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Age of the Earth
Earth is estimated to be 4.54 billion years old, plus or minus about 50 million years. Scientists have scoured the Earth searching for the oldest rocks to radiometrically date. In northwestern Canada, they discovered rocks about 4.03 billion years old. Then, in Australia, they discovered minerals about 4.3 billion years old. Researchers know that rocks are continuously recycling, due to the rock cycle, so they continued to search for data elsewhere. Since it is thought the bodies in the solar system may have formed at similar times, scientists analyzed moon rocks collected during the moon landing and even meteorites that have crash-landed on Earth. Both of these materials dated to between 4.4 and 4.5 billion years. Learn more about the age of our planet with these resources.
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dinosaurs
Dinosaurs gambol and charge through our imagination as scaly reptilian creatures with menacing teeth, claws, spikes, and hammering, bony bulbs. They roamed Earth roughly 175 million years ago, and most were wiped out by an extinction event roughly 65 million years ago. Thanks to ongoing scientific research, we continue to revise our theories about how dinosaurs evolved, what they ate, and how they moved through their environments. Read about the latest discovery in National Geographic’s Science article: Bizarre Spinosaurus Makes History as First Known Swimming Dinosaur.
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Nat Geo Explores: Why the Dinosaurs’ Extinction is an Ongoing Puzzle
Dinosaurs ruled the world for roughly 140 million years—until they suddenly disappeared. While decades of research point to an asteroid impact at Chicxulub crater as the end of the dinosaurs' reign 66 million years ago, scientists weren't always so sure what happened to these mesmerizing creatures. Theories varied wildly throughout the twentieth century as the field of paleontology grew, but it wasn't until the 1980s that one theory emerged as a major breakthrough in the extinction mystery. Today's scientists continue to piece together the puzzle with discoveries that give us a clearer picture of what happened to the dinosaurs.
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Beasts of a Feather
Use this infographic to explore dinosaurs and the evolution of feathers and feather-like structures.
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TIL: Dinosaurs May Have Danced Like Birds
Dinosaurs may have more in common with birds than we thought, including their dance moves! Join paleontologist and National Geographic Explorer Jack Horner as he reveals that some dinosaurs most likely had feathers like birds of today, and also shared dance moves like those typically seen in birds-of-paradise in order to attract a mate.
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Age of the Earth
Earth is estimated to be 4.54 billion years old, plus or minus about 50 million years. Scientists have scoured the Earth searching for the oldest rocks to radiometrically date. In northwestern Canada, they discovered rocks about 4.03 billion years old. Then, in Australia, they discovered minerals about 4.3 billion years old. Researchers know that rocks are continuously recycling, due to the rock cycle, so they continued to search for data elsewhere. Since it is thought the bodies in the solar system may have formed at similar times, scientists analyzed moon rocks collected during the moon landing and even meteorites that have crash-landed on Earth. Both of these materials dated to between 4.4 and 4.5 billion years. Learn more about the age of our planet with these resources.
-
dinosaurs
Dinosaurs gambol and charge through our imagination as scaly reptilian creatures with menacing teeth, claws, spikes, and hammering, bony bulbs. They roamed Earth roughly 175 million years ago, and most were wiped out by an extinction event roughly 65 million years ago. Thanks to ongoing scientific research, we continue to revise our theories about how dinosaurs evolved, what they ate, and how they moved through their environments. Read about the latest discovery in National Geographic’s Science article: Bizarre Spinosaurus Makes History as First Known Swimming Dinosaur.
-
Nat Geo Explores: Why the Dinosaurs’ Extinction is an Ongoing Puzzle
Dinosaurs ruled the world for roughly 140 million years—until they suddenly disappeared. While decades of research point to an asteroid impact at Chicxulub crater as the end of the dinosaurs' reign 66 million years ago, scientists weren't always so sure what happened to these mesmerizing creatures. Theories varied wildly throughout the twentieth century as the field of paleontology grew, but it wasn't until the 1980s that one theory emerged as a major breakthrough in the extinction mystery. Today's scientists continue to piece together the puzzle with discoveries that give us a clearer picture of what happened to the dinosaurs.
-
Beasts of a Feather
Use this infographic to explore dinosaurs and the evolution of feathers and feather-like structures.
-
TIL: Dinosaurs May Have Danced Like Birds
Dinosaurs may have more in common with birds than we thought, including their dance moves! Join paleontologist and National Geographic Explorer Jack Horner as he reveals that some dinosaurs most likely had feathers like birds of today, and also shared dance moves like those typically seen in birds-of-paradise in order to attract a mate.