Extinction
Latest about Extinct Species
'Like swallowing a dinner plate': 180 million-year-old fish may have choked to death on its supersized supper
By Ethan Freedman published
The fossil was hidden in a museum drawer for decades before researchers reexamined it to uncover a story about prehistoric life — and death.
240 million-year-old fossil of salamander-like creature with 'gnarly teeth' unearthed in rocks for garden wall
By Sascha Pare published
A retired chicken farmer found the rocks in the mid-1990s and donated it to the Australian Museum, where researchers have now named the newfound species Arenaerpeton supinatus.
5 million-year-old fossils reveal 2 new species of saber-toothed cats in South Africa
By Harry Baker published
The pair of newfound species, as well as two previously known species unearthed in the same place, rewrite what we knew about these prehistoric predators.
Half-billion-year-old fossil of strange Cambrian creature gives evolutionary clues about vertebrates
By Sarah Moore published
The fossil of an ancient sea squirt found in a collection at the Utah Museum of Natural History turned out to be the oldest of its kind.
Dire wolves and saber-toothed cats may have gotten arthritis as they inbred themselves to extinction
By Ethan Freedman published
Bones from the two ancient predatory species were found in the La Brea tar pits in what is now West Hollywood and showed signs of bone disease not normally seen in wild animals.
500 million-year-old 'abnormal shrimp' used facial spikes to 'pincushion' soft prey
By Jennifer Nalewicki published
Scientists have solved the mystery of what Anomalocaris canadensis, an extinct apex predator, may have eaten.
Siberian cave filled with mammoth, rhino and bear bones is ancient hyena lair
By Kristin Hugo published
The cave has been untouched for around 42,000 years. It also contained the bones and teeth of hyena pups, suggesting they raised their young there.
94 million-year-old fossilized sea monster is the oldest of its kind in North America
By Kiley Price published
A team of researchers uncovered a tiny mosasaur fossil in the gray shale rocks of southern Utah — a discovery that could teach us more about this ancient sea beast's evolutionary history.
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