From Massive Eyes to Shark-Like Tails, Seven Amazing Adaptations That Helped Prehistoric Reptiles Thrive at Sea
The creatures cruised the world’s oceans with features we often associate with marine mammals, such as coats of blubber and the ability to birth live young
You Might Think of Shrimp as Bugs of the Sea. But a Remarkable Discovery Shows the Opposite: Bugs Are Actually Shrimp of the Land
A recent study suggests that insects branched out from crustaceans on the tree of life
‘Important’ Dinosaur Tracks Found in Scotland Suggest Carnivores and Their Prey Drank From the Same Watering Hole
Researchers analyzed 131 fossilized impressions on the Isle of Skye, some of which were previously considered fish burrows
Enormous, Crocodile-Sized Amphibians Mysteriously Died Together in Wyoming 230 Million Years Ago
Paleontologists found a group of four-legged Triassic creatures preserved in the same bone bed—but they don’t know what killed the animals
Ten Exceptional Ancient Elephants, From Small Swimming Creatures to Shovel-Tusked Beasts
A wide variety of the exotic animals evolved on Earth over the past 60 million years
Dinosaur With Two Massive, Sloth-Like Claws Is on ‘Another Level’ of Weird—Even Among Its Unusual Group of Relatives
Paleontologists discovered Duonychus tsogtbaatari from fossils uncovered in 2012. It was a giant, feathered creature adapted to grasp and feed on vegetation
A Hunter Was Out Looking for Deer in West Texas. He Found a Rare Mammoth Tusk Instead
Discovered in the drainage area of a creek bed, the tusk was initially thought to be “just an old stump”
Students Walked Past This Rock for 20 Years. It Turned Out to Host 66 Dinosaur Footprints From the Jurassic Period
A paleontologist studied the 200-million-year-old prints that had been hiding in plain sight, then discovered even more tracks in another rock sitting in a nearby parking lot
Megalodon Might Have Been Longer and Skinnier Than Previously Thought, Growing Up to 80 Feet
A new paper suggests the enormous, extinct shark looked less like a bulky great white and more like an elongated lemon shark
How a Fragile Insect Living 100 Million Years Ago Becomes a Fossil
A bug, a dinosaur and a tree intersect, creating the perfect conditions for resin to capture a moment in time
Scientists Discover ‘Groundbreaking’ Jurassic Fossil That Could Overhaul the Evolutionary History of Birds
Researchers in China found Baminornis zhenghensis, which lived at roughly the same time as the famous Archaeopteryx but looked much more like modern birds due to its short tail
Rare Neck Fossil With Puncture Mark Suggests a Prehistoric Crocodilian Snacked on a Young Pterosaur 76 Million Years Ago
The fossil sheds light on interactions within the Cretaceous food web and may represent the first record of this type of predation in North America
Rare Fossil of 183-Million-Year-Old ‘Sea Monster’ Reveals Both Smooth and Scaly Skin
For the first time, scientists have completed an in-depth analysis of fossilized soft tissues from a plesiosaur
The Search to Find the Remains of Homo Erectus in a Vanishing Landscape
A paleontologist journeys through Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago in search of our earliest ancestors, and uncovers how environmental devastation has erased much of the region’s history
Paleontologists Discover Fossil of the Oldest Known Modern Bird—but It Raises More Questions Than It Answers
The fossil suggests that modern birds evolved before the dinosaur-killing asteroid, perhaps in Antarctica
Everything You Want to Know About Dinosaur Sexual Anatomy and Reproduction, From Their Genitalia to How They Laid Eggs
Paleontologists continue to find fossils that help revise our understanding of how dinosaurs did it
Fossil Hunter Discovers 66-Million-Year-Old Vomit in Denmark, Offering a Clue to the Cretaceous Food Chain
A marine animal snacked on some sea lilies that did not agree with its stomach—and we now know what happened next
Ape-Like Human Ancestors Were Largely Vegetarian 3.3 Million Years Ago in South Africa, Fossil Teeth Reveal
Scientists suggest meat consumption was pivotal to humans’ development of larger brains, but the transition probably didn’t start with Australopithecus, according to a new study
How a Mass Extinction Driven by Ancient Volcanoes Led to the Age of the Dinosaurs
Roughly 201 million years ago, drastic changes extinguished many forms of life and led to conditions that allowed the terrible lizards to thrive
Giant, Mysterious Spires Ruled the Earth Long Before Trees Did. What Exactly Are These Odd-Looking Fossils?
For more than 150 years, scientists have debated whether Prototaxites—which stood roughly 24 feet tall and 3 feet wide—were an early lichen or fungus, like a “giant mushroom”
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