Palaeontology is the study of prehistoric species, mostly ones that are extinct. It focuses primarily on fossil data, using a variety of physical, chemical and biological techniques to analyse them.

It’s not causing panic! in the fossil record, but a 430-million-year-old mollusk discovery in Britain is a source of excitement for some scientists.

The Secrets of Fossil Teeth Revealed by the Synchrotron: A Long Childhood Is the Prelude to the Evolution of a Large Brain Nov. 13, 2024 — Could social bonds be the key to human big brains?

Joseph Caputo is a former editorial intern for Smithsonian and now a freelance science writer and editor based in Boston, Massachusetts. Scientists at the Natural History Museum search for the ...

Feb. 7, 2025 — Researchers have analyzed the soft tissue from a fossilized plesiosaur for the first time. The results show that the long-necked marine reptile had both smooth and scaly skin ...

"By looking at the spin of the black hole, you're essentially looking at its fossil record." Related: Time-lapse of 1st black hole ever imaged reveals how matter swirls around it ...