Paleontology

The Cambrian explosion is a critical moment for life on Earth—and it may have been all about poop

This marks only the second extinct ice age amphibian found in North America—and it gives researchers vital information about the ancient climate

A rare fossil find shows a tooth embedded an ichthyosaur’s vertebra, where it was likely left when a giant pliosaurid chomped down on this dolphin-resembling reptile

A new skull-based analysis of Neanderthal brains suggests that these ancient hominins’ range of intelligence largely overlapped with our own

This massive dinosaur skeleton sold for more than $50.1 million on Tuesday

Investigating the shape and evolution of animal joints

The fossilized remains of more than 450 whales have amassed along a 750-mile-long stretch of the Indian Ocean floor

More than 5,300 years after Ötzi’s death, researchers identified yeasts in his gut microbiome that continue to be active—and they used it to make bread

Like modern crocodiles, this bizarre ancient reptile was likely a carnivore, but otherwise it bears little resemblance to them

New trove of fossils reveals that ancestral animals likely emerged in the deep sea

Earth’s ancient climate is written in... ostrich eggshells and stomach oil?

Fossil jaws from colossal octopuses place them at the top of a prehistoric marine food chain