Main Content
Prehistoric Features
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Bizarre Dinosaurs
A bizarre gallery of Mesozoic monsters prompts John Updike to ask: What has evolution wrought?
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Prehistoric Time Line
National Geographic's interactive time line takes you on a 4.5-billion-year-old trip through Earth's history⎯from its Precambrian birth to the birth of Homo sapiens some 190,000 years ago.
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Prehistoric World
Discover and explore prehistoric times with galleries, time lines, quizzes, and more.
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Mass Extinctions
More than 90 percent of all organisms that have ever lived on Earth are extinct. Learn how millions of creatures can disappear in a geological blink of an eye—and see what might be next.
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Photo Gallery: Permian Period
Peer into the flourishing world of the Permian, when a wealth of new animals appeared⎯before nearly all life on Earth was wiped out in a mass extinction.
Prehistoric Animal Videos
Animal News
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Tarzan Chameleon Found
The discovery on Madagascar of the new species—given away by its flat snout—is a "Tarzan yell for conservation," a new study says.
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Lizard Evolving for Live Birth
A skink species lays eggs on coasts but births babies in mountains, giving a glimpse of how placentas evolved, scientists say.
Animals A-Z
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School Contest
Enter your idea in the Find Your Footprint contest and your classroom and school could win big!
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Vote Now
Over 14,000 photographs were submitted to the contest. Vote for your favorite finalists!