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Paleontologists

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

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

Floods caused devastation across central Texas in July. In one area, volunteers responding to the disaster found newly uncovered dinosaur tracks.

Volunteers Discover 115-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tracks Revealed in the Wake of Devastating Texas Floods

Fifteen large prints were probably left behind by meat-eating dinosaurs, and they were revealed as floodwaters washed away dirt in early July

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

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

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

Reconstruction and illustration of Mirasaura in its natural forested environment, hunting insects

This Surprising Ancient Reptile Had a Colorful, Corrugated Sail on Its Back. New Research Suggests It Was Used to Communicate

A 247-million-year-old fossil from a German natural history museum reveals the secrets of Mirasaura

A variety of tyrannosaurs roamed the planet before T. rex evolved.

Meet Ten Tyrannosaurs That Came Before T. Rex, From Small, Feathery Creatures to 30-Foot-Long Bone-Crushers

Everyone knows the famous tyrant lizard king, but its relatives amaze, too

An artist's reconstruction of the giant ichthyosaur Temnodontosaurus (left), featured in the study, and researchers examining part of the creature's flipper at Sweden's Lund University (right).

Fossil Flipper Reveals Ichthyosaurs Hunted in Lethal Silence With Unique Adaptations for Stealth

An analysis of a roughly 180-million-year-old fossil fin reveals serrations and flexibility that might have served to dampen sound as the predator swam

Researchers found scrape marks on a slope at Dinosaur Ridge, a fossil-rich site west of Denver.

Dinosaurs Gathered to Perform Mating Dances With Kicks and Spins at This Site in Colorado—and You Can Go See It for Yourself

Paleontologists have discovered what appears to be one of the largest dinosaur courtship arenas in the world, just 15 miles west of Denver

Scientists sequenced ancient proteins in a tooth from a prehistoric rhino relative that had been preserved in Canada's High Arctic for up to 24 million years.

Scientists Recover Ancient Proteins From Animal Teeth Up to 24 Million Years Old, Opening Doors to Learning About the Past

Two new papers analyze fossils found in Canada and Kenya, respectively—vastly different environments for the preservation of genetic material

A replica of the T. rex skeleton known as Scotty is on display at the T. rex Discovery Center in Eastend, Canada, which is part of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum.

Preserved Blood Vessels Discovered in a Rib Bone From the World’s Largest T. Rex Could Shed Light on How Dinosaurs Healed

Scotty, a specimen unearthed in Canada, was probably injured in a fight, then died several months later

Likely in the 1930s, someone split a flat fossil slab in half, leaving the skeleton on one side and the skeleton's outline on the other.

A Paleontologist Matched Two Halves of the Same Fossil Stored at Different Museums—and Discovered a New Species

Meet Sphenodraco scandentis, a tree-dwelling, lizard-like reptile that roamed around with the dinosaurs during the Late Jurassic period roughly 145 million years ago

Ancient sloths lived in trees, on mountains, in deserts, in boreal forests and on open savannas. Some grew as large as elephants.

Giant Sloths and Many Other Massive Creatures Were Once Common on Our Planet. With Environmental Changes, Such Giants Could Thrive Again

If large creatures like elephants, giraffes and bison are allowed to thrive, they could alter habitats that allow for the rise of other giants

Scientists found a partial dinosaur vertebra inside a geological core sample that measures just 2.5 inches in diameter.

‘Nothing Short of Magical’: Scientists Discover a Dinosaur Bone Nearly 800 Feet Beneath a Parking Lot at a Denver Museum

The partial vertebra appeared inside a 2.5-inch-diameter column of rock that researchers drilled, earning the title of the oldest and deepest dinosaur fossil found in Denver

Fossilized remains of the giant beaver have been discovered in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, as well as in southern Minnesota.

Bear-Sized Giant Beavers Once Roamed North America, and They’re Now the Official State Fossil of Minnesota

The large, extinct creatures roamed the Twin Cities area more than 10,000 years ago and could grow to more than 200 pounds

An artist’s reconstruction of the fossilized landscape, plants and animals found preserved in a remote bonebed of Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park

A Bone Bed From the Dawn of the Dinosaurs Has Revealed the Oldest Known Pterosaur Found in North America

Fossil surprises abound in new research that unearths the history of the Triassic Period

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