A multidisciplinary team is jointly investigating mammal evolution and subduction dynamics to unravel how flightless land mammals migrated to the Greater Antilles and other Caribbean islands.
fossils & paleontology
Posted inFeatures
A Lost Haven for Early Modern Humans
Sea level changes have repeatedly reshaped the Paleo-Agulhas Plain, a now submerged region off the coast of South Africa that once teemed with plants, animals, and human hunter–gatherers.
Posted inNews
Ancient “Pickled” Leaves Give a Glimpse of Global Greening
A unique fossil lake bed in New Zealand has revealed insights into global climate under elevated levels of carbon dioxide but is now off-limits to scientists.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Why Did Great Apes Disappear from Southwestern China?
Periodic pulses of cooler temperatures may have disrupted the warm, humid, late Miocene climate that sustained the region’s great apes long after most species disappeared elsewhere.
Posted inNews
Does This Fossil Reveal a Jurassic Tropical Freeze?
On view for over a century, a fossil slab may display evidence of tropical freezing during the Jurassic, but scientists never noticed it—until one finally did. Some colleagues are not convinced.
Posted inNews
Paleontologists Peer Inside Billion-Year-Old Cells
Scientists have discovered the fossilized remains of Precambrian cells extraordinarily preserved with the rare earth element phosphates monazite and xenotime.
Posted inNews
Newly Discovered Fossil Species Named After Star Wars Starship
The 500-million-year-old species is a distant relative of today’s crabs, spiders, and insects.
Posted inNews
Nineteen Eighty-Forams
Facial recognition technology is helping researchers identify marine microorganisms.
Posted inNews
Dinosaurs Roar Again, Now Including a Focus on Climate Change
The newly renovated fossil hall at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History features spectacular fossils and includes a theme of human impact on life on Earth.
Posted inNews
Earth’s Eccentric Orbit Helped Preserve Rare Soft-Tissue Fossils
Cyclical changes in Earth’s orbit helped to preserve rare fossils in Morocco.