Through Time | Smithsonian Ocean

Waves cresting in the ocean.

A Mesozoic Ocean scene

The Ocean Throughout Geologic Time

The ocean has gone through some dramatic transformations over time. This overview dives into our globe's ocean past.

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Featured Content

Photograph of the model of a Giant Megatooth Shark, taken from the front..

Slideshow

Shark Ancestors

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

Slideshow

A Collection of Cambrian Fossils

Blue whale skull being installed at National Museum of Natural History.

Article

When Did Today’s Whales Get So Big?

A hippopotamus-like creature swims underwater

Article

Flippers or Feet? An Extinct Mammal May Have Been Replaced By Today's Sea Cows

Although in reality an ichthyosaur and plesiosaur would have likely never battled, this widely shared lithograph by artist, geologist and paleontologist Henry De la Beche even inspired author Jules Verne to pen a similar scene in his book, Journey to the C

Article

Unearthing History: Mary Anning's Hunt for Prehistoric Ocean Giants

Through Time Articles

Rough periwinkles sit on a bed of barnacles.

Article

Spirals in Time: A Walk at the Seashore

A walrus sits on top of ice.

Article

The Cultural Icescapes of the Arctic

Fossil mosasaur skull and partial skeleton sitting in what looks like the dirt it was excavated from.

Article

If You Build An Ocean, Sea Monsters Will Come

A screenshot from the video of jars in the Smithsonian marine collections.

Video

The Smithsonian Marine Collections

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

Slideshow

A Collection of Cambrian Fossils

Two men each hold a ceramic vessel at the archaeological excavation

Article

Archaeologists Study Early Whaling Community in Quebec, Canada

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

Slideshow

The Ocean Throughout Geologic Time, An Image Gallery

Forams are tiny single-celled organisms.

Slideshow

Foraminifera

A researcher holds an arm bone from a "toothed" mysticete whale from Vancouver Island.

Article

Dispatches from the Field: Treacherous stream crossings and a new fossil find

an ancient seascape

Video

Life in the Ediacaran

A screenshot from video showing Brian Huber behind a microscope.

Video

Smithsonian Paleobiologist Brian Huber

Hawaiian monk seals are among the wildlife found within the Papahānaumokuākea World Heritage Site.

Slideshow

Backbone of Biodiversity at Risk