, were described in 2016.

From Dinosaur Scratches to Insects in Amber, How Paleontologists Uncover Prehistoric Courtship

Researchers have found fossil evidence of varied creatures wooing and mating, as they continue to search for the telltale signs of dinosaurs copulating

An artist's reconstruction of what Spicomellus afer would have looked like.

Oldest Known Fossil of an Armored Ankylosaur Is ‘Far Weirder’ Than Paleontologists Expected

The 13-foot dinosaur, covered in long spikes fused into its bones, suggests ankylosaurs developed tail weapons 30 million years earlier than thought

The partial dire wolf skull was found in Iowa.

A Partial Dire Wolf Skull Is Headed to Auction This Month—and It Could Sell for $30,000

Collectors have a rare opportunity to bid on the remains of the fearsome creature, a large canid that went extinct around the end of the last ice age

Left molars from the newly discovered Australopithecus specimen (top) compared to those of an A. afarensis (bottom)

Cool Finds

Researchers Discover Fossilized Teeth That May Have Come From an Unknown Hominin Species

The find suggests that as many as four different hominin lineages lived in eastern Africa between 2.5 million and 3 million years ago

Early whales walked on land and swam in the shallows to hunt.

Before Whales Took to the Sea, These Ten Species Walked on Land

The creatures, which ranged in size from that of a fox to more than 50 feet long, divided their time between the coast and the water

Novaculadon mirabilis is characterized by its razor-sharp teeth.

A Student Spotted a Jawbone at a Beach. It Turned Out to Be a New, Mouse-Sized Mammal That Lived Among Dinosaurs

The species was named for its pointy teeth and could shed light on early mammal adaptations

An illustration of a mother and calf Janjucetus dullardi, a newly discovered tiny whale species with a sharp bite

Cool Finds

Newly Discovered Prehistoric Whale Is ‘Deceptively Cute’—It’s Tiny but Has a Mouth Full of Razor-Sharp Teeth

Found on the southern coast of Australia, the species could fill gaps in scientists’ understanding of baleen whale evolution

This image represents one illustration of how the trilobite fossil may have been set as an amulet or pendant.

Cool Finds

Ancient Romans Loved Fossils Just as Much as We Do, Even Though They May Not Have Fully Understood What They Were

The newly discovered trilobite may be hundreds of millions of years old, but its use 2,000 years ago as an amulet is the focus of a new archaeological finding

Artist illustration of a pack of Borophagus secundus

What Happened to the Bone-Crushing Dogs That Once Hunted Across North America?

Before going extinct roughly two million years ago, canids known as borophagines took down and consumed much larger prey

The S. rapax fossil was initially smuggled out of Mongolia but has since been returned to the country. Its skull and a few vertebrae were lost, but not before scientists took CT scans of the skeleton.

Paleontologists Identify a ‘Rapacious’ Velociraptor Relative With Powerful Hands and a Strong Bite

The dinosaur Shri rapax likely relied on its grip strength to take down prey in what is now Mongolia

The whole Pulaosaurus qinglong skeleton

Cool Finds

Rare Fossil Suggests Some Dinosaurs May Have Sounded Like Birds and Shared Similar Vocal Anatomy

Pulaosaurus qinglong is only the second non-avian dinosaur to be discovered with a preserved bony voice box

Researchers found fragments of fossils representing prehistoric mollusks, crustaceans and worms among rocks at the Grand Canyon.

Trove of Fossils Uncovered in the Grand Canyon Offers a Rare Glimpse Into Cambrian Life, With Toothy Worms and Slug-Like Mollusks

Rocks found along the Colorado River in Arizona turned out to contain fossilized fragments of soft-bodied creatures, suggesting the site may have been an “evolutionary hotbed”

New research suggests a large crocodile-like creature attacked a "terror bird" 12 million years ago.

Even Apex Predators Like ‘Terror Birds’ Had Enemies, Research Suggests

Bite marks on a fossilized leg bone found in South America suggest a crocodile-like creature attacked a massive, meat-eating bird 12 million years ago

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