Read the latest positive news, breakthroughs, and inspiring stories about museum collections, curated daily by BrightWire.
Scientists discovered a new species of ancient animal in Tanzania that's rewriting when and where dinosaurs first appeared. The 240-million-year-old fossil sat in a museum for 60 years before revealing its secrets.
A forgotten museum fossil is rewriting what scientists thought they knew about life 500 million years ago. The discovery suggests Earth's ancient oceans were teeming with far more life than researchers believed.
A forgotten fossil sitting in a museum drawer for 62 years is helping scientists solve a mystery about a supposedly barren period in Earth's ancient history. The discovery suggests life was far more diverse 500 million years ago than we ever knew.
A forgotten fossil in the Smithsonian's collection just revealed a missing chapter in animal evolution. Scientists rediscovered a thumb-sized creature that bridges a mysterious 12-million-year gap in Earth's history.
A forgotten fossil stored in a museum drawer since 1962 just solved a 500-million-year mystery about life on Earth. Scientists say the discovery proves ancient oceans teemed with life during a period once thought nearly empty.
A spiky fossil that sat unnoticed in a museum drawer for 60 years is rewriting what scientists thought was a dark chapter in Earth's history. The discovery suggests ancient oceans teemed with life during a period once believed to be nearly barren.
A massive ocean predator named Tylosaurus rex has been hiding in plain sight for decades, misidentified in museum drawers. Paleontologists discovered the 43-foot sea giant by taking a second look at fossils labeled as a different species.
A fish skull forgotten in a London museum drawer since 1885 just filled a 50-million-year gap in evolution. The discovery proves that even dusty old collections can still rewrite science.
A researcher sorting through old spider specimens in Brazil spotted what looked like a pearl necklace on a tiny spider. It turned out to be a brand new parasite species that had been sitting unnoticed in the collection for years.
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A tiny frog collected in 1963 by two trailblazing Smithsonian scientists sat unnoticed in a museum jar for six decades before researchers discovered it was an entirely new species. The fingernail-sized amphibian may have gone extinct in the wild, but its preserved specimen now helps scientists understand Brazil's incredible biodiversity.