Archaeology
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Tylosaurus rex: The “T. rex” of the seas that dominated the oceans 80 million years ago
What is Tylosaurus rex and why is it shaking up paleontology? If you thought Tyrannosaurus rex was the most terrifying predator of the dinosaur age, get ready to meet its marine equivalent: Tylosaurus rex, a newly described mosasaur species identified by scientists from the American Museum of Natural History, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, and Southern Methodist University. This prehistoric giant measured up to 43 feet (13 meters) in length and ranks among the largest mosasaurs ever discovered. To put it in perspective: it was roughly twice the length of the largest great white sharks ever recorded. A discovery hiding in museum drawers for decades The story behind…
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Native Americans Invented the Game of Dice 12,000 Years Ago
Native Americans Invented the Game of Dice 12,000 Years Ago When we think about the origins of dice, almost everyone imagines Egypt, Mesopotamia, or ancient China. But a study published in April 2026 in the journal American Antiquity overturns that assumption: Native Americans were deliberately making and using dice more than 12,000 years ago, making the American continent the birthplace of organized gambling — and of probabilistic thinking. A Discovery That Rewrites the History Books Robert J. Madden, a researcher at Colorado State University, is the author of the study. His conclusion is unambiguous: historians have long treated dice and probability as inventions of the Old World, but the archaeological…
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They Found a Fossil So Strange That Paleontologists Couldn’t Believe What They Were Seeing
Flies Fossilized 40 Million Years Ago While Mating: The Incredible Discovery in Australian Amber That Rewrites History Imagine if, at the most intimate moment of your life, time stopped forever. That is exactly what happened to two flies approximately 41 million years ago in what we now know as Australia. Trapped in amber while mating, these tiny creatures were suspended in time, becoming one of the most astonishing and rare fossils ever discovered in the southern hemisphere. But this story goes far beyond a curious anecdote. It is a paleontological discovery that is shaking the very foundations of what we know about the evolution of life in Australia, the supercontinent…
