Newly-discovered fossilized school of fish is like a snapshot in time
Finding a single fossil of an animal that died some 50 million years ago is cool. Finding two? That’s just plain awesome. But what about …
paleontology
Scientists find abundance of 500,000,000-year-old fossils in China
The thing about fossils is the older they are, the rarer they are. Earth doesn’t keep anything around forever, and the farther you go back …
After years of work, the Smithsonian is ready to show off these colossal ancient sea monsters
Swimming in the ocean today might put you face to face with some pretty intimidating predators, but they’re no match for what lurked below the …
Birds inherited colorful eggs from dinosaurs, scientists say
If you come across a bird nest there’s usually a pretty good way of telling what kind of feathered friend was responsible for it, even …
The T Rex’s tiny baby arms might have been way more useful than they seem
Running into a Tyrannosaurus rex in the wild would have been a truly frightening thing for just about any animal that roamed the earth between …
Paleontologists discovered the world’s largest ancient bird, so they named it ‘big bird’
There are only a handful of very large bird species around today, but as intimidating as an ostrich might be when it’s staring down at …
Gold miners in Canada discovered a very good boy frozen in time for 50,000 years
Finding the remains of a 50,000-year-old animal is always exciting, but scientists know to temper their expectations. Normally all that’s left of such an old …
Scientists stumble upon baby horse frozen in time for 40,000 years
Finding the remains of animals that have been dead for tens of thousands of years isn’t easy. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a handful of …
The oldest flying reptile ever discovered was just found in Utah
Over the decades, Utah has proven to be a real hotspot for fossil hunters, and it just yielded yet another amazing find. There in the …
Scientists find teeth of an ancient ‘Mega Shark’ that could have destroyed a Great White
Swimming in the ocean today comes with a unique set of risks. One of those risks is encountering a creature that could harm you, like …
Dinosaurs were sniffing flowers millions of years before humans even existed
You don’t normally think of dinosaurs doing the kinds of things that modern animals might do — like taking a nap in a grassy field …
Long-forgotten ‘dinosaur’ bone turns out to actually be from an ancient hippo-like herbivore
Finding an fossilized bone on accident might be a pleasant surprise for scientists, or even a kid, but when dam workers in Japan stumbled across …
Tyrannosaurus rex was a big meanie, so this newly discovered dinosaur wore plenty of armor
Living in the Cretaceous period would have been pretty darn dangerous for pretty much any animal. Dinosaurs were out in full force, and massive carnivores …
Scientists find 99-million-year-old snake trapped in an amber tomb
If you were to travel back in time about 100 million years you’d see a whole lot of things that you can’t see today. Dinosaurs …
The oldest known color made by a living creature on Earth is not what you’d guess
Today, when you look around the Earth, you see a lot of green. It’s easy to imagine that things were the same before humans or …
Researchers discover the T. Rex couldn’t stick out its tongue, and ‘Jurassic Park’ was wrong
The mighty Tyrannosaurus rex would have been an truly intimidating sight if you happened to be roaming around on Earth 70 million years ago or …
Scientists discovered new species of ancient sea creature and named it after President Obama
In many ways, the Earth was a much different place 580 million years ago. The landscape wasn’t exactly bustling. Life had existed on the planet …
Paleontologists uncover oldest footprints ever, but they don’t know what made them
Fossilized remains of ancient creatures are pretty hard to find, but fossilized footprints are even harder. For a footprint to survive millions and millions of …
Dino-killing asteroid crater almost immediately became a cradle of life
When the asteroid that struck the present-day Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico reach the Earth it made life incredibly difficult for just about every living thing. …
Scientists discover ‘Mother of All Lizards’ in the Alps
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine what the Earth was like when massive beasts like the Tyrannosaurus rex freely roamed the land, but it can be …
Scientists just found a ‘reptilian mammal’ fossil in Utah and it could shake up Earth’s history
If you even sort of paid attention in geography class you already know that the Earth didn’t always look like it does today. At one …
These poor creatures suffered from dandruff 125 million years before Head And Shoulders was invented
These days, if you notice a bit of dandruff on your shoulder you just stop by the drug store and grab some specialized shampoo, but …
Researchers explain how ancient ‘Chicken From Hell’ protected its eggs from its own weight
Many modern birds perch atop their eggs in order to keep them warm and safe from the elements. Doing so gives the species an edge …
Fossilized footprints tell a story of how our ancestors hunted giant sloths
There’s plenty that archaeologists and paleontologists can learn from the bones and other artifacts left behind by ancient creatures and mankind’s own ancestors. Researchers can …
Researchers say humans are responsible for mammals being so small today
Have you ever wondered why land animals are so small today? Fossils have shown us that many dinosaurs were absolutely massive beasts, evolving over millions …
Ancient oceans somehow just got even scarier with discovery of a massive aquatic carnivore
The oceans that cover much of Earth today are filled with all kinds of interesting creatures, and while there’s plenty of dangerous aquatic animals that …
Paleontologists discover four-eye lizard that lived 50 million years ago
An ancient lizard that lived nearly 50 million years ago boasted a total of four eyes, according to a new report from scientists at Yale. …
Dinosaur horns were for horny dinosaurs
Science fiction and documentaries have painted a rather consistent picture of the mighty Triceratops over the years. With its massive, shielded head and long, imposing …
New dinosaurs are being discovered in record numbers, and it’s changing everything we thought we knew
Every kid grows up loving dinosaurs. As we grow older we listen to science teachers explain how dinosaurs lived and died, we watch documentaries about …
Ancient fossilized mammoth tracks tell a tragic tale, but reveal a family bond
Over centuries, paleontologists have been able to paint a pretty vivid picture of what life was like on Earth before humans arrived, but long-extinct creatures …
