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Sep 24 2010 - 6:00pm

Evidence shows that life probably began in the ocean at least 3.5 billion years ago. Photosynthesis began more than 2.5 billion years ago—the Great Oxidation Event. But it took hundreds of millions of years for enough oxygen to build up in the atmosp ... ...

Sep 20 2011 - 3:30pm

Where ocean currents were strong, ancient rudist “recliners” lay unattached on the seabed. Notice the pink tentacles, which were used to filter feed. Learn more about ocean l ... ...

Aug 9 2012 - 10:27am

A sea monster attacks a ship in an illustration for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. The illustration is by publisher and artist Pierre-Jules Hetzel, who is most famo ... ...

Jun 6 2012 - 2:17pm

This rendering shows life at the end of the Cretaceous Period, before the impact of a 6.2 mi (10 km) asteroid triggered mass extinctions on land and sea. Dinosaurs are the mo ... ...

Sep 21 2011 - 9:53am

Published in 1882 by Yale Professor A.E. Verrill, this is the first scientific illustration of a giant squid. More about the giant squid can be found in the Giant Squid section ... ...

Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am

People once thought giant squid (right) were Sea Monks, or mermen (left)—mythical creatures that were part fish-like and part human male. Learn more giant squid facts and legend in t ... ...

Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am

Like octopods and cuttlefishes, giant squid have eight arms. But they use their two much longer feeding tentacles to seize prey. The tentacles have powerful suckers at the ends. Mo ... ...

Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am

Hundreds of powerful suckers stud the flattened club at the end of the giant squid’s long feeding tentacle. They help the squid capture and hang on tightly to its prey. They also lea ... ...

Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am

Squids come in a wide range of sizes but despite differences in size and shape, all work basically the same way inside. More about the giant squid can be found in the Giant Squid s ... ...

Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am

A scientific illustration of the most powerful fish of its time,  Carcharodon megalodon , which swam the ocean 30 million years ago.  This shark may have reached a size of 20 meter ... ...

Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am

The giant squid is among the largest invertebrates on Earth, but this deep sea creature has rarely been observed by humans -- alive. Over the centuries, many dead giant squid have wa ... ...

Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am