Fossils
- Fossils
This ancient bird rocked a head like a T. rex
This bird from 120 million years ago had a head like a dinosaur and a body more like today’s birds.
- Fossils
Ancient jellyfish? Upside down this one looks like something else
A new look at an ancient sea animal called Essexella suggests it may have been a type of burrowing sea anemone, not a floating jelly.
By Meghan Rosen - Fossils
Ocean life may have bounced back after the ‘Great Dying’
Marine ecosystems may have been back in action just a million years after the most severe extinction event known.
By Nikk Ogasa - Fossils
An ancient ichthyosaur graveyard may have been a breeding ground
Some 230 million years ago, huge dolphin-like reptiles appear to have gathered to breed in safe waters, just as many whales do today.
- Fossils
Armored dinos may have used tail clubs to bash each other
Broken spikes on a fossil dino’s sides are consistent with the armored beast having received a mighty blow from another ankylosaur’s tail club.
By Jake Buehler - Fossils
Let’s learn about pterosaurs
These ancient flying reptiles were not dinosaurs, but they were close relatives.
- Fossils
Sprinting reptiles may have been forerunners of soaring pterosaurs
A new analysis of an old fossil supports the idea that winged pterosaurs evolved from swift and tiny two-legged ancestors.
- Fossils
Dinosaur ‘mummies’ may not be as rare as once thought
Bite marks found on a fossilized dino show that skin can be preserved even when a carcass is not immediately smothered by sediment.
By Jake Buehler - Fossils
Bizarre ancient critter has spines but no anus
The spiny discovery moves this minion lookalike off a distant limb on the human family tree.
By Anna Gibbs - Animals
Analyze This: Bulky plesiosaurs may not have been bad swimmers after all
Long-necked plesiosaurs were thought to be slow swimmers. But new research suggests the animals’ large size helped them overcome water resistance.
- Fossils
Ancient ‘ManBearPig’ mammal lived fast — and died young
Developing in the womb for a while — but being born ready to take on the world — may have helped post-dinosaur mammals rise to dominance.
- Fossils
Warm feathers may have helped dinos survive mass Triassic die-off
Dinosaurs may have weathered freezing conditions about 202 million years ago, thanks to warm feathery coats.