Paleontology

The well-known dinosaur skeleton known as "Big Mama" has been hiding a secret.

Fossilized Dinos Are Bones Turned to Stone—But Sometimes, Part of the Original Dino Survives

Every fossilized skeleton is a unique snowflake. We now know that some contain biological bits of tooth and claw

The Warryti Rock Shelter in the Flinders Range

Aboriginal Australians Lived In Country's Interior 10,000 Years Earlier Than Thought

Excavations at a rock shelter in the Flinders Range shows people were there 49,000 years ago, hunting megafauna and developing new tools

133-Million-Year-Old Pebble Discovered to Be First Fossilized Dinosaur Brain

Found on a beach in England, the small fossil contains blood vessel, cortex and part of the membrane that surrounds the brain

Marián Cueto, author of a new study on fossilized cave lion claws, working in La Garma.

Humans May Have Hunted Cave Lions to Extinction—For Throw Rugs

Dear cave lions: We're so, so sorry.

Computer image of Triopticus skull overlaid on the field site where it was found.

Paleontologists Probe the Bonehead that Foreshadowed Domed Dinos

This striking skull shape evolved at least twice. But what was its purpose?

The mammoth skull being excavated on Santa Rosa Island

Scientists Puzzle Over Unusual Mammoth Skull Unearthed in the Channel Islands

The well-preserved fossil doesn't neatly fit in with other examples of the species

The tiny pterosaur from the late Cretaceous was no bigger than a cat and sported a five-foot wingspan.

Two Pterosaur Finds Are Helping to Untangle Their Family Tree

An intact skull and a pint-sized species offer clues to how these creatures evolved

Including it's current dirt and plaster packing, the skull weighs roughly 2,500 pounds.

Rare Complete T. Rex Skull Found in Montana

The "Tufts-Love skull" will be cleaned and put on display at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

This toy diplodocus fetches up to $600 on eBay.

This Man Claims He Has the World’s Largest Collection of Toy Dinosaurs, and He Loves Them All

Randy Knol's stunning array chronicles our evolving knowledge about the prehistoric beasts

The fossil Arktocara yakataga (resting on an 1875 ethnographic map of Alaska) belonged to a dolphin that swam in subarctic marine waters around 25 million years ago.

Smithsonian Researchers Uncover Extinct, Ancient River Dolphin Fossil Hiding in Their Own Collections

Sometimes, paleontologists don’t have to go into the field to discover a tantalizing new species

Paleontologist Paul Olsen of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is co-leading a project in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park to drill deep into rocks dating back more than 200 million years.

Defying Critics, Paleontologist Paul Olsen Looks for Hidden Answers Behind Mass Extinctions

From a childhood spent discovering fossils to tangling over questions of ancient life and death, this scientist constantly pushes the boundaries.

Illustration of a Velafrons, a hadrosaur whose name means "sailed forehead."

Chew on This: Powerful Jaws Fueled a Jurassic Herbivore Boom

Teeth, not flowers, might be the key to the duckbills’ success

Illustration of Gualicho shinyae hunting with its jaws, not arms.

Arm Day at the Gym Apparently Not a Thing for Newly Found, Tiny-Armed Dino

Turns out <i>T. rex</i> doesn’t have a copyright on those adorably awkward, itty-bitty arms

Portrait of paleontologist Mary Anning and her trusty assistant, Tray.

These Paleo Pets Made Fossil Hunting Less Lonely

In the solitary hunt for bones, furry companions provide company, act as field assistants and sometimes even make the ultimate sacrifice

99-million-year-old flight feathers.

99-Million-Year-Old Bird Wings Found Encased in Amber

The rare fossils from the age of the dinosaurs look a lot like modern-day bird wings

Sacel Castle was the primary home of the Nopcsa family, which traced its roots in the area to the 14th century.

History Forgot This Rogue Aristocrat Who Discovered Dinosaurs and Died Penniless

Now fallen into shadow, the Romania-born Baron Franz Nopcsa was a groundbreaking scientist, adventurer -- and would-be king

Fossilized teeth from an ancient sperm whale

Landfill Surprises Scientists With 12-Million-Year-Old Whale Fossils

The fossilized remains of a sperm whale were discovered in a newly cleared area of an Orange County landfill

Co-author in the new study, Nick Longrich from the Milner Centre for Evolution at Bath University, poses with some mammal specimens.

The Event that Wiped out Dinosaurs Also Nearly Did in the Mammals

New estimates suggest a measly seven percent of mammals survived the extinction

A reconstruction of Fruitachampsa, a Jurassic-era crocodile discovered in the Fruita Paleo Area and named in 2011. Small animals like Fruitachampsa help paleontologists reconstruct what life was really like in the Jurassic period.

In This Jurassic Boneyard, It's Not Size That Counts

A rich cache of fossils in Colorado is valuable not for the big dino bones but the relatively tiny fossils that are still being dug up.

An artists' rendering of Machairoceratops cronusi, or "bent sword face." Machairoceratops was found in 77-million-year-old rock in southern Utah.

Two New Discoveries Add to a Horned Dino Revolution

Twenty years ago, there were about 23 horned dinosaurs. Today, the count has more than tripled

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