Paleontology

Illustration of the hyolith Haplophrentis

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

Including it's current dirt and plaster packing, the skull weighs roughly 2,500 pounds.

Rare Complete T. Rex Skull Found in Montana

The "Tufts-Love skull" will be cleaned and put on display at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

This toy diplodocus fetches up to $600 on eBay.

This Man Claims He Has the World’s Largest Collection of Toy Dinosaurs, and He Loves Them All

Randy Knol's stunning array chronicles our evolving knowledge about the prehistoric beasts

The fossil Arktocara yakataga (resting on an 1875 ethnographic map of Alaska) belonged to a dolphin that swam in subarctic marine waters around 25 million years ago.

Smithsonian Researchers Uncover Extinct, Ancient River Dolphin Fossil Hiding in Their Own Collections

Sometimes, paleontologists don’t have to go into the field to discover a tantalizing new species

Paleontologist Paul Olsen of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is co-leading a project in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park to drill deep into rocks dating back more than 200 million years.

Defying Critics, Paleontologist Paul Olsen Looks for Hidden Answers Behind Mass Extinctions

From a childhood spent discovering fossils to tangling over questions of ancient life and death, this scientist constantly pushes the boundaries.

Illustration of a Velafrons, a hadrosaur whose name means "sailed forehead."

Chew on This: Powerful Jaws Fueled a Jurassic Herbivore Boom

Teeth, not flowers, might be the key to the duckbills’ success

Illustration of Gualicho shinyae hunting with its jaws, not arms.

Arm Day at the Gym Apparently Not a Thing for Newly Found, Tiny-Armed Dino

Turns out <i>T. rex</i> doesn’t have a copyright on those adorably awkward, itty-bitty arms

Portrait of paleontologist Mary Anning and her trusty assistant, Tray.

These Paleo Pets Made Fossil Hunting Less Lonely

In the solitary hunt for bones, furry companions provide company, act as field assistants and sometimes even make the ultimate sacrifice

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