paleontology

Earth’s surface slid on its axis in dinosaur age, study says

Earth's solid outer shell repeatedly reoriented relative to its spin axis in fast bursts during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, according to a study published Thursday in Science. The researchers found the evidence in records of ancient sea-level change.

Largest-ever bat genome study traces origins to Europe

The world's only true flying mammals almost certainly took wing in Europe, not Asia, Africa, or North America as scientists had long debated. That is the conclusion of the largest combined bat genome and fossil study ever conducted, published Wednesday…

First adult T. rex trackway found in North Dakota

Paleontologists have uncovered the first known trackway left by a fully grown Tyrannosaurus rex — four massive, three-toed footprints stamped into what is now the Hell Creek Formation of southwestern North Dakota roughly 66.5 million years ago, on the geological…

560-million-year-old 3D animal fossil found in Norway

One of the oldest known three-dimensional fossils of an animal has been unearthed in a sheep field in the Norwegian Arctic, offering a rare window into the dawn of complex life on Earth. The discovery, reported Wednesday in the journal…

First adult T. rex trackway discovered in North Dakota

A high school teacher's sharp eye in the North Dakota badlands has led to a once-in-a-lifetime paleontological discovery: the first trackway ever attributed to an adult Tyrannosaurus rex. The find, published on September 8 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology,…

Fossil suggests live birth in mammals began 90M years earlier than thought

A 236-million-year-old fossil from Argentina has provided what researchers say is the earliest evidence of live birth in the mammalian lineage, pushing the origin of viviparity back 90 to 95 million years earlier than previously thought.

Study suggests early mammals blocked dinosaurs from evolving tiny bodies

Dinosaurs ruled the Earth as some of the largest land animals in history, but a new study suggests one of the most puzzling aspects of their evolution lies at the opposite end of the size spectrum: why they never became…

First baby T. rex fossils found in museum drawers

Paleontologists have identified the first known fossils of Tyrannosaurus rex hatchlings, revealing that the most famous predator in Earth's history started life as a scrappy, cat-sized creature weighing about as much as a Yorkshire terrier — and was already biting…

T. rex ‘Gus’ sells for record $50.1M at Sotheby’s

A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton nicknamed "Gus" sold for $50.1 million at Sotheby's in New York on Tuesday, shattering the record for the most expensive fossil ever sold at auction. The 67-million-year-old specimen, one of the largest and most complete T.…

550-million-year-old fossil shows earliest animal handedness

A palm-sized organism that crawled along the ocean floor more than half a billion years ago appears to have preferred turning right — making it the oldest known animal to display a population-wide side preference, according to research published today…

518-million-year-old fossil reveals earliest spider fangs

A 518-million-year-old marine creature preserved in the rocks of southern China has yielded the earliest known evidence of chelicerae — the specialized appendages that evolved into the fangs of spiders and the pincers of scorpions — according to a study…

Fossil babies upend 150-year theory of how animals first reached land

For 150 years, scientists assumed the first vertebrates to leave the seas underwent a tadpole-like stage on their path to life on land. A study published Thursday in the journal Science upends that narrative, revealing that fossilized hatchlings of early…

T-rex leather handbag goes under the hammer in Paris

A one-of-a-kind luxury handbag made from lab-grown material derived from Tyrannosaurus rex fossils is being auctioned today at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris, with estimates between €300,000 and €500,000 — roughly $347,000 to $578,000.

Vast whale graveyard with 5-million-year-old fossils found in Indian Ocean

Chinese scientists have uncovered the largest, deepest, and oldest whale graveyard ever found on Earth, a sprawling underwater cemetery stretching roughly 1,200 kilometers across the floor of the southeastern Indian Ocean. The findings, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, reveal…

Sotheby’s to auction T. rex skeleton ‘Gus’ for up to $30M

Sotheby's announced on Tuesday that it will auction a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton named "Gus" as the centerpiece of its annual Geek Week sales this July, carrying an estimate of $20 million to $30 million — the highest pre-sale estimate ever…

Phillips to sell rare juvenile Triceratops for up to $3.5M

Phillips Auction House has announced its historic entry into the dinosaur fossil market with the upcoming sale of a rare juvenile Triceratops skeleton named "Cera," estimated at $2.5 to $3.5 million for its November 18 Modern and Contemporary auction. The…

Archaeologists find trilobite amulet in Roman mining settlement

Excavations at the A Cibdá de Armea settlement in Galicia, Spain have revealed the first trilobite fossil ever found in a Roman archaeological context—a Middle Ordovician specimen discovered in a high-status Roman domus, deliberately modified with seven distinct wear facets…

Dinosaur fossil sets $30.5M auction record after fierce bidding war

A rare juvenile Ceratosaurus fossil has fetched an astonishing $30.5 million at Sotheby's New York, selling for more than five times its high presale estimate of $6 million after a fierce six-minute bidding war, making it the third most valuable…

67.5 million-year-old dinosaur fossil found beneath Denver museum parking lot

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science recently made a remarkable discovery right beneath its own parking lot, unearthing a partial dinosaur fossil dating back 67.5 million years while drilling for a potential geothermal energy project 763 feet below the…

Natural History Museum unveils rare dinosaur bought from art fair

London's Natural History Museum has unveiled a new species of dinosaur, named Enigmacursor ("enigmatic runner"), after David Aaron gallery brokered a deal between an anonymous American art collecting couple and the museum for the £450,000 fossil that was previously displayed…

Largest Mars meteorite on Earth could fetch $4M at auction

A 54-pound chunk of Mars, the largest piece of the red planet ever discovered on Earth, will go under the hammer at Sotheby's New York on July 16 with an estimated price tag of up to $4 million. The meteorite,…