Prehistory
Dinosaur Provincial Park: Alberta's Late Cretaceous Fossil Field
One of the richest dinosaur fossil sites known, protected as a provincial park in 1955 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
Era · Before c. 3000 BC
Prehistory
From the formation of Earth and the age of dinosaurs to the first cave art and monuments, before writing was invented.
Prehistory
Chicxulub Asteroid Impact: How the Dinosaurs Were Wiped Out
A global mass extinction wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs and around three-quarters of plant and animal species, ending the Cretaceous Period.
Prehistory
Titanoboa: The Giant Snake of Colombia's Paleocene Rainforest
Fossils from the Cerrejón Formation revealed the largest snake known from good fossil remains, estimated at around 13 metres and over a tonne.
Prehistory
Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: Earth's Ancient Global Warming
A rapid release of thousands of billions of tonnes of carbon warmed the planet, acidified the oceans and reshaped marine and land life.
Prehistory
Messel Pit: Germany's Eocene Fossil Treasure Trove
A former oil shale mine saved from becoming a landfill, now a World Heritage Site famous for exceptionally preserved Eocene animals and plants.
Prehistory
Wadi Al-Hitan: Egypt's Valley of the Whales and Fossil Whales
Hundreds of fossil whale skeletons, including Basilosaurus with small hind legs, record a key stage in the evolution of whales from land mammals.
Prehistory
Paraceratherium: The Largest Land Mammal That Ever Lived
A giant browsing rhino relative, known from Asia and first described in 1911, is among the largest land mammals ever, at roughly 15 to 20 tonnes.
Prehistory
Megalodon: The Giant Prehistoric Shark and Its Extinction
The largest known predatory shark dominated the world's oceans for some 20 million years before going extinct around 3.6 million years ago.
Prehistory
Ashfall Fossil Beds: Miocene Rhinos Buried by Volcanic Ash
Hundreds of complete skeletons of rhinos, horses, camels and birds, killed by ash from a Yellowstone hotspot eruption, are preserved where they died.
Prehistory
Toumai (Sahelanthropus tchadensis): The Seven-Million-Year Skull
The cranium was named Sahelanthropus tchadensis in 2002 and is widely treated as one of the oldest possible hominins, although its status remains debated.
Prehistory
Messinian Salinity Crisis: When the Mediterranean Sea Dried Up
The Mediterranean was isolated from the Atlantic, deposited vast layers of salt and gypsum, and was refilled through the Strait of Gibraltar about 5.33 million years ago.
Prehistory
Ardi (Ardipithecus ramidus): A 4.4-Million-Year-Old Ancestor
The partial skeleton ARA-VP-6/500, published in 2009, showed an early hominin adapted both to climbing in trees and to walking upright on the ground.