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A skeleton of an ichthyosaur

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An Ichthyosaur's Bones

Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles that lived in the ocean during the time of the...

an ancient worm-like creature with spikes on its back

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Hallucigenia's Spikes

Despite the impressive adaptations of the world’s first predators, those that...

serrations from sharks on a fossilized whalebone

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Bite Marks From the Past

The markings on this fossilized whalebone are from megalodon (Carcharodon...

A shark tooth embedded in a bone

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A Tooth Left Behind

A Megalodon left behind a piece of itself when it bit into its prey. This is a...

A rendering of an ocean scene as it may have looked 65 million years ago, when an astroid fell to Earth and triggered a mass extinction event.

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Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary (65 Million Years Ago)

This rendering shows life at the end of the Cretaceous Period, before the impact of...

A rendering of an underwater marine scene from the Cambrian Period, featuring an arthropod, annelids, and other animals.

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Cambrian Period (542 – 488 Million Years Ago)

The basic body plans of all modern animals were set during the Cambrian Period, 542...

An artistic rendering of an ocean landscape as it may have looked during the Archean Eon.

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The Archean Eon (4,600 – 2,500 Million Years Ago)

Humans are late arrivals on Earth. For nearly 75% of Earth’s history, life...

The first known filter feeder is a large shrimp-like creature called Tamisiocaris borealis. The feather-like structures on its head were used to rake plankton from the sea.

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The First Filter Feeder

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

a fossilized jawbone and tooth of an ichthyosaur

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An Ichthyosaur Jaw Bone

During the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods, when dinosaurs reigned on...

A 3D representation of a paleontological dig site with fossils colorized

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An Ichthyosaur Gravesite

In the Nevada desert there is a massive graveyard where 37 fossilized ichthyosaur...

a group of ichthyosaurs swims at the ocean's surface

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Ichthyosaur Nursery

Like whales and sharks today, ichthyosaurs over 200 million years ago congregated...

An illustration of the megalodon shark.

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Ancient Giant Megatooth Shark

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