Tag Archive | "prehistoric"

First ever record of insect pollination captured in 100 million-year-old amber

First ever record of insect pollination captured in 100 million-year-old amber

Scientists have discovered several specimens of tiny insects covered with pollen grains in two pieces of amber, revealing the first record of pollen transport and social behavior in this group of animals. [...more]

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3D imaging adds remarkable new understanding of North America’s mysterious Clovis people

3D imaging adds remarkable new understanding of North America’s mysterious Clovis people

The only explanation for such symmetry across these vast distances, explains Smithsonian anthropologist Dennis Stanford, is that the method of creating the points was handed down from person to person. [...more]

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Killer carnivores: Titanoboa vs. T-Rex — Premieres April 1 on Smithsonian Channel

Killer carnivores: Titanoboa vs. T-Rex — Premieres April 1 on Smithsonian Channel

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Boom and bust cycle of marine biodiversity every 60 million years linked to uplifting of continents

Boom and bust cycle of marine biodiversity every 60 million years linked to uplifting of continents

A mysterious cycle of booms and busts in marine biodiversity over the past 500 million years could be tied to a periodic uplifting of the world's continents, scientists report [...more]

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190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site discovered in South Africa

190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site discovered in South Africa

An excavation at a site in South Africa has unearthed the 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus–revealing significant clues about the evolution of complex reproductive behavior in early dinosaurs. [...more]

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New 20-foot extinct species of crocodile discovered in Colombian coal mine

New 20-foot extinct species of crocodile discovered in Colombian coal mine

University of Florida and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute scientists describe a new 20-foot extinct species of crocodile discovered in the same Colombian coal mine with Titanoboa, the world’s largest snake. [...more]

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Varied diet has allowed gray whales to survive millions of years, study reveals

Varied diet has allowed gray whales to survive millions of years, study reveals

Gray whales survived many cycles of global cooling and warming over the past few million years, likely by exploiting a more varied diet than they do today, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, and Smithsonian Institution paleontologists. [...more]

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Fossil skull of an extinct toothed whale excavated from Panamanian sediments

Fossil skull of an extinct toothed whale excavated from Panamanian sediments

A scientist from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute uses a pick to dislodge the fossil skull of an extinct toothed whale from sediments on the Panamanian Coast near the town of Piña. Researchers from STRI and the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History encased the skull in a plaster cast to protect it before removal. The [...] [...more]

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Meet our Scientists—Videos!

Science Spotlight

Scientists from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center have found that fledgling catbirds living in the suburbs are extremely vulnerable. Almost 80 percent are killed by predators before they reach adulthood. Nearly half of the deaths are connected to domestic cats. The team studied catbird nests in 3 suburban neighborhoods in Maryland: Spring Park, Opal Daniels Park, and Bethesda. Learn more about this 2011 study by clicking here. (Catbird photo by Gerhard Hofmann)

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