Fossils
Latest about Fossils
![An artist's interpretation of what the newly discovered turtle Leviathanochelys aenigmatica might have looked like.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/tzoBA7k6SmNogNe4hKm9AT-320-80.jpg)
Titanic 12-foot turtle cruised the ocean 80 million years ago, newfound fossils show
By Harry Baker published
Researchers in Spain have unearthed a never-before-seen species of ancient marine turtle, the largest of its kind ever uncovered in Europe.
![Artist's reconstruction of Gangtoucunia aspera as it would have appeared in life on the Cambrian seafloor, around 514 million years ago. The individual in the foreground has part of the skeleton removed to show the soft polyp inside.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/peWYSggECjnMtbrYrVBMgc-320-80.jpg)
Scientists solved a 500 million-year-old mystery about strange Cambrian structures found in China
By Joanna Thompson published
Extremely detailed Cambrian fossils show that enigmatic skeleton tubes belonged to ancient ancestors of modern jellyfish.
![Impressions of the extinct Ediacaran fossils: Dickinsonia (center) and the smaller anchor-shaped Parvancorina (left), in sandstone at the Nilpena Ediacara National Park in South Australia.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ckfsXACvh5n2WCSeBvfbZP-320-80.jpg)
Scientists just found a hidden 6th mass extinction in Earth's ancient past
By Joshua A. Krisch published
A global drop in oxygen levels about 550 million years ago led to Earth's first known mass extinction, new evidence suggests.
![3D model of the embryo of a cambrian creature; the ring-shaped brain is marked in yellow within the embryo (left) and in a detailed image on its own (right)](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/oP6E5uLWTZPZRHutJuXgZa-320-80.jpg)
Penis worm's ancient cousin fossilized with its doughnut-shaped brain intact
By Nicoletta Lanese last updated
Scientists found preserved brain tissue in a Cambrian fossil.
![A sample of Dresser Formation stromatolite, showing a complex layered structure formed of hematite, barite, and quartz, and a domed upper surface.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QXGRNP9UjshtXMr43yCVGo-320-80.jpg)
3.5 billion-year-old rock structures are one of the oldest signs of life on Earth
By Stephanie Pappas published
Fossils called stromatolites from Western Australia were created by microbes 3.48 billion years ago.
![Here, we see an illustration of a Pachycephalosaurus, a plant-eating dinosaur that had a thick melon-like dome on its head.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VpN8xnzzD2EqkoTRXxT6Lj-320-80.jpg)
Helmet-headed dinosaurs kickboxed like kangaroos, new study suggests
By Laura Geggel last updated
Pachycephalosaurs probably didn't butt heads at high speeds. Instead, they likely kickboxed like kangaroos.
![Paleontologists found one of the fossil casts in 2019, in the collection of the Natural History Museum in Berlin.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/CEiZyxxJiMPPYRtDQwk7K3-320-80.jpg)
Nazi bombs destroyed a priceless 'sea monster' fossil. Scientists just found its long-lost plaster copies.
By Mindy Weisberger published
More than 70 years ago, during a WWII air raid in the U.K., German bombs destroyed a rare fossil of an ichthyosaur. Scientists just found long-lost plaster casts of the priceless skeleton.
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