There are three general approaches that allow scientists to date geological materials and answer the question: "How old is this fossil?" First, the relative age of a fossil can be determined.

The ratios of strontium isotopes in fossil shark teeth can be used to better understand how coastal environments evolved in ancient times, according to our newly published work. As paleontologists ...

Roughly half a million years ago, a group of armadillo-like mammals, horses, and sloths met their end in a sinkhole in what ...

Ammonite fossils, an example is shown here, are sea creatures that became extinct about 65 million years ago. Fossil remains have been found in rocks of all ages. Fossils of the simplest organisms ...

The majority of the fossils in Maryland date to the Miocene age, which ran from about 23 million to 5 million years ago. Saber-toothed cats and mastodons prowled alongside the first dogs and bears.

Chinese scientists discovered the world’s oldest short-tailed bird fossils on Thursday that date back to 150 million years ago in eastern China, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The study ...

Research led by the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at Ohio University has found evidence of hominin activity at a Romanian fossil site dating to at least 1.95 million years ago.

Evidence for early forms of life comes from fossils. By studying fossils, scientists can learn how much (or how little) organisms have changed as life developed on Earth. There are gaps in the ...