Paleontology

Due to their ubiquity at archaeological sites, teeth are like the pennies of ancient human remains. But unlike pennies, fossil chompers can be a treasure trove.

How Ancient Teeth Reveal the Roots of Humankind

From diet to evolution, prehistoric chompers tell archaeologists a surprising amount about our ancestors

The smart, menacing, powerful T. rex of 1993's Jurassic Park has lodged itself in the minds of millions.

How We Elected <i>T. rex</i> to Be Our Tyrant Lizard King

The true story behind our obsession with the last and largest of the tyrannosaurs

Oldest Footprints Show When Life On Earth Got Legs

Tiny fossil tracks found in South China firmly date appendages back to the Ediacaran period

In the early 20th century, pioneer paleontologist Annie Montague Alexander had to find socially acceptable fieldwork partners to avoid being accused of vague improprieties on her expeditions. She would go on to found the University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley.

The Many Ways Women Get Left Out of Paleontology

The hurdles that prevent female fossil hunters from rising at the same rates as their male peers are myriad—but they are all interconnected

A Mysterious Dinosaur Skeleton Was Auctioned Off to a Private Buyer

And paleontologists are not happy about it

The asteroid didn't just wipe out the dinosaurs—it wiped out the forests. Which meant anything that lived had to learn to live on the ground.

How the Ancestors of Birds Survived the Dino-Killing Asteroid

Forest cover was crucial to avian evolution, a new study on the mass extinction event asserts

Joe, the "fat boy" from the Pickwick Papers.

The Case for Charles Dickens, the Science Communicator

A new exhibition dives into the Victorian novelist's passion for science

Panga ya Saidi

People Lived in This Cave for 78,000 Years

Excavations in Panga ya Saidi suggest technological and cultural change came slowly over time and show early humans weren't reliant on coastal resources

Though the differences between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens may seem pronounced, scientists didn't always embrace the idea that humans evolved from other species.

How Do Scientists Identify New Species? For Neanderthals, It Was All About Timing and Luck

Even the most remarkable fossil find means nothing if scientists aren’t ready to see it for what it is

The butchered rhino

700,000-Year-Old Butchered Rhino Pushes Back Ancient Human Arrival in the Philippines

The find changes the story of human migration, but scientists still don't know what human species did the cutting

Fossil reconstruction and illustration of Ichthyornis dispar.

3-D Scans of Fossil Beaks Show How Modern Birds Came to Be

The early seabird had the sharp teeth of its dinosaur relatives but a bird-like body

Fossil Tracks May Record Ancient Humans Hunting Giant Sloths

The tracks suggest a human—perhaps in search of food—closely followed the movements of the massive creature

A Tyrannosaurus Rex head on display in Beijing. The country's fossil boom has resulted in a bevy of options for tourists seeking pterosaurs, feathered dinosaurs and early bird specimens.

Ten Chinese Museums Where You Can See a Dinosaur Fossil Up Close

The country's dino explosion has created a mecca for tourists intent on catching a glimpse of feathered dinos and other prehistoric wonders

Liu Cun Yu, the director of the Beipiao Pterosaur Museum, poses in front of a full-scale model of a Moganopterus zhuiana, a species named after his wife.

The Great Chinese Dinosaur Boom

A gold rush of fossil-finding is turning China into the new epicenter of paleontology

This Ancient Reptile Was One of the Most Massive Creatures That Ever Lived

A fossil jawbone found in England suggests the 'sea monster' was nearly the size of a blue whale

Rare Tiny T. Rex Unearthed in Montana

Researchers are yet unsure if the creature is a baby dino or an example of the contentious <i>Nanotyrannus</i>

Regaliceratops peterhewsi, the “Hellboy Dinosaur”

Dinosaur Horns Were For Making Love, Not War

The elaborate horns and frills were more likely for attracting mates than fighting off enemies

The handbones seen in the whale model in the center of this image tell the curious story of how whales went from land to water.

What’s a "Missing Link"?

While some still use the term, experts abhor it because it implies that life is a linear hierarchy

An endocast revealing the brain of an Iguanodon, an herbivorous dinosaur of the early Cretaceous period. This was the first fossilized dinosaur brain found by modern scientists, announced in 2016.

The Woman Who Shaped the Study of Fossil Brains

By drawing out hidden connections, Tilly Edinger joined the fields of geology and neurology

Thousands of years ago, a herd of Columbian mammoths trudged across present-day Oregon to an ancient lake, recording their interactions in the muddy sediments.

Rare Mammoth Tracks Reveal an Intimate Portrait of Herd Life

Researchers piece together a 43,000-years-old tableau of an injured adult and concerned young

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