paleontology (Page 2)

Latest in paleontology

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

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)

Illustration of mosasaur chasing prey underwater

Geologists accidentally found a monstrous mosasaur fossil in Mississippi mud

Close up of hand excavating ancient amphibian fossil

Ancient alligator-sized amphibians died under mysterious circumstances

Venus fly trap wasp encased in amber

This ancient ‘Venus fly-trap’ wasp used its butt to kill

An undated handout photo released by the University of Queensland shows an image of the boulder using 3D imaging and light filters showing the dinosaur footprints.

Dinosaur footprints unknowingly displayed in a high school for 20 years

an illustration of a small weasel-like early mammal with brown, black, and white fur climbing on a tree

This extinct tree-dwelling mammal may be among humans’ closer relatives

By Laura Baisas

Close up of lemon shark

Megalodon may have been ‘even longer’ than we thought

Illustration of giant flying squirrel leaping onto tree branch

Flying squirrels the size of cats soared over prehistoric Appalachia

Two mastodon teeth found in Orange County, New York

Man discovers giant mastodon jaw in his backyard

A possible painting of the dicynodont made by the San in the early 1800s.

The perplexing puzzle of a ‘Horned Serpent’ cave painting

Mastodon skull in Iowa creek bed

Huge mastodon skull found in a rural Iowa creek

Illustration of Enalioetes head

This ancient crocodile looked kind of like a dolphin

An illustration of an ancient whale against a sea-blue background.

This tiny, 8-foot long whale swam off Egypt’s coast 41 million years ago

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

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

Ankylosaur in blue floatie and life vest riding the ocean waves. Prehistoric trees and a full moon are in the background. Illustrated.

Why dinosaurs were terrible swimmers

Geologists collecting Permian fossils on a Tibetan plateau

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

Woolly mammoths in forests in Greenland after eDNA reconstruction. The scene is an illustration.

Oldest DNA ever sampled paints a lush portrait of a lost Arctic world

a colorful illustration of two bipedal dinosaurs

This pterosaur ancestor was a tiny, flightless dog-like dinosaur

By Laura Baisas

Gila monster lizard and real-life dragon hissing in the desert

Science Fiction

Could dragons be real? Not in the way we think.

By Purbita Saha

Small European panda from 6 million years ago in a painting

Pandas weren’t always bamboo fiends

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Tiktaalik’s ancient cousin decided life was better in the water

Tiktaalik’s ancient cousin decided life was better in the water

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

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

silhouette of two long-necked dinosaurs as the sun sets in a desert-like environment

Were dinosaurs warm-blooded or cold-blooded? Maybe both.

By Kate Baggaley

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

a t rex skeleton on a black isolated bakchround

The fiery end of the dinosaurs kicked off the golden age of mammals

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

Tyrannosaurus rex fossil at Field Museum lobby

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

a dinosaur footprint in rock

It was probably springtime when an asteroid did the dinosaurs in

By Kate Baggaley

large sauropod dinosaurs illustrated in a swampy lake

Even dinosaurs couldn’t escape the sniffles

By Kate Baggaley

A fossil of a sawfly

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

Paleontological researchers on a volcanic mound in Ethiopia's Kibish Formation, where some of the oldest Homo sapiens have been discovered

Eastern Africa’s oldest human fossils are more ancient than we realized

By Kate Baggaley

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.

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

This ancient mammoth tusk was found at the bottom of the Pacific

This ancient mammoth tusk was found at the bottom of the Pacific

ancient penis worm

Ancient penis worms used protection on the seabed

By Margo Milanowski

When is a tooth a tusk? It’s surprisingly complex.

By Margo Milanowski

Prosauropod Triassic dinosaur in a digital rendition

After 60 years, a mysterious Australian dinosaur just got downsized

By Margo Milanowski

tetrapod fossil

Our four-legged ancestors evolved from sea to land astonishingly quickly

By Philip Kiefer

An illustration of a best of hatchling baby turtles.

A fossilized egg laid by an extinct, human-sized turtle holds a rare jackpot

The real Jurassic Park may have been in the Arctic

The real Jurassic Park may have been in the Arctic

Australotitan dinosaur compared to an excavator (c)Eroman Museum

This Australian behemoth is officially the largest dinosaur on the continent

The fossilized skull of the newly discovered L. aliocranianus dinosaur.

This newly discovered dinosaur is called ‘the one who causes fear’ for a reason

A reimagined prehistoric bird chasing a dragonfly over plants

Were rocks on the menu for these ancient birds?

By Erin Fennessy

Artist reconstruction of Wilamaya Patjxa vicuña hunt.

A female hunter’s remains hint at more fluid gender roles in the early Americas

By Kate Baggaley

An artist's rendering of Filikomys primaevus

These prehistoric rodents were social butterflies

Paleontologist Jingmai O'Connor birding with her mother in China

Birds are dinosaurs, and this fossil detective has rooms full of bones to prove it

By Science Friday

Could an ancient megashark still lurk in the deep seas?

artist representation of Tanystropheus

This ancient reptile had a super long neck to sneak up on unsuspecting fish

By Kate Baggaley

ancient ancestor of the modern crocodile, which walked on two feet.

Crocodiles’ ancient ancestors may have walked on two legs

By Kate Baggaley

artistic rendition of a dinosaur

Mummified ankylosaur offers a rare glimpse of a dinosaur’s last meal

By Kate Baggaley

A Maasai youth with a goat herd in Tanzania

Prehistoric footprints reveal how ancient men and women divided labor

By Harcourt-Smith & Pobiner/The Conversation

ancient human tools

Anthropologists have identified the earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in Europe

By Kate Baggaley

Calyptocephalella gayi frog.

How did ancient frogs move between America and Australia? Easy: They hopped across Antarctica.

By Sara Kiley Watson

An abelisaur, a short-snouted predatory dinosaur, rests while several pterosaurs fight over leftovers from a carcass.

The Sahara Desert was once flooded with history’s most vicious dinosaurs

By Kate Baggaley