The ancient cephalopod, Nanaimoteuthis haggarti, appears to have been an apex predator that rivaled mosasaurs to rule prehistoric seas. A sketch of the giant octopus of the genus Nanaimoteuthis from ...

Move over, megalodon, there’s a new contender for most terrifying marine predator of all time. An analysis of fossil jaws belonging to octopuses that lived between 100 million and 72 million years ago ...

Paleontologists have used an Ice Age fossil found 120 years ago in an underground cave to reveal that extinct giant echidnas roamed southeastern Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch, filling a major ...

In a new and ongoing exhibition, the American Museum of Natural History highlights the findings of Mark Norell and other fossil hunters responsible for its most important discoveries. By Mark A. Stein ...

A rare fossil discovery is shedding light on the “missing years” of early sponge evolution. Scientists found a 550-million-year-old sponge that likely lacked hard skeletal parts, explaining why ...

Researchers studying a 250-million-year-old fossil have found the first ever proof that mammal ancestors laid eggs, with the discovery also shedding light on a remarkable survival story. The fossil, ...

A badly mangled dinosaur skull, once forgotten in a drawer, turned out to be a rare and important discovery. Reconstructed by a Virginia Tech student, it revealed a new species of early carnivorous ...

Giant octopuses measuring up to 62 feet (19 meters) in length were among the top ocean predators around 100 million years ago, according to new research that uncovered rare fossils hidden within solid ...

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. An artist's ...

In the age of the dinosaurs, while Tyrannosaurus rex terrorized the land, gargantuan octopuses might have been among the top predators in the sea. Scientists have identified extinct octopuses — ...

Detailed imaging of a 250-million-year-old fossil has revealed the first proof that the ancestors of mammals laid eggs. The discovery answers a long-standing question about the reproductive biology of ...