Paleontology

Science & Paleontology

When people ask about a giant octopus fossil, they are usually imagining a spectacular, museum-quality specimen of a very large, extinct octopus. In reality, confirmed fossil oc...

Science

Can a dinosaur egg hatch in real life? No. Non-avian dinosaurs went extinct about 66 million years ago, and their eggs are preserved as fossils, not living embryos. For an egg t...

Science & Nature

Recent work on extinct canids has introduced updated naming conventions and newly proposed species designations that clarify evolutionary relationships and geographic variation....

materials

Mammoth skins refer to the preserved outer hide and fur of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius), recovered mainly from permafrost deposits in Arctic and subarctic regions. Th...

biography

Jane Stephens was an influential American paleontologist best known for her meticulous work on invertebrate fossils and her long tenure at the Smithsonian Institution. Active pr...

prehistoric-species

When people ask about a bigger T. rex, they usually mean how large the species could grow, how that size compares with other theropods, and what the fossil record reveals about...

Science

Amber, fossilized tree resin, preserves a snapshot of life at the moment of entrapment. Among the most consequential finds are large specimens that retain complex ecosystems wit...

Science

Dragon fossil china refers to dinosaur and related reptile fossils found in China that are commonly described as "dragon" remains in both scientific literature and public discou...

Science

The question of what is the oldest known fish is best answered with specific fossils, precise dates, and an understanding of how researchers interpret early vertebrate remains....

science-explainer

The claim that a man was trapped in a dinosaur leg typically appears in discussions about anomalous fossils, urban legends, or sensational interpretations of paleontological fin...