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Shifting ocean chemistry and predatory pressure made organisms bunker up for the first time.
Always go for a meal before you fossilize.
It took two generations to bring this fossil to light.
The biggest fish in the pond.
Museum collections are riddled with valuable specimens.
A small tooth in a fecal sample confirms that the fierce predator ate its young.
Bones to stones.
There's only one fossil of this dinosaur that we ever found -- and you're looking at it.
Crinoids are sometimes referred to as sea lillies because of their resemblance to a plant or flower. But this fossil looks more like something straight from hell.
A new discovery may place the first appearance of complex life on Earth a full billion years earlier than previously thought. The scientific community is divided on the value of the find, some hailing it as rock-solid evidence while others dismiss it as inconclusive.
Kinda looks like the Sarlacc, doesn't it? Well take your geek hat off cause it isn't a sarlacc. Now put your paleontology geek hats on because this is Fossil Friday and we're talking about Zaphrentis phrygia.
Diptera are still alive and kickin' today, and some of them are getting coated in amber as we speak! A nice reminder that fossils are still being formed for future paleontologists to uncover.
When a species almost one hundred times bigger than you, who has access to nukes and can go to space, discovers your remains a few million years after you die and still decides to call you "monstrosus" you must be doing something very right survival-wise.
Sauropods, or some titanosaurs at least, were not the best parents. A recent analysis of juvenile fossils belonging to a titanosaur species called Rapetosaurus krausei suggests babies were left to fend for themselves and find food since they hatched, with little if any weaning.
Helicoprion is an extinct genus of shark-like, cartilaginous fish that lived from the early Permian (~290 m.y. ago) all through to the massive Permian-Triassic extinction episode (roughly 250 m.y. ago.)
British paleontologists have identified a tiny, ancient animal that carried around its young tethered in capsules around its body, like kites.
Scientists have identified a 1.5 cm creature that predates the dinosaurs by 100 million years. While not exactly a spider, the tiny beast is the closest relative to spiders, but its lineage is extinct. Spiders are basically ubiquitous. They can be found on every continent except for Antarctica and in every environment ever – except […]
Ammonite fossils are among the most common in the world, with their characteristic shape and chambered shell. But did you ever wonder what the deal is with those chambers? Ammonites are a group of cephalopod animals that lived as swimmers in the shallow parts of the ancient oceans. They were extremely successful, emerging in the early […]
We judge our planet's biological past by using geological evidence - fossils. Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past.
Exactly six decades ago, an amateur fossil hunter called Francis Tully came across an usual find some 50 miles south of Chicago. Only recently was this peculiar creature been thoroughly described and given its rightful place in the evolutionary tree.
We’ve seen unfortunate insects trapped in amber time and time again, but this time it’s something else. This time, a new species of ancient flower was found preserved in amber. The fossil species are a representative of the asterids, one of the most diverse groups that also include sunflower, coffee, potatoes and mint. Amber is […]
Belemnites are an extinct order of cephalopods ("cephalo" meaning head and "pod" meaning leg) that lived during the Mesozoic era, some 200 to 65 million years ago. They were elongated organisms, resembling today's squids, only tinier and cuter.
It was a finding that sent ripples throughout the entire paleontology community. Met with heavy criticism, the authors are now vindicated.
Researchers have found new fauna in northern Brazil, in what used to be the continent of Gondwana.
Archaeologists have discovered fossils of rats 10 times bigger than modern rats. Working with the Australian National University (ANU), the team made the findings in East Timor, a former Portuguese colony in south-east Asia. Dr Julien Louys of the ANU School of Culture, History and Language said these are the largest rat fossils ever to be found, and by […]
Paleontologists believe they have found the oldest evidence of the bubonic plague, embedded in a flea trapped in amber for the past 20 million years. This could provide insight onto how this devastating disease appeared and evolved.
Trilobites were some of the most dominant creatures on the face of the planet, thriving from the mid Cambrian 521 million years ago to the start of the Mesozoic, 250 million years ago. Paleontologists have now found the earliest evidence for molting - a trilobite shedding its skin 365 million years ago.
Scientists from the Smithsonian have a surprising fossil dating about 6 million years old. The fossil seems to have been an ancestor of modern dolphins and might explain why dolphins left rivers and set out for the ocean. Today, there are almost 40 species of dolphins, and all of them are intriguing animals. For starters, […]
This bizarre creature looks like a cross between a scorpion and a boat, which is pretty accurate considering it was actually as big as a boat. Pentecopterus decorahensis, named after the ancient Greek warship, likely dominated the Ordovician ocean waters some 460 to 248 million years ago, paleontologists say. Sporting a thick head shield, a paddle for a tail, large grasping limbs and 1.7 meters in length (5.5 feet), this sea beast was a force to be reckoned with.
Anthropologists have discovered the oldest known fossil of a bone resembling that of humans; the 1.85 million year old bone is the oldest evidence of a ‘modern’ hand and suggests that ancient humans may have been much larger than previously thought. A key feature that distinguishes humans from other species is the ability to create and use […]
Finding insects, plants or even dinosaur feathers trapped in amber s rare and exciting. But finding a fossil salamander in amber… that’s something else – it’s actually unique. But the salamander’s unfortunate fate sparked immediate interest from researchers: not only is it a unique finding, but it’s from a never-before seen species of salamander, and […]
Before the Cambrian, more than 541 million years ago, intriguing creatures named rangeomorphs that grew up to 2 meters dwelt in marine environments. They were unable to move, had no apparent reproductive organs and there is no evidence of them having a gut or a mouth. But a new study has found that their reproductive techniques […]
Fossils of an elasmosaur, a rare type of plesiosaur were discovered in Alaska by Anchorage-based fossil collector Curvin Metzler. Researchers have confirmed this discovery and identified the species.
Paleontologists working in China have discovered fossils of an impressively armored worm that lived during the Cambrian, 500 million years ago. Called Hairy Collins’ Monster, this is one of the first creatures to develop a spiky armor. Today, the 180 species of velvet worms are pretty similar – they have tiny eyes, antennae, multiple pairs of […]
An Alberta citizen discovered a trove of rare fossilized fish while digging up his basement. But Edgar Nernberg isn't a man who "believes" in science - instead, he claims that the fish are 4,500 years old, from Noah's flood.
Geologists have found a praying-mantis-like cockroach that lived at the side by side with the dinosaurs, 100 million years ago, during the mid Cretaceous. The insect was preserved in amber. Peter Vršanský from the Geological Institute in Bratislava, Slovakia, and Günter Bechly from the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart found the insect at a mine in […]
Fossil hunting can be exciting and highly rewarding, but sometimes, fossils are also found through a fluke. Jeff Dornbusch, a volunteer with the Truth or Consequences museum in southern New Mexico (a museum of local history and tradition), was taking a hike on his day off when he stumbled on what he initially thought was a pile […]
It was about as big as T-Rex, but not quite as fit – new fossils have revealed that Deinocheirus mirificus had quite a beer belly. “This is an entirely new body plan” for such dinosaurs, says Stephen Brusatte, a vertebrate palaeontologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Indeed, few scientists would have imagined such a scientific appearance. The […]
Paleontologists have identified the first known animals that used internal fertilization instead of spawning – armor-coated swimmers, called antiarchs, which lived around 385 million years ago in lakes in what is now Scotland. The discovery is truly monumental since its the earliest known example of sexual dimorphism or differences in appearance between the sexes in the […]
Some bizarre spherical fossils found in China may be remnants of some of the world’s earliest animals (not unicellular organisms). A recent analysis has revealed that they are not bacteria or single celled protists, but rather algae, or even embryos from early animals. “The real value of these fossils is that we now have some direct […]
Would you believe me if I told you that under this rusty, abandoned metal cap there lies the deepest hole ever dug by mankind? That beneath this metal seal, which measures only 9 inches in diameter, there are 12,262 meters (40,230 ft) of nothingness? You might have your doubts — but hear me out. A journey […]
Researchers have discovered the earliest evidence of a bird pollinator visiting flowers, presumably to feed on the nectar – if true, this means that bird pollinator/plants interactions were already taking place 47 million years ago. When you think about pollinators, you mostly think about bees or butterflies – but birds are significant pollinators too. Birds, particularly […]
Right on the English coast, near Happisburgh, scientists discovered what so far are the earliest footprints discovered thus far in Europe, dated 800,000 years old. Some five human ancestors left these historical footprints in mud on the bank of an ancient river estuary. Perfect timing and the geological circumstances of the time allowed the prints […]
During the Mesozoic, dinosaurs weren’t just roaming the land – giant reptiles, such as mosasaurs and ichthyosaurs, ruled the seas. But while scientists have a fairly good idea about how they looked like, until now, they had no idea what colors they featured. Paleontologists conducted new analysis at the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden […]
Imagine salmon in reverse: long-snouted Bandringa sharks migrated downstream from freshwater swamps to a tropical coastline to spawn 310 million years ago – leaving behind a fossil nursery, which researchers found. The bandringa sharks The surprising conclusion was drawn by University of Michigan paleontologist Lauren Sallan and a University of Chicago colleague; they analyzed every […]
Cats, dogs, as well as many well known and loved wild animals such as seals, lions, tigers and bears trace their ancestry to primitive carnivorous mammals dating back to 55 million years ago, at the beginning of a time period called the Eocene. A study, published in the most recent issue of the Journal of […]
Most fossils are very fragile, difficult to handle and transport Researchers conducted CT scans on fossils still trapped in sedimentary material, creating 3D models The models were then 3D printed – an accurate, non invasive method to replicate fossils for schools, museums and other researchers Doctors and dinosaurs Being a paleontologist and working […]
An international team of researchers led by Ralf Tappert, from the University of Innsbruck, reconstructed the composition of Earth’s atmosphere of the last 220 million years by analyzing modern and fossil plant resins. Their results indicate that atmospheric oxygen was considerably lower in Earth’s geological past than previously assumed – providing valuable information about current […]
Fossils that capture a kinetic moment are truly fascinating because they surprise a scene or picture from millions of years ago, effectively acting as a time capsule. Paleontologists have found along the years all sorts of such scenes, be them dinosaurs engaged in battle before an unlikely event engulfed and preserved them or some other […]
Crossing the riverbed of Carrizo Creek in Oklahoma, a series of tracks made by a two-legged dinosaur have been preserved in time for 150 million years. The tracks reveal a most clumsy scene, as the dinosaur in question slipped for a second before going back to his beaten path. When first analyzedin the 1980s, paleontologists […]
