Fossils

The modern Mystacina tuberculata, depicted in the sketch above, may be a distant relative of a newly discovered ancient bat called Mystacina miocenalis.

16 Million Years Ago This Giant Bat Walked the Jungles of New Zealand

A new fossil gives clues to just how long ago bats arrived on the islands

Fossils of an ancient mini beaver suggest it may be related to the modern American beaver (Castor canadensis)

Mini Beavers Once Roamed Oregon

Fossils of a squirrel-sized from in eastern Oregon may be related to modern beavers

An artistic reconstruction of the Regaliceratops peterhewsi, the newly discovered Triceratops cousin with a built-in crown.

The 'Hellboy' Dinosaur, a New Cousin of Triceratops, Is Fossil Royalty

The horned dinosaur wears a built-in crown and offers evidence of many more undiscovered species in North America

The dusty white rock of the Las Vegas Formation, near the edge of Tule Springs National Monument, bakes in the midday heat.

Discover a Fossil Jackpot Off the Las Vegas Strip

Remains of mammoths, camels and other beasts of the Ice Age tempt visitors out of Sin City and into Tule Springs National Monument

Why Do Humans Have Chins?

The most distinctive human feature might be that bony protrusion that made Jay Leno famous

Saurornitholestes sullivani attacks a subadult hadrosaur Parasaurolophus tubicen

Meet Your New Favorite Dinosaur: The Velociraptor's Cousin

A keen sense of smell gave this dino an edge

Welcome back, Brontosaurus?

Back to Brontosaurus? The Dinosaur Might Deserve Its Own Genus After All

The popular name could be pulled back out of the scientific wastebasket, based on new analysis of dozens of related dinosaurs

Three new proposed cone snail species (L-R): Conus carlottae, Conus garrisoni and Conus bellacoensis, under regular light (top) and ultraviolet light (middle) and with colors reversed to approximate how they would have appeared (bottom)

UV Light Reveals the Colors of Fossil Shells

Patterns made visible help a researcher discover 13 new species of ancient cone snails

A model of Metoposaurus algarvensis

Hundreds of Car-Sized Fossil Amphibians Found in a Mass Grave

The huge creature is related to modern-day newts, salamanders and frogs

It's a beetle invasion! These lady beetles (also known as lady bugs) are just one of Earth's family of beetles.

Beetle Species, Weirdly, Almost Never Go Extinct

The world is disproportionately filled with beetles—now, a new study suggests that’s because few species have ever been wiped out

Terrifying. An ancestor of the modern-day croc stood nine feet tall and walked on its hind legs. It's been lovingly christened the "Carolina Butcher."

Before There Were Crocodiles, There Was the "Carolina Butcher"

A newly discovered crocodilian ancestor was a nine-foot-tall predator that stood on its hind legs

Divers Discover Graveyard Filled With Giant Lemur Skeletons

A Madagascar cave is packed with the bones of extinct species

Fossils Show How Flying Fish Started to Glide

In the quest to avoid being eaten, some fish took a leap into the open air

Jurassic Park May Have Been Right—Some Dinosaurs Hunted in Packs

The film inspired paleontologists to discover the truth about dinos, including whether raptors were social hunters

A Megalodon tooth -- not the one found recently in California

Fossil Hunting Is Best After Big Storms

California’s storms unearthed treasures along beaches and in foothills including a Megolodon tooth and a Steller’s sea cow ribs

The skeleton was discovered near the American Falls dam and reservoir in Idaho.

What Appears to Be a Complete Mammoth Skeleton Was Discovered in an Idaho Ditch

A nearby reservoir has just covered the fossil in water, however, postponing the excavation

An artist's impression of an antiarch mating scene.

A Very Ancient Group of Jawed Fish Were Having Surprisingly Intimate Intercourse

Many fish later ditched this clumsy method in favor of external fertilization

It took scientists 150 years to finally complete the fossil of Basilosaurus, an early whale. But even then, no one could agree on a name: it was first called Basilosaurus, or "king lizard," then later Hydrarchos, or "giant sea serpent." Its bones were seen as having been part of a long-extinct flightless giant bird. Today the complete fossil that we know to be the intermediary between older land mammals and modern limbless whales is hanging in the Ocean Hall in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

A History of Life In 10 Fossils

From their new book <em>A History of Life in 100 Fossils</em>, Paul Taylor and Aaron O'Dea share the story of 10 incredible fossils

Dinosaur bone fossils at the Dinosaur National Monument in Utah.

The Best Places in America to See Fossils

October 14 is National Fossil Day—here are some of the best places in America to take a trip back in geological time

Vice-grips Fossil (detail), 2014, wood, oil paint, polyurethane, pigment, marble dust, cast plastic.

What Will We Leave in the Fossil Record?

Artist Erik Hagen considers the remnants of modern human life that may be found in rock strata millions of years from now

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