fossils (Page 2)

Latest in fossils

Illustration of baby pterosaur in a tropical storm at night

Baby pterosaur skeletons reveal a tragic demise

Artist's illustration of Istiorachis macarthurae on a sandy beach

Retired doctor discovers new dinosaur species deep in a museum archive

Norselaspis illustration

A googly-eyed fish could upend evolutionary history

Artist illustration of two plesionectes longicollum plesiosaurs swimming in ocean near aquatic vegetation

Paleontologists discover ‘unusual’ long-necked plesiosaur in Germany

A herd of ceratopsians (Styracosaurus albertensis) accompanied by an ankylosaur (Euplocephalus tutus) walk through an old river channel under the watchful eyes of two tyrannosaurs (Gorgosaurus libratus). Artwork by Julius Csotonyi.

Dinosaurs roamed in multi-species herds, fossilized footprints show

an illustration of an ancient mole species. it has long claws, a pink snout, brown fur, and is crawling out of a hole by a lake

Prehistoric ‘scalopini’ mole fossil uncovered in an ancient Spanish volcano crater

By Margherita Bassi

an illustration of a marine reptile with large fins and a beak swimming by several squid and one shark

Ichthyosaurs were silent assassins of Jurassic seas

By Lauren Leffer

Image of a plant-eating ornithopod dinosaur, Thescelosaurus during the latest Cretaceous Period, nearly 67 million years ago. These around 10-12 foot long two-legged animals roamed the tropical swamps, forests and floodplains where Denver now stands. Their vertebrae are similar to the one found in the rock core deep below the Museum.

Denver museum finds dinosaur bone under its parking lot

An artist’s reconstruction of the fossilized landscape, plants, and animals found preserved in a remote bonebed in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The newly described pterosaur Eotephradactylus mcintireae is seen eating an ancient ray-finned fish alongside an early species of turtle and an early frog species, with the skeleton of an armored crocodile relative lying on the ground and a palm-like plant growing in the background.

North American pterosaur could sit on your shoulder

By Laura Baisas

Eryops megacephalus’ (left) skull alongside Rex from the film “Toy Story” (right).

Skull that looks like a ‘Toy Story’ character unearthed in Texas

By Laura Baisas

An artistic reconstruction of Swaindelphys. it has black fur, pointy pink ears, and pointy nose, and very large brown eyes

Shockingly large extinct possum uncovered in Texas

By Margherita Bassi

Well-preserved dinosaur skull belongs to new sauropod species

an illustration of a long marine reptile with large teeth eating a shelled animal

‘Very odd’ 40-foot-long marine reptile stalked prehistoric Canada

By Laura Baisas

an illustration showing the various sizes of extinct giant sloths

8,000-pound sloths once roamed North America. Where’d they go?

By Laura Baisas

Fossil fragments on black background

These human ancestors weren’t as lonely as experts thought

The Chicago Archaeopteryx, under UV light to expose soft tissues.

Feathered fossil shows famed dinosaur could fly (like a chicken)

an illustration of an extinct arthropod, with three large black eyes, antennae, and 16 body segments

Ancient three-eyed ‘sea moth’ used its butt to breathe

By Laura Baisas

The recent discovery helps bridge the gap between ancient cicadas and their present day descendants.

Earliest ‘true cicada’ fossil discovered in Germany

Illustration of mosasaur chasing prey underwater

Geologists accidentally found a monstrous mosasaur fossil in Mississippi mud

an illustration of a large red ant with curved jaws. a bird looks on with a concerned expression

Extinct hell ant species used specialized jaws to impale its prey

By Laura Baisas

Close up of hand excavating ancient amphibian fossil

Ancient alligator-sized amphibians died under mysterious circumstances

Four people on their stomachs plaster casting a mammoth tusk

Texas hunter’s ‘old stump’ find was actually a rare mammoth tusk

An illustration of the landscape of Cretaceous Australia. The mega raptor is standing on the right river bank and Carcharodontosaurus is on the left.

A 20-foot-long ‘mega raptor’ once stalked Australia

By Laura Baisas

an illustration of an extinct big cat about the size of a leopard. it is brown with sharp teeth

Skull of a 30-million-year-old apex predator discovered in Egypt

By Laura Baisas

one jaw fossil and six vertebrae fossils lined up

500,000 years ago, a bunch of animals fell into a Florida sink hole

By Laura Baisas

Plesiosaur skeleton

Paleontologists solve decades’ old mystery about plesiosaur skin texture

Fossil pine trees in Montana

Thawing tundra reveals ancient fossilized forest in Montana

Two mastodon teeth found in Orange County, New York

Man discovers giant mastodon jaw in his backyard

Marine fossils found at Neanderthal cave site

Neanderthals may have enjoyed collecting tchotchkes—just like us

Illustration of a terror bird standing by river

Meat-eating terror birds could grow up to 12 feet tall

Thalattosuchian skulls. Showing the semi-aquatic species (A and B), and the fully aquatic metriorhynchid (C).

Why don’t we have deep sea crocodiles?

smallest dinosaur egg fossil

These are the smallest fossilized dinosaur eggs ever found

an illustration of a crocodile biting an ancient seacow with a shark lurking behind it

Crocodile attacks sea cow. Tiger Shark picks apart sea cow.

By Laura Baisas

Columbian mammoth tusk fossil in creek

Man finds gigantic mammoth tusk in a Mississippi creek

Illustration in green, yellow, orange, and purple of big sauropod dinosaurs lifting weights in front of a prehistoric landscape

The mystery of why some dinosaurs got so enormous

T. rex model, T. rex skull, and Triceratops skull at dinosaur display in the Museum of Natural History in Vienna

4 reasons dinosaurs never really ruled the Earth

Oldest tunicate on record from the Cambrian explosion, illustrated on the ocean floor

A 500-million-year-old sea squirt is the evolutionary clue we need to understand our humble beginnings

By Maddi Langweil

Lucy, our ancient human ancestor, was super buff

Lucy, our ancient human ancestor, was super buff

By Sara Kiley Watson

The adult gomphothere skull (foreground, tusk capped in white plaster) was separated from the main body (background, covered in plaster) prior to its preservation.

Elephants once roamed Florida—and scientists just stumbled on a graveyard full of them

By Laura Baisas

An illustration of Hyneria udlezinye, a large, predatory fish, with smaller fish in the Waterloo Farm ecosystem in South Africa about 360 million years ago.

A gator-faced fish shaped like a torpedo stalked rivers 360 million years ago

By Laura Baisas

A scan of a mastodon skeleton with an arrow pointing to the trajectory of the spear.

Ancient humans used mastodon bones to hunt the giant beasts

By Laura Baisas

Geologists collecting Permian fossils on a Tibetan plateau

UV radiation might be behind the planet’s biggest mass extinction

This fossil-sorting robot can identify millions-year-old critters for climate researchers

This fossil-sorting robot can identify millions-year-old critters for climate researchers

By Charlotte Hu

Small European panda from 6 million years ago in a painting

Pandas weren’t always bamboo fiends

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

a close up of a fossil horse tooth

A centuries-old horse tooth holds clues to the mystery of the Chincoteague ponies

By Kate Baggaley

Fossil frog skeleton in rock from German swamp

A swamp orgy went terribly wrong for these prehistoric frogs

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A winged insect fossil in rock is about 300 million years old, a fossil example of an early animal to take flight.

When insects got wings, evolution really took off

Baby woolly mammoth from North American permafrost with trunk intact stretched out on blue tarp

This is the most-complete woolly mammoth ever found in North America

By Corinne Iozzio

Fossils of a giraffe ancestor with short necks headbutting each other in a grassland in an artist's reimagining

Before evolving long necks, giraffes headbutted each other for dominance

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Paleontologist with a laser scanner over plant imprints and other fossils in a seabed in British Columbia, Canada

These weird marine critters paved the way for the ‘Cambrian explosion’ of species

By Kate Baggaley

A swarm of fossilized beetles in yellow burmite amber

A close look at amber fossils that have stuck through the ages

By Jarren Vink, Charlotte Hu

Two mid-sized brown owls sitting on a branch in daylight with horses, rhinos, and soaring birds in the background in an illustration

Meet the ancient owl that embraced daylight

By Purbita Saha

Spinosaurus bones hint that the spiny dinosaurs enjoyed water sports

Spinosaurus bones hint that the spiny dinosaurs enjoyed water sports

By Kate Baggaley

Prehistoric vampire squid swimming in the Paleozoic ocean in an illustration

Slap another cephalopod on the vampire squid’s family tree

By Lauren J. Young

An orange starfish on a rock.

Classifying invertebrates is hard. Butts can help.

By Philip Kiefer

Tyrannosaurus rex fossil at Field Museum lobby

Is T. rex really three royal species? Paleontologists cast doubt over new claims.

large sauropod dinosaurs illustrated in a swampy lake

Even dinosaurs couldn’t escape the sniffles

By Kate Baggaley

Feathered Caudipteryx dinosaurs drinking from a sandy river among palm trees before the asteroid hit

June was probably a terrible month to be a dinosaur. Here’s how we know.

By Michael J. Benton / The Conversation

A fossil of a sawfly

Feast your eyes on exquisite fossils from an ancient rainforest (and more)

A crab with huge eyes on the front of its face swimming after a shrimp with a big head.

This 90-million-year-old crab had the eyes of a hunter

By Philip Kiefer

an illustration of a marine reptile

These ancient marine reptiles got very big, very fast

By Kate Baggaley

a large fossil of a segmented bug in gray rock

How big did ancient millipedes get? Bigger than you’d like.

One of the best-preserved dinosaur embryos ever found.

This fossilized dinosaur embryo is curled up just like a baby bird

By Kate Baggaley

a color illustration of a brown and white bird in a lush forest

This 120-million-year-old bird could stick out its tongue

By Kate Baggaley