Scientific Field/Discipline: Paleontology

Article list

Salvaging Fossils on the Jurassic Coast

Along a famed stretch of English coastline, amateur and professional collectors alike fill their satchels with fossils before the 200-million-year-old treasures are reclaimed by the waves.

May 26, 2020 | 1,700 words, 11 photos

From Healthy to Extinct in 350 Years

New genetic research shows that the great auk population was large and diverse—until hunters swiftly drove it to extinction.

Jan 6, 2020 | 1,100 words, about 5 minutes

The Ancient Underwater Boneyard That Tells a Dark Story

A snapshot of the sea, 75 million years ago.

Nov 8, 2019 | 1,000 words, about 5 minutes

One of Earth’s Oldest Animals May Have Wriggled Around like an Earthworm

With fossils dating to the Ediacaran, Dickinsonia may have been one of the first creatures to ever crawl along the seafloor.

Oct 21, 2019 | 650 words, about 3 minutes

underwater scene from the Jurassic period

Jurassic Ark

For millions of years, ancient life hitched a ride across the seas on gigantic Jurassic crinoids.

Jul 29, 2019 | 900 words, about 4 minutes

Homo Sapiens Just Got Older—Way, Way Older

Bones found in Morocco place our lineage 100,000 years earlier and nowhere near where we thought.

Jun 7, 2017 | 850 words, about 4 minutes

An artist’s rendition of how the common ancestor of bony and cartilaginous fish might have appeared. Illustration by Mark Garrison

Finding Our First Fish

Sharks aren’t primitive, and they aren’t the most primitive surviving jawed fish either. New fossils are rattling the fish family tree.

Jan 19, 2016 | 2,600 words, about 13 minutes

Megalodon teeth have been washing up on the shores of North Carolina. Here a megalodon tooth is held next to one from a great white shark. Photo by Jeffrey L. Rotman/Corbis

Stories from the Seven Seas

A lack of pirates, washed up megalodon teeth, and draining the ocean in this week’s roundup of coastal news.

Nov 6, 2015 | 450 words, about 2 minutes

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