In the late 1700s, while inspecting a coal mine in southwest England, a young surveyor named William Smith noticed a surprising pattern: from one location to the next, rock layers (or "strata") were ...

Around 11 million years ago, a cooling climate fragmented warm, humid forests in Africa, Asia, and Europe, giving rise to savannas. Many mammals evolved to take advantage of these wide-open spaces, ...

In 1984, an amateur paleontologist in Scotland found a remarkable specimen: a nearly complete fossil of what looked to be a lizard or salamander. Rather small in size at 20 centimeters, it would turn ...