Paleontology
Digging for Our Origins in the Bone Beds of an African Park
In their search for the last common ancestor of chimps and humans, scientists at Gorongosa National Park are expanding the picture of early primate life.
Portrait of the Human as a Young Hominin
How the world looked when we were Australopithecus.
What Made Early Humans Smart
Walking upright made our ancestors easy prey. It also made them get smart.
Redefining Dinosaurs: Paleontologists are Shaking the Dinosaur Family Tree to its Roots.
A radical reconfiguration of the long-standing dinosaur family tree challenges an orthodoxy built on roughly a century and a half of research.
Why We Love Dinosaurs
If museums of natural history are temples to science, dinosaurs are their shrines.
Paving Over the Fossil Record
Why isn’t India doing more to protect its rare evolutionary record?
Strange Worms Are Taking Their Place on Your Family Tree
The Cambrian explosion of animal life now seems more like a whimper.
Spark of Science: Childhood Discovery
Kirk Johnson’s mom gave him 5 minutes at a rest stop. It was enough to find an arrowhead.