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Paleontology
36 articles-
Can Lichen Light the Way to Dinosaur Finds?
The bold idea to enlist satellites in the search for fossils -
“Tiny T. Rex” Makes Big Waves in Paleontology Community
The discovery marks the end of an “acrimonious” debate -
Neanderthals May Have Invented the Original Crayon
The most concrete evidence of the tools this human ancestor used to doodle -
The Dinos’ Demise Gave Rivers Their Shape
Their extinction left an indelible mark on the landscape -
The Data in a Dino’s Smile
Dinosaur teeth are unique windows into Earth’s ancient air -
We Didn’t Start the Fire
But our ancient ancestors set the world ablaze 50,000 years ago -
How Neanderthals Got to Siberia
They trekked for 2,000 years across formidable terrain -
How Ancient Beasts Spread Sweet Fruits
The native forests of South America were shaped by mastodons—and we’re doing a bad job filling their role -
These Tiny Beautiful Fossils Tell the Future
What bountiful remains of foraminifera reveal about the ocean’s past and future in times of climate chaos -
Famous Sea Monster Gets a Name
Traskasaura sandrae had “very odd” features that made it a crafty hunter
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What Fueled the Ocean’s Largest Terror
Megalodon teeth reveal a secret to their ancient super-predator status
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Conjuring Imaginary Creatures
Dinosaur illustrator Mick Ellison on the evolution of using science and art to visualize the long-extinct animals of the deep past
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Lucy at 50
Donald Johanson reflects on his fossil discovery that shook the human family tree a half century ago.
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Unraveling the Evolution of Flight
Bird brain scans and dinosaur fossils hint at when the first creatures grew wings.
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A Day in the Life of a Fossil Preparator
Recreating the past requires as much art and craft as science.
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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. -
What Color Really Evolved For
The finding that melanosomes are so common inside animals’ bodies may overhaul our very understanding of the function of melanin, the pigment responsible for color in feathers and other external features.Photograph by Aline Dassel / Pixabay Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . What color were the dinosaurs? If you […] -
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.