From the creepiest Cambrian critters to massive marine reptiles, wonderfully weird sea creatures have inhabited our oceans for over half a billion years. We've put together a list of 25 of the ...

An event as simple as the world's first bite may have sparked an ancient "explosion" of life 500 million years ago that led to the rise of the broad groups of animals that are still alive today. A ...

The fossilized organisms of the Cambrian period some 500 million years ago are both alien and familiar. A few of them look a lot like the creatures around us today. But even some that don’t look at ...

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their ...

A spectacularly preserved creature, dubbed Lyrarapax unguispinus, was unearthed in China. The 520-million-year-old sea creature was so well-preserved that parts of its brain and nervous system were ...

Compared to other creatures of the Cambrian seas, Synophalos xynos seems rather plain. It was not a living pincushion like Wiwaxia, its body did not resemble a walking cactus like Diania, and it ...

Grand Canyon fossils in the Bright Angel formation reveal 500M-year-old animals with dual feeding structures, reshaping ...

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This column is part of a series where Verge staffers post highly subjective reviews of animals. Up until now, we’ve written about animals without telling you whether they suck or rule. We are now ...

A newly described species from the Burgess Shale had three eyes, clawed limbs, and a tail full of gills—plus internal organs preserved in stunning detail. Reading time 3 minutes A newly described ...

If you could dip your head into the oceans of Earth as they appeared 500 million years ago, you might see what looked like a spiny, disembodied claw cruising through the depths while trying to stuff ...