Dinosaurs, as a scientific topic, encompass a diverse clade of archosaurian reptiles (primarily Dinosauria) that dominated terrestrial ecosystems during most of the Mesozoic Era and are central to research in vertebrate evolution, functional morphology, macroecology, and extinction dynamics. Study of dinosaurs integrates skeletal anatomy, phylogenetics, bone histology, biomechanics, ichnology, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction to investigate growth rates, locomotor strategies, trophic networks, and responses to climatic and tectonic changes. Modern research also emphasizes the dinosaur–bird transition, including the evolution of feathers, flight-related adaptations, and metabolic physiology, as well as patterns of diversification and selectivity associated with the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.
Cute, green, and sporting two sprigs of hair on his head, a mischievous baby dinosaur named Dooly is one of the most beloved cartoon characters in South Korea. So, when researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 19, 2026
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What do we really know about how oviraptors—bird-like but flightless dinosaurs—hatched their eggs? Did they use environmental heat, like crocodiles, or body heat from an adult, like birds? In a new Frontiers in Ecology and ...
Evolution
Mar 17, 2026
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My fixation on a small, desolate locale in the heart of the Sahara Desert started with a single line buried in a 630-page tome in French about the rocks of the central Sahara: "Dent de Carcharodontosaurus saharicus Depéret," ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 16, 2026
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In biology and paleontology (the study of extinct organisms) there are a few ways to estimate the age of an animal's skeleton. One is the extent of fusion of sutures in the skeleton—how much the plates of bone have joined ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 14, 2026
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The oceans of the Cretaceous of North America teemed with life. Gigantic fish and enormous marine reptiles hunted the Western Interior Sea. A unique new fossil demonstrates rare evidence of direct conflict between these apex ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 13, 2026
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Tyrannosaurus rex is one of the most recognizable names of the dinosaur world, a hulking and terrifying meat-eating behemoth. While fossil remains have been extensively studied, not much is known about its family history ...
A "peculiar" ancient relative of the crocodile which experts believe began life on four legs before, in adulthood, it learned how to walk on just two has been revealed in a new study. Named Sonselasuchus cedrus, this archaic ...
Evolution
Mar 9, 2026
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In a study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, researchers Dr. Giovanna M. X. Paixão and her colleagues analyzed the fossilized remains of three Upper Cretaceous egg clutches. One of these clutches, totaling ...
Powerful, fierce and the king of the Cretaceous world, Tyrannosaurus rex was the ultimate apex predator. But it was also surprisingly dainty on its feet, according to new research. Findings published in the journal Royal ...
A team co-led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researcher Peter Makovicky and Argentinean colleague Sebastian Apesteguía has identified a 90-million-year-old fossil that provides the "missing link" for a mysterious ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Feb 25, 2026
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