Paleontology

An Ediacaran fossil from the National Earth Science Museum, Namibia.

Mysterious, Plant-Like Fossil May Have Been One of the Earliest Animals

New research suggests that soft-bodied organisms called Ediacarans may have been related to an animal of the Cambrian era

More like not-so-great white shark. Like today's sharks, prehistoric sharks sported a vast array of body sizes, shapes, and ornamentations.

Megalodon Wasn't the Only Impressive Shark in the Prehistoric Seas

No longer thought of as "living fossils," ancient sharks sported a crazy amount of variety

An artist's rendering of the Lingwu Amazing Dragon

‘Amazing Dragon’ Fossils Unearthed in China Rewrite Story of Long-Necked Dinosaurs

The dino family emerged 15 million years earlier than previously thought

Study Suggests Neanderthals Sparked Their Own Fire

Hand-axe wear suggests our hominid cousins used flint and pyrite to unleash Prometheus' gift

The display will eventually yield a formidable and fully-formed beast standing at about 15 feet tall and 40 feet long, poised to glut on the body of an unlucky Triceratops.

Homecoming King: The Nation’s T. rex Returns to the Smithsonian

The fully assembled skeleton will be displayed for the first time at the National Museum of Natural History in June 2019.

Oldest Stone Tools Outside Africa Unearthed in China

Six artifacts date to 2.1 million years ago, potentially rewriting what we know about which species led the migration out of Africa

Ricardo Martínez digging up the arm of the dinosaur Ingentia prima in Triassic layers of Balde de Leyes, San Juan Province, Argentina.

The Most Massive of Dinos Evolved Earlier Than Previously Thought

A Triassic giant unearthed in Argentina suggests that dinosaurs took the path to greatness at least twice

The foot bones of an Australopithecus Afarensis toddler show that the species retained some ape-like traits.

Ancient Toddler Was at Home on the Ground and in the Trees

The foot of a 2.5-year-old Austrolopithecus afarensis shows it had a grippy big toe that let it cling to its mom and climb tree trunks

Due to their ubiquity at archaeological sites, teeth are like the pennies of ancient human remains. But unlike pennies, fossil chompers can be a treasure trove.

How Ancient Teeth Reveal the Roots of Humankind

From diet to evolution, prehistoric chompers tell archaeologists a surprising amount about our ancestors

The smart, menacing, powerful T. rex of 1993's Jurassic Park has lodged itself in the minds of millions.

How We Elected <i>T. rex</i> to Be Our Tyrant Lizard King

The true story behind our obsession with the last and largest of the tyrannosaurs

Oldest Footprints Show When Life On Earth Got Legs

Tiny fossil tracks found in South China firmly date appendages back to the Ediacaran period

In the early 20th century, pioneer paleontologist Annie Montague Alexander had to find socially acceptable fieldwork partners to avoid being accused of vague improprieties on her expeditions. She would go on to found the University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley.

The Many Ways Women Get Left Out of Paleontology

The hurdles that prevent female fossil hunters from rising at the same rates as their male peers are myriad—but they are all interconnected

A Mysterious Dinosaur Skeleton Was Auctioned Off to a Private Buyer

And paleontologists are not happy about it

The asteroid didn't just wipe out the dinosaurs—it wiped out the forests. Which meant anything that lived had to learn to live on the ground.

How the Ancestors of Birds Survived the Dino-Killing Asteroid

Forest cover was crucial to avian evolution, a new study on the mass extinction event asserts

Joe, the "fat boy" from the Pickwick Papers.

The Case for Charles Dickens, the Science Communicator

A new exhibition dives into the Victorian novelist's passion for science

Panga ya Saidi

People Lived in This Cave for 78,000 Years

Excavations in Panga ya Saidi suggest technological and cultural change came slowly over time and show early humans weren't reliant on coastal resources

Though the differences between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens may seem pronounced, scientists didn't always embrace the idea that humans evolved from other species.

How Do Scientists Identify New Species? For Neanderthals, It Was All About Timing and Luck

Even the most remarkable fossil find means nothing if scientists aren’t ready to see it for what it is

The butchered rhino

700,000-Year-Old Butchered Rhino Pushes Back Ancient Human Arrival in the Philippines

The find changes the story of human migration, but scientists still don't know what human species did the cutting

Fossil reconstruction and illustration of Ichthyornis dispar.

3-D Scans of Fossil Beaks Show How Modern Birds Came to Be

The early seabird had the sharp teeth of its dinosaur relatives but a bird-like body

Fossil Tracks May Record Ancient Humans Hunting Giant Sloths

The tracks suggest a human—perhaps in search of food—closely followed the movements of the massive creature

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