A study from UNIL explains why some animals transform into fossils when they die, but most simply return to dust.

Snail shells are often colourful and strikingly patterned. This is due to pigments that are produced in special cells of the snail and stored in the shell in varying concentrations. Fossil shells, on ...

Colors in the natural world can come in just about every possible shade, from the bright blues of a peacock's tail feathers to the glow of an animal under ultraviolet light. Now researchers have found ...

Pigments in fossil snail shells from Austria dating back 12 million years are the oldest known preserved dyes from the polyene group, as scientists from the Natural History Museum Vienna and the ...

Snails (Gastropoda) are a stroke of luck for paleontologists: because of their hard shells, these animals are very often preserved as fossils. Snails therefore form an important and well represented ...

An international team of researchers has discovered a new fossil worm lizard species in Tunisia. Terastiodontosaurus marcelosanchezi is the largest known species of the Amphisbaenia group, with a ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. A newly discovered extinct mollusk species that skulked along the ...

The recent launch of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket marked several historic milestones. The 21-year-old crew member Karsen ...

This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's ...

A strange reptile fossil found 18 years ago has now been identified as an ancient alligator species that had an unusually short snout and may have feasted on snails. When the near-complete skull was ...