An enormous new species of predatory dinosaur has been discovered in the fossil beds of southeastern Utah, paleontologists say, a “colossal” carnivore that was the apex predator of its day…
Read MorePaleontology
700,000-Year-Old Horse Found in Yukon Permafrost Yields Oldest DNA Ever Decoded
The frozen remains of a horse more than half a million years old have reluctantly given up their genetic secrets, providing scientists with the oldest DNA ever sequenced. The horse…
Read More
America’s Saber-Toothed Cats Weren’t ‘Native,’ Study Finds
One of Ancient America’s most distinctive predators — the saber-toothed cat — likely wasn’t native to the continent, as had been thought for decades. Instead, according to a team of…
Read More
New Tyrannosaur Species, ‘King of Gore,’ Reveals Origins of T. Rex
The oldest known ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex has been discovered in southern Utah, throwing light on the evolutionary history of the famous predator, and providing crucial clues to the puzzling…
Read More
Feathers Were ‘Peculiar’ to Special Set of Dinosaurs, New Fossil Study Finds
Some of the Ancient West’s most distinctive and downright weird dinosaur species — from the famous Tyrannosaurus rex to the odd therizinosaurs — turn out to be members of an…
Read More
Prehistoric Global Warming Caused Dwarfism in American Mammals, Fossils Show
As temperatures climb, animals shrink. It may sound unlikely — and the mechanism behind it is not very well understood — but it’s a pattern that’s been observed many times…
Read More
Ancient ‘Clawed Bat’ Reveals Clues to Flying Mammal’s Evolution
The rare and delicate but perfectly preserved bones of a primordial bat found in Wyoming are offering up new clues to the evolution of the flying mammals, and to at…
Read More
Fossil of Huge Aquatic Mammal, a ‘New Paradox,’ Discovered in Southern California
When it swam the seas that covered California some 10 million years ago, it might have looked something like a slender hippo — but with longer legs, broad webbed feet,…
Read More
Baby Dinosaur With ‘Strange Headgear’ Discovered in Utah
A new fossil find may help demystify one of the strangest dinosaurs known to have roamed the ancient West — a duck-billed plant-eater with an unusual, hollow, tube-like crest sprouting…
Read More
First Fossil of Blood-Filled Mosquito Discovered
Through a series of events that scientists themselves admit was “extremely improbable,” a mosquito that feasted on the blood of Eocene animals some 46 million years ago managed to die…
Read More
‘Unusual’ Fossil Egg Reveals Evolutionary Link Between Dinosaurs and Birds
Millions of years after the reptilian animals we know as dinosaurs disappeared, some of their traits persisted in surprising ways among their descendants — birds — a new fossil shows….
Read More
Thousands of Dinosaur Tracks Discovered Along Alaska’s Yukon River
An expedition in the remote heart of Alaska has made an unprecedented find for the Last Frontier: thousands of dinosaur tracks, of countless sizes and as-yet unnamed species, all along…
Read More
Croc-Like Reptiles, Giant Amphibians Found in Ancient Poop-Filled Pond
Scientists exploring the high-desert grasslands of northern Arizona have discovered a trove of remarkable Triassic animals, including croc-like ancestors of dinosaurs, carnivorous amphibians that grew as big as people, and…
Read More
Ostrich-Like Dinosaur Discovered in Alaska
Paleontologists sifting through fossils in an Alaska museum have discovered evidence of a dinosaur never before found in the near-Arctic — a type of large, leggy theropod called an ornithomimosaur….
Read More
Dozens of Animals Discovered in Huge Wyoming Fossil Deposit
More than two dozen types of ancient animals — including at least two predatory dinosaurs, eight mammals, and a host of amphibians, sharks and other fish — have been unearthed…
Read More
‘Magnificent T. Rex’ Found on Montana Ranch, Museum Reports (With Pictures)
A Dutch museum has announced that scientists searching for a fossil of Tyrannosaurus rex have finally found their quarry on a ranch in eastern Montana. The newfound T. rex fossil…
Read More
