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If You Build An Ocean, Sea Monsters Will Come

Building a productive ocean is complicated. The process is long (on the order of...

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Coral Reefs Changing Over Time

How do we know what coral reefs looked like hundreds of years ago? Often times, we...

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Smithsonian Paleobiologist Brian Huber

Brian Huber studies fossil organisms known as “forams” to learn about climate...

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Evolution of Whales Animation

Whales have existed for millions of years. Watch this animation, from the Sant...

slideshow

A Squalodontid Success

On a beach in Piña, Panama the tide is rolling out. Faint outlines of skeletal...

slideshow

Rudist Reefs

About 100 million years ago, during the heyday of the dinosaurs, reefs were built...

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The First Filter Feeder

Today, filter feeders like clams, sponges, krill, baleen whales, fishes, and many...

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Ancient Entoproct Community

For a long time, scientists thought that some small tentacled fossils were early...

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Fossil Jellyfish

How long have jellyfish lived in the ocean? This jellyfish fossil is from the...

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A Mississippian Marine Habitat (359 - 318 Million Years Ago)

Crinoids (echinoderms related to sea stars and sea urchins) dominate the Paleozoic...

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Equipment for a Fossil Excavation

Paleobiologist Dr. Nicholas Pyenson, Curator of Fossil Marine Mammals for the...

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Ancient Giant Megatooth Shark

A scientific illustration of the most powerful fish of its time, Carcharocles...