Fossils

A fossil of a Diegoaelurus jawbone was recovered from a construction site in Oceanside, California.

Paleontologists Uncover the Oldest Sabertoothed Predator

Fossil jaw shows earliest evidence of a specialized carnivore with scimitar-shaped fangs

Reconstruction of a full-scale megalodon and a set of teeth at the Museo de la Evolución de Puebla in Mexico.

The Biggest Megalodons Likely Lived in Cold Waters

The common idea that the giant sharks could reach over 60 feet in length should be applied mostly to populations that lived in frigid environments

An illustration of S. bideni, which is the oldest known cephalopod to have suckers along all of its arms.

Ancient Ten-Armed Octopus Relative Named for Joe Biden

The discovery of 'Syllipsimopodi bideni' pushes back the fossil record of the vampyropods by over 82 million years

Researchers excavated fossils from a site in Turkey that helped them fill in some of the history of a previously unknown continent called Balkanatolia. 

Fossils Help Scientists Identify a 'Lost' Continent

Millions of years ago, a giant island called Balkanatolia shifted and connected Asia to Europe, allowing animals to migrate

Authors of the new study say SUE the T. rex is actually a T. imperator, or tyrant lizard emperor. 

Why a New T. Rex Study Is Riling Up the Paleontology World

Established scientists are casting serious doubts on new research suggesting that the infamous, ferocious dinosaur is actually three different species

Reconstruction of debris surging into the Tanis River as impact spherules rain down from the sky. A dinosaur tries to get away from the disaster.

Asteroid That Decimated the Dinosaurs Struck in Spring

Clues from fossil fish help scientists pinpoint the season when Earth’s fifth mass extinction began

Nick Pyenson, the Smithsonian Institution’s curator of fossil marine mammals, compares the skeletons of ancient whales to the life-sized model of a North Atlantic right whale displayed at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Whales have been evolving for more than 50 million years, and long before becoming ocean-dwelling giants, the earliest cetaceans walked on land. 

This Cliff Face Is Packed With Fossilized Whale Remains

An exposed prehistoric seafloor is a hotspot for relics, and now an international team is helping unravel their mysteries

By combining evidence from CT scans and comparing Dolly's modern bird and reptile relatives, researchers suspect that the irregular bone structures likely occurred as a response to a bacterial or fungal infection like chlamydiosis and aspergillosis in Dolly's air sacs.

Meet Dolly, the First Dinosaur Discovered With a Case of the Sniffles

Abnormal growths in its fossilized neck bones suggest that the long-necked dino suffered from a pneumonia-like illness

Neronian points found in Grotte Mandrin

Discovery of Ancient Baby Tooth Places Humans in Western Europe 10,000 Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

The archeologists also uncovered a number of Neanderthal artifacts suggesting the two species coexisted in the area

An illustration of Tetrapodophis, a lizard that was named based on a fossil likely smuggled out of Brazil to Germany

Why Smuggled Fossils Are Hurting Paleontology

Parachute science and lingering colonialism in fossil studies have negatively impacted the discipline

Scientists examined two Kunpengopterus sinensis specimens. The green arrows indicate the pellets and the yellow arrows indicate the isolated fish scales.

Like Owls, Some Prehistoric Flying Reptiles May Have Regurgitated Pellets

The discovery of vomited projectiles from two pterosaurs provides new clues about the its diet and digestive system

A partial woolly rhinoceros mandible with several teeth still attached.

Dozens of Extinct Ice Age Animal Remains Found During Construction of a New Town in England

Archeologists found bones from a woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, wolf, hyena, horse, reindeer, mountain hare, red fox and various small mammals

Frozen ground preserved the body of this seven-week-old wolf pup, which lived during the Ice Age.

Five Fascinating Ice Age Finds Discovered in Yukon Permafrost

From a pristinely preserved wolf pup to ancient camels, remains found in northern Canada's frozen earth have provided remarkable glimpses into the Ice Age

More than 200 preserved footprints trek across the canyon's limestone surface and give clues about what life was like millions of years ago.

Construction Trucks May Have Damaged 112-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tracks at Mill Canyon in Utah

Nearly 30 percent of the site's irreplaceable paleontological resources may have been impacted

The T. rex specimen was discovered in 1987 by fossil hunter Stan Sacrison in South Dakota's Badlands.  

Dinosaur Fan Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Is Not Stan the T. Rex's Mystery Buyer

A cast of the prehistoric giant made a guest appearance from the actor's home office on ESPN's ManningCast

The remote Kibish Formation, in southern Ethiopia, features layered deposits more than 300 feet thick that have preserved many ancient human tools and remains. 

East Africa's Oldest Modern Human Fossil Is Way Older Than Previously Thought

Analysis of ash from a massive volcanic eruption places the famed Omo I fossil 36,000 years back in time

Richard Leakey's most notable find came in 1984 when he uncovered a near-complete Homo erectus skeleton dated about 1.5 million years ago. The skeleton dubbed Turkana Boy is 40 percent complete and is the most near-complete fossil skeleton of a human ancestor ever found.

Famed Paleoanthropologist and Wildlife Conservationist Richard Leakey Dies at 77

His team's discovery of early human skulls and skeletons cemented Africa as the cradle of humanity

Though ichthyosaurs and whales never existed at the same time, they both evolved from species that walked on Earth and transitioned to the sea. 

Earth's Oldest Ocean Giant Was a Reptile With an Eight-Foot Skull

The newly discovered specimen sheds light on how the sea creatures, known as ichthyosaurs, evolved their gargantuan size so quickly

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Seven New Things We Learned About Human Evolution in 2021

Paleoanthropologists Briana Pobiner and Ryan McRae reveal some of the year's best findings in human origins studies

The tyrannosaur Nanuqsaurus, which lived in the Arctic, with its young. New evidence suggests dinosaurs nested in the cold, dark region.

The Top Ten Dinosaur Discoveries of 2021

The key finds and moments in a year packed with amazing stories about the terrible lizards

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