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SIGNIFICANT PALEONTOLOGICAL FINDINGS
A 148-million-year-old Jurassic fossil discovered in China may have solved one of evolution's biggest mysteries about how birds evolved from dinosaursResearchers have described a new Jurassic bird species, Zhengheornis buyu, discovered in Fujian Province, China. The 148-million-year-old f...
Lost world of birds and frogs: Scientists open a million-year-old cave time capsule in New Zealand, where 12 bird species and four frogs reveal a lost world reshaped by volcanoes and climate long before humans arrivedA remarkable fossil discovery in a New Zealand cave has unveiled a lost world of ancient birds and frogs, dating back one million years. Th...
These 300-million-year-old baby fossils just turned a major evolution theory upside downAncient fossilized babies of crocodile-like predators are rewriting evolutionary history. Previously, scientists believed early land animal...
In 2024, a horned dinosaur skull with an extraordinary crown was found in Montana, and it reshaped what scientists knew about prehistoric North AmericaA strange dinosaur skull found in Montana is rewriting dinosaur history. Named Lokiceratops, this horned dinosaur had unique, uneven headge...
In 1858, a curious dig in a New Jersey marl pit turned out to uncover one of the most important dinosaur finds in US historyA farmer's accidental discovery in a New Jersey marl pit in the 1830s led to the unearthing of the first nearly complete dinosaur skeleton ...
Goodbye to the Dragon Man mystery: Ancient proteins suggest the skull belonged to a DenisovanScientists have uncovered new molecular evidence. This evidence indicates the Harbin cranium fossil, known as 'Dragon Man', is a Denisovan....
In 1997, construction workers building a laser facility found enormous mammoth bones that surprised scientists with evidence of California’s ancient past from the ice ageConstruction workers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory unearthed mammoth bones in 1997. The discovery occurred during excavation fo...
In 2014, first fossil hunt for a freshman in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin led to a new mammal species, which gave science its first new multituberculate in over 100 years, and proved even well-dug fossil sites still hide surprisesA student's first fossil field trip in New Mexico yielded an astonishing discovery: the teeth and jaw fragments of a previously unknown mam...
A 7-year-old found a strange fossil in the Badlands, and scientists were stunned by what it was: It belonged to a member of an extinct family of saber-toothed cat-like mammalsA young visitor to Badlands National Park made an extraordinary find. Seven-year-old Kylie Ferguson discovered the fossilized skull of an a...
In 2017, workers building a police and fire facility in Colorado accidentally exposed the fossils of Torosaurus, which rewrote Colorado's prehistoric mapA construction site in Thornton, Colorado, unexpectedly unearthed massive fossilized bones in 2017, halting development for a public safety...
In 1994, two visitors hiking through the Badlands noticed bones weathering from the ground and uncovered an ancient watering hole filled with fossilsHikers in 1994 stumbled upon fossils in Badlands National Park. This accidental find revealed the Big Pig Dig, an ancient watering hole. Ov...
Forget king cobras, this extinct Greek snake may have been far heavier than living vipersFossilized remains of Laophis crotaloides, an extinct snake species from Greece, suggest it was significantly larger than modern vipers, po...
A 12-year-old’s fossil hunt changed how scientists saw ancient seasA remarkable discovery by the Anning family on England's Lyme Regis cliffs in the early 1800s unearthed an ichthyosaur fossil, revolutioniz...
Rare Pulaosaurus qinglong fossil suggests some dinosaurs may have sounded like birds and shared similar vocal anatomyA newly discovered fossil of Pulaosaurus qinglong, a small plant-eating dinosaur, reveals a bony voice box similar to modern birds. This fi...
In 1878, coal miners working beneath Belgium broke into a fossil chamber: The underground discovery transformed what scientists knew about dinosaursBelgian coal miners in 1878 unearthed a remarkable find. Deep underground, they discovered many Iguanodon skeletons. This discovery was sig...
What construction workers discovered beneath a South Dakota housing site became one of North America’s richest mammoth fossil localitiesIn 1974, construction workers in Hot Springs, South Dakota, unearthed a significant Ice Age fossil site. The discovery revealed numerous ma...
When a 9-year-old tripped in the New Mexico desert, he accidentally uncovered the remains of an ancient elephant relative from 1.2 million years agoA remarkable fossil discovery in New Mexico, made by a 9-year-old boy, has unearthed a 1.2-million-year-old stegomastodon skull. This chanc...
Giant new dinosaur species unearthed in Brazil after 120 million yearsConstruction workers in Davinopolis, Brazil, discovered the fossilized bones of a giant dinosaur. Named Dasosaurus tocantinensis, the creat...
A giant echidna fossil sat in a museum drawer for over a century, before revealing Australia’s lost giantsA forgotten fossil, overlooked for over a century, has revealed crucial insights into Australia's extinct giant echidnas. This re-evaluatio...
Volunteers spotted a hadrosaur protruding from a Canadian hillside, with fossilized skin still attachedA volunteer's keen eye in Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park led to the discovery of a remarkably preserved dinosaur fossil, featuring sign...