Extinct Species, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 13, 2023

Low water levels in Lake Powell reveal 'extremely rare' fossils from extinct Jurassic mammal relative

Lake Powell's fluctuating shoreline has revealed extremely rare fossils belonging to a long-extinct mammal relative that roamed North America 180 million years ago, National Park Service (NPS) officials announced last week. Researchers discovered the bones earlier this year in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA) in southern Utah while...

Oct 25, 2023

Ancient skeletons of largest-ever marsupial unearthed in Australia

A unique fossil site in Western Australia is revealing the elusive remains of the world's largest ever marsupial, a museum has announced. The skeletons belong to Diprotodon, which is related to wombats and koalas and lived during the Pleistocene epoch (about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago). These megafauna were...

Oct 30, 2023

Girl discovers 100,000-year-old mammoth bones in Russian river while fishing with dad

An 8-year-old girl in Russia has discovered a set of mammoth leg bones, as well as a vertebra from a prehistoric bison while fishing with her father along the shores of the Oka River near Novinki, western Russia. According to translated Russian news reports, Maryam Mirsaitova noticed a series of...

Oct 31, 2023

Flesh-eating 'killer' lampreys that lived 160 million years ago unearthed in China

Scientists in China have unearthed two superbly preserved, 160 million-year-old lamprey fossils — including the largest found to date — shining a light on this group's obscure evolutionary history. Lampreys are one of two living jawless vertebrate groups that first appear in the fossil record around 360 million years ago,...

Nov 21, 2023

Huge mammoth jaw at least 10,000 years old pulled up from Florida river

A fossil hunter made an astonishing discovery while diving in a Florida river — the fossilized jawbone of a mammoth. John Kreatsoulas, who runs Fossil Junkies Dig and Dive Charters, an organization that runs fossil-hunting trips for the public, discovered the intact fossil while exploring a section of the Peace...

Dec 8, 2023

Teenage tyrannosaurs gorged on dino 'drumsticks,' 1st-of-their-kind fossils show

Paleontologists in Canada have uncovered a first-of-its-kind fossilized meal after finding dinosaur drumsticks in the belly of a teenage tyrannosaur. The unique fossils are the first direct evidence that these apex predators switched up their diets from early years to adulthood, a new study shows. Researchers discovered the partial remains...

Dec 23, 2023

11 jaw-dropping fossil discoveries that weren't dinosaurs in 2023

Dinosaurs often steal the limelight when it comes to fossils, but other prehistoric critters are just as deserving of our attention. As 2023 comes to a close, it's time to look back on some of the most jaw-dropping fossil discoveries that weren't all about T. rex. From a fish with...

Dec 24, 2023

Science news this week: An ancient 'blue dragon' and atom-size black holes

This week in science news, we discovered the near-complete remains of a never-before-seen mosasaur that dominated the ancient Pacific Ocean, learned of atom-size black holes that could be devouring stars from the inside out, and investigated no burp syndrome, which causes flatulence and awkward gurgling. The holiday season may be...

Jan 4, 2024

Megalodon tooth found on unexplored seamount 10,000 feet below the ocean's surface

A remotely operated submarine was collecting samples on a previously unexplored deep sea mountain when it scooped up a rare megalodon tooth. The gold-colored tooth, which is 2.7 inches (6.8 centimeters) long, was discovered more than 10,000 feet (3,090 meters) below the surface near the Johnston Atoll in the Pacific...

Jan 16, 2024

Mummified skin from creature that lived 290 million years ago is older than the dinosaurs

Crocodile-like skin belonging to an early species of reptile is the oldest fossilized skin ever discovered, dating back almost 290 million years — 130 million years older than the previous record holder. The skin, dating from the Paleozoic era (541 million to 252 million years ago), has similar features to...

Jan 21, 2024

Megalodon didn't look like a 50-foot great white shark, controversial study claims

Megalodon, the biggest shark to have ever lived, may not have looked like an uber great white shark as is generally assumed — but instead may have been longer and thinner, scientists have revealed. By reanalyzing the incomplete spine of a fossilized megalodon (Otodus megalodon) held at the Royal Belgian...

Feb 7, 2024

Jurassic 'mist wing' fossil discovered on Scottish island could be missing link in pterosaur evolution

Researchers have discovered a never-before-seen mist wing pterosaur on the Isle of Skye in Scotland that could be a missing link in the evolution of these flying reptiles. The newly discovered creature lived 168 to 166 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic period. The new species is called Ceoptera...

Feb 14, 2024

Watch 30-foot Jurassic sea monster come back to life in David Attenborough's new pliosaur show

Researchers have reconstructed a deadly Jurassic sea monster after excavating an enormous fossilized pliosaur skull from a U.K. cliff face. The discovery of the skull and subsequent reconstruction are highlighted in a new documentary, Attenborough and the Jurassic Sea Monster, which airs Wednesday (Feb. 14) on PBS. The pliosaur —...

Feb 16, 2024

Only part of rare 280 million-year-old fossil is real — the rest is mostly paint

A rare 280 million-year-old fossil resembling a lizard-like creature is mostly just a carved rock painted black, a new analysis reveals. The Permian fossil, discovered in the Italian Alps in 1931 and named Tridentinosaurus antiquus, is shaped like a lizard and has a dark coloration, which researchers thought was preserved...

Mar 6, 2024

Dinosaur-age sea monster with 'face full of huge, dagger-shaped teeth' discovered in Moroccan mine

Paleontologists in Morocco have discovered the fossilized remains of a huge, never-before-seen species of marine lizard with dagger-like teeth. The reptile was around 26 feet (8 meters) long — about the same length as an orca — and hunted in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of what is now...