Paleontology

Recent discoveries in several archaeological sites of Northern Spain (in the region of Asturias) suggested a disturbing truth: The ancestors of man, the Neanderthals, often became cannibals in some circumstances. These striking findings were mainly recovered in the caves of…
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Paleontology is the study of prehistoric life, including aspects as diverse as the fossil record, the history of Earth’s climate and the relatedness of DNA. It also has relevance for astrobiology and the possible development of life outside the Earth….
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Few dinosaurs are as aptly named as Apatosaurus, a sauropod whose name means “deceptive lizard.” This enormous Jurassic dinosaur deceived paleontologists for years, appearing as both Brontosaurus (“thunder lizard”) and Apatosaurus. Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877 identified Apatosaurus and, two…
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The first discovery of dinosaur remains definitely occurred before the time that humans began recording history. The matter of what qualifies as being the first discovery of dinosaur remains is more a matter of terminology, such as when the fossilized…
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Anchisaurus lived from the Mid-Triassic Period (250 to 200 million years ago) to the Early Jurassic Period (199 to 175 million years ago). Anchisaurus fossils have been found in what is now North America, Africa and Asia, and it may…
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It’s often a great distinction to be first at anything, and Anchisaurus (meaning “near lizard”) had the distinction of being the first dinosaur discovered in North America. In 1818, while sandstone in Connecticut was being quarried for building material, a…
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The Albertosaurus was a meat-eating dinosaur that lived 75 million years ago in what is now North America, during the Late Cretaceous Period. Although not quite as big (or famous) as its closest relative Tyrannosaurus Rex, Albertosaurus was a fierce…
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On Friday, July 28, 2006, scientists finally identified the skeletons of two ancient reptiles that swam in the icy waters surrounding Australia up to 115 million years ago.  They are some of the first reptiles to be categorized into the…
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15 feet tall and weighing six tonnes, the Tyrannosaurus Rex would have been the largest carnivore in its environment, thus earning the name “Tyrant Lizard King”. Though fossil discoveries have shown that larger land-based carnivores existed in other regions and…
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