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Paleontology

Cool Finds

Colorado Construction Crew Unearths 66-Million-Year-Old Triceratops Fossil

While Thornton’s new Public Safety Facility, the crew happened upon a rare find

New Research

Why Horses and Their Ilk Are the Only One-Toed Animals Still Standing

Early horses had 15 toes, but life on the plains led to a stronger center toe, leading to life on four hooves

Nyanzapithecus alesi skull

New Research

Is This Baby Animal the Last Common Ancestor of Humans and Apes?

The 13-million-year-old skull found in Kenya combines early ape and gibbon-like features

Maiopatagium furculiferum fossil found in China

New Research

Exceptional Fossils Show Ancient Winged Mammals May Have Glided Above the Dinosaurs

The discovery of two flying squirrel-like fossils suggest mammal diversity began earlier than previously thought

The engraved bones found in Gough's Cave

New Research

New Analysis Indicates Early Britons Engaged in Ritualistic Cannibalism

A zigzag pattern on an arm bone indicates around 15,000 years ago, humans in Britain may have consumed others as part of a funeral rite

An artist's illustration of Patagotitan mayorum, the latest and possibly most gargantuan in a series of recent giant dino finds.

New Research

Did Scientists Just Unveil the Biggest Dinosaur of All Time?

The jury’s still out—but if you can get over the size contest, far more fascinating patterns about these giants emerge

The well-preserved nodosaur fossil

New Research

Was the “Sleeping Dragon” Dinosaur a Red Head?

A new study suggests the perfectly preserved armored nodosaur camoflauged itself against marauding meat-eaters

The Pleistocene world was filled with megafauna like woolly mammoths and saber-tooth cats. Did humans kill them all off?

New Research

Are Humans to Blame for the Disappearance of Earth’s Fantastic Beasts?

100,000 years ago, giant sloths, wombats and cave hyenas roamed the world. What drove them all extinct?

Computer modeling of the stress on a T. rex skeleton showed that the dinosaur couldn't handle running

The Fierce T. Rex Was a Walker Not a Sprinter

A good pair of running shoes could help you escape the formidable beast, study finds

Clayton Phipps looks over the massive ceratopsian fossil. The ancient creature’s rib cage is on the left and the pelvis on the right.

Will the Public Ever Get to See the “Dueling Dinosaurs”?

America’s most spectacular fossil, found by a plucky Montana rancher, is locked up in a secret storage room. Why?

New Research

This 115-Million-Year-Old Mushroom Is the Oldest Fossilized Fungus

Preserved against all odds, the tiny mushroom sprung up when dinosaurs still ruled the lands

This coprolite specimen, dubbed "Precious," is the largest fossilized feces found to date. Found in South Carolina, it weighs just over four pounds.

New Research

Researchers Use Particle Accelerator to Peek Inside Fossilized Poop

This new method could reveal just what dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures ate

Fossilized skin from the neck of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

New Research

T. Rex Was Likely Covered in Scales, Not Feathers

The research dispels theories that the fearsome dino boasted a feathery plume

Canada

Spectacularly Detailed Armored Dinosaur ‘Mummy’ Makes Its Debut

A nodosaur found in Alberta includes some of the best preserved dino skin and armor ever found

Illustration of Mystacodon selenensis

New Research

This 36-Million-Year-Old Fossil Is a “Missing Link” in Whale Evolution

Discovered in Peru, the new fossil has tiny remnants of hind limbs

The ammonite that left the mark

New Research

Ancient Creature Left a 28-Foot Drag Mark After It Died

An ammonite found in a German quarry left its mark on its lagoon home

An illustration of the spiky new dinosaur Zuul.

New Research

Introducing ‘Zuul,’ an Ankylosaur That Could Really Make Your Ankles Sore

A finely preserved fossil sheds new light on the curious tail of armored dinos

The surface of mastodon bone showing half impact notch on a segment of femur.

New Research

Remarkable New Evidence for Human Activity in North America 130,000 Years Ago

Researchers say prehistoric mastodon bones bear human-made markings

The Tsavo lions' teeth bore marks indicating that they ate soft food, similar to those seen on the teeth of captive lions today. Wild lions, like these pictured in South Africa's Greater Kruger National Park, show different microwear patterns.

New Research

Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo Did Indeed Eat People, Teeth Reveal

Dental clues confirm some rumors about the ravenous cats of Tsavo, while also raising new questions

An artist's rendering of the new species Teleocrater rhadinus hunting a cynodont, a close relative of mammals.

New Research

Before There Were Dinosaurs, There Was This Weird Crocodile-Looking Thing

A new analysis of an ancient enigma offers clues as to how dino evolution unfolded

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