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Paleontology

An artistic rendering of the successfully hunted straight-tusked elephant, which would have been an incredible source of food for Neanderthals

After Nearly 80 Years of Doubt, Scientists Say a Spear Lodged Between Elephant Ribs Offers Evidence That Neanderthals Hunted Big Game

In 1948, amateur archaeologists unearthed the remains, which should have shifted researchers’ views of Neanderthals. But poor documentation sowed skepticism in the scientific community

An artistic rendering shows the mysterious animal, which researchers now say was a nautilus relative, in its prehistoric environment.

This Fossil Held the World Record for the Earliest Known Octopus. Turns Out, It’s Not an Octopus After All

New research suggests the 300-million-year-old specimen is actually a relative of the nautilus

An illustration of the fossils' environment around 539 million to 554 million years ago

Cool Finds

New Fossils Discovered in China Hint That Complex Life Evolved Millions of Years Earlier Than Scientists Thought

The assemblage suggests that the ancestors of some of today’s animal groups may have arisen before the famed Cambrian explosion

Megachelicerax cousteaui and a close-up of one of its pincers, or chelicerae

This 500-Million-Year-Old Fossil of a Claw-Bearing Predator Uncovers the Origins of Spiders, Scorpions and Other Arthropods

A new analysis of a specimen found more than 40 years ago reveals the oldest known chelicerate, defined by its pair of pincer-like appendages

Two researchers wore goggles, snorkels and wet suits while exploring the underground stream.

These Snorkeling Scientists Stumbled Upon a Surprising Trove of Fossils in a Texas Water Cave

They found remains of animals that have never been uncovered in Central Texas. The fossils hint that the region was warm, moist and forested 100,000 years ago

Spinosaurus was the largest and most aquatic of the spinosaurs, a group of dinosaurs with crocodilian snouts.

Was Spinosaurus Really a ‘Hell Heron’? Digging Into the Star of Netflix’s ‘The Dinosaurs’

With an incredible sail and heavy bones that might have acted as ballast, Spinosaurus seems primed for snatching fish. The creature has long captivated the public, from its early mysteries to the recent discovery of a new species

An artist's depiction of dogs living alongside humans at a site in Turkey 15,800 years ago

Scientists Identify the World’s First Known Dog, Which Pushes Back the Animals’ Genetic Record by About 5,000 Years

Two new ancient DNA studies suggest that domesticated dogs were widespread in western Eurasia more than 14,000 years ago

The shin bone was found in New Mexico.

This 74-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Bone May Have Belonged to a Surprisingly Large Ancestor of Tyrannosaurus Rex

The massive reptile may have weighed more than 4.5 tons and been 35 feet long—much bigger than its related peers at the time

When tickets went on sale for the “Pokémon Fossil Museum" exhibition, eager fans overwhelmed the Field Museum’s website.

This Museum Is Using Pokémon to Teach Visitors About Fossils. Fans Are Waiting for Hours to Snag Tickets

“Pokémon Fossil Museum” in Chicago compares “fossil Pokémon” from the popular franchise to the real-world creatures they’re based on

An artistic representation of Sonselasuchus cedrus, which may have lived in the forests in what is now Arizona around 215 million years ago

This Ancient Reptile Started Life on All Fours. As It Grew, It Stood Upright and Started Walking on Two Legs Instead

Scientists have identified a strange early crocodile relative that may have looked somewhat like a flightless bird

Sue the T. rex is one of the largest and most complete skeletons of the species ever discovered. She's housed at the Field Museum in Chicago and was analyzed in this study along with three other specimens.

Like an ‘Eight-Ton Chicken,’ Tyrannosaurus Rex May Have Run on Its Tiptoes to Catch Speedy Prey

A new study suggests that the giant dinosaurs’ locomotion resembled that of modern-day birds

Spinosaurus mirabilis prowled around what is now Africa some 95 million years ago.

This Massive, Meat-Eating Dinosaur Was a ‘Hell Heron’ That Waded Into Shallow Waters to Nab Slippery Fish

Paleontologists unearthed a new species of Spinosaurus in the Sahara Desert in Niger, a discovery that adds to the debate over whether the prehistoric creatures were fully or semi-aquatic

Based on Andrewsarchus’ skull size and the skull-to-body-size ratios of other hoofed predators called mesonychids, scientists estimated in 1924 that the beast was more than 12 feet long and about 6 feet tall. Reassessments of Andrewsarchus’ evolutionary tree, however, suggest this estimate is inaccurate.

This Giant Carnivore Ran on Hooves. Scientists Are Investigating Its Massive Skull and Crushing Teeth to Decipher the Beast’s True Nature

For more than a century, paleontologists have been piecing together how the mysterious predator Andrewsarchus is related to other mammals, like the extinct “hell pigs” and “wolves with hooves”

An artistic representation of T. heberti snacking on some greens.

Cool Finds

A Football-Size Creature That Lived 307 Million Years Ago May Have Been One of the First Land Vertebrates to Eat Plants

“Hebert’s tyrant digger” had teeth built for grinding tough veggies, a new study suggests

Paleontologists have found early examples of theropods, the group that would eventually include tyrannosaurs. But precisely how another group of dinosaurs, known as the bird-hipped ornithischians, evolved remains a major question in paleontology.

An Asteroid Ended the Age of the Dinosaurs. But How Did Their Reign Begin? Mysterious Early Reptiles May Hold the Answer

Researchers are uncovering the evolutionary steps that set the stage for dinosaurs to rule the planet

DinoTracker was trained on almost 2,000 dinosaur fossils to classify new tracks. It is especially helpful for three-toed dinosaurs, as so many tracks fall under this umbrella, co-author Paige dePolo writes in The Conversation.

A New App Can Match Footprints to the Dinosaurs That Made Them

Using artificial intelligence, DinoTracker can accurately classify dinosaur tracks around 90 percent of the time

Researchers have collected more than 50,000 fossil specimens from a quarry in southern China.

A Fossil Trove in China Provides a Rare Window Into a Mass Extinction Event That Happened More Than 500 Million Years Ago

Paleontologists have identified thousands of animal species that lived soon after the Cambrian explosion ended

The small dinosaur Patagonykus—one of an odd-looking group called alvarezsaurs—puzzled experts with its stout claws and bird-like bones.

Small, Stubby-Armed Dinosaurs Have Confounded Paleontologists. Are Answers Finally Within Reach?

Recent discoveries about an alvarezsaur called Manipulonyx have drawn renewed attention to this group of bird-like, clawed creatures and the mysteries around their anatomy and behavior

Paleontologists removed roughly 3,000 pounds of rocks and fossils from the site between mid-September and mid-October 2025.

Dinosaur National Monument Construction Work Turns Up New Fossils, Leading to the First Excavation at One Site in More Than a Century

Recent digs revealed roughly 20 feet of a long-necked dinosaur’s skeleton, and paleontologists suspect even more bones are lurking underground

An illustration of a four-eyed myllokunmingid, a jawless fish that lived more than 500 million years ago

Cool Finds

The Earliest Known Vertebrates Had Four Eyes—and They Worked a Lot Like Ours Do, New Research Suggests

Two of those eyes may have evolved into a part of the brain called the pineal gland

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