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When does a bone become a fossil?

15 February 2024

As organic material in a bone gets replaced by minerals over time, it becomes a fossil. But that can happen at different rates even within the same individual

Fossil of pregnant ground sloth discovered with fetus inside

14 July 2023

Found in a Brazilian cave, the remarkable specimen of a ground sloth fetus inside its mother offers a rare insight into the developmental biology of the extinct mammal

Ancient mass extinction may have driven millipedes to eat meat

21 May 2023

The mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period wiped out many plants. Fossils of millipedes from that era have been found alongside carcasses of mammal ancestors, suggesting that mass plant die-off may have driven them to be carnivorous

Broad-nosed ancient shark was one of earliest fish to smell in stereo

8 April 2023

Fossils found in Morocco show the sensory specialisation of a 365-million-year-old shark, given the species name Maghriboselache mohamezanei

Largest flower found in amber was frozen in time millions of years ago

12 January 2023

This beautiful flower was trapped in amber between 33 million and 38 million years ago, preserving it in exquisite detail

A view of one part of the Paleontology collection in the Musuem of Natural History, arranged by the addition of representative specimens from other parts of the three floors of fossils in the East Wing.

Remnants of Ancient Life review: Explore the palaeobiology revolution

11 January 2023

Dale Greenwalt's book is a gripping look at palaeobiology, a field achieving incredible insights into ancient life on Earth

Largest ever animal may have been Triassic ichthyosaur super-predator

29 December 2022

New fossil discoveries show predatory marine reptiles from 200 million years ago may have been bigger than today’s blue whales – and that they evolved astonishingly rapidly

How flowering plants beat bloom-free gymnosperms to world dominance

8 November 2022

Flowerless gymnosperms, such as conifer and ginkgo, ruled the Jurassic world before their flowering rivals, the angiosperms, became dominant. What caused the fall of one and the rise of the other?

Colombian dinosaur finally identified thanks to 2016 peace agreement

18 August 2022

A peace agreement in Colombia meant researchers could return to the site where a sauropod fossil was dug up in 1943 and name it as a new species, Perijasaurus lapaz

Tiny structures in rock may be fossils of earliest known life on Earth

13 April 2022

A centimetre-long branching structure found in a rock dated to at least 3.75 billion years ago may be the earliest evidence for life on Earth, although not everyone agrees