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Paleontology

The tick discovered preserved in amber

New Research

30-Million-Year-Old Tick Full of Monkey Blood Found in Ancient Amber

Scientists think the tick was plucked from a primate before being dropped in a puddle of sticky tree resin

Bird-like versus lizard-like hips define the two major categories of dinosaurs

New Research

New Study Restructures the Dinosaur Family Tree

Detailed analysis of dino fossils suggests that Tyrannosaurus and its relatives may be on the wrong side of the tree

How did the sabertooth cat wield its excess of tooth?

How Did Sabercats Use Those Outlandish Fangs?

We’ve barely scratched the surface of how this charismatic cat utilized its dental cutlery

The best defense is a good offense.

New Research

The Real Reason the Turtle Learned to Hide its Head Will Surprise You

Turtles retract their heads for protection, but new research suggests that ability evolved for an entirely different reason

An artist's rendition of Dinocephalosaurus carrying her baby through the ancient ocean.

New Research

This Ancient Reptile Gave Birth to Live Offspring

Rather than laying eggs like its modern bird and croc relatives this creature gave birth to live babies

Mary Leakey and her husband Louis in 1962.

Mary Leakey’s Husband (Sort of) Took Credit For Her Groundbreaking Work On Humanity’s Origins

Leakey and her husband, Louis Leakey, were a paleoanthropology power couple

It may not be pretty, but meat eating has been a critical factor in creating the fossil record.

Why Paleontologists Should Love Meat-Eaters

… Particularly the ones that feasted on human flesh. Thanks, guys!

Illustration of the hyolith Haplophrentis

New Research

Tiny Cone-Shaped Creature Gets a Twig on the Tree of Life

Hyoliths have confused scientists for 175 years, but researchers have finally worked out a few of their close relatives

A hatchling Protoceratops fossil

New Research

Ancient Teeth Show That Dinosaurs Took a Long Time to Hatch

Dino embryos may have developed slowly over several months, making them more susceptible to global catastrophes

New Research

Fossil Footprints Show Movements of Our Early Ancestors

The trace fossils found in Tanzania spurred a debate about how early hominids lived

A partial skull of an ancient elephant uncovered in a new L.A. Metro station.

Cool Finds

Construction Workers Uncover Ancient Elephant Bones Under L.A.’s Subway

But it won’t slow the metro down

Erich Fitzgerald and Tim Ziegler with a 3D model of Alfred's skull.

New Research

The Earliest Baleen Whales Literally Sucked

No offense to toothy whale ancestors

The Field Museum's famed T-Rex Sue may be long dead, but she still requires a lot of TLC.

Preserve and Protect: How Paleontologists Care for Their Long-Dead, High-Maintenance Stars

Fossil collections are where the science of paleontology truly lives. Valuable dino bones must be treated accordingly

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

New Research

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

Cool Finds

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

New Research

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.

New Research

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

Cool Finds

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.

Cool Finds

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

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