• Paul Sereno’s Fossil Lab moves to Washington Park

    The 6,000 square foot facility will feature fossil preparation space, multipurpose areas for community programs, and tons of specimens collected from Sereno’s worldwide expeditions. Soon, South Side residents won’t have to travel to the Field Museum to see a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton—there will be one in their own backyard. Paleontologist Paul Sereno’s Fossil Lab at the University of Chicago is moving to the center of the Washington Park Read More.

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  • Bones say fish-eating giant stayed in the shallows

    The swimming abilities of the massive predator and fan-favorite, Spinosaurus, have been hotly debated.
    Using CT scans of fossils to make a virtual skeleton and adding flesh to create a model, our most recent publication concludes Spinosaurus did indeed inhabit shorelines with many adaptations for life at water’s edge, but would fail miserably as a fully aquatic, agile underwater predator.
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  • New Dinosaurs of the Sahara Exhibit!

    Get a whole new dinosaur experience with Dinosaurs of the Sahara, the lost world of African dinosaurs, debuting for the first time at the Cleveland Great Lakes Science Center on Friday May 26 and running through Monday September 4. Dinosaurs of the Sahara brings the unique world of African dinosaurs to life with original fossils from the Sahara, one-of-a- kind...

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  • Looking back on a trip to a land of dinosaurs, and all we gained

    New dinosaurs by the dozen fill two large shipping containers poised to depart Niger for Africa’s coast and then travel by ship across the Atlantic destined for my Fossil Lab at the University of Chicago, where a process of cleaning and recomposing bones over the coming years...

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  • Discovering Dinosaurs Adrift in Seas of Sand

    JENGUEBI, NIGER – Seas of sand form the core of the Sahara, the world’s largest desert. Our expedition caravan wound slowly between dunes, probing for terrain hard enough to get us to our end goal —windswept rock with fossils from the youngest part of the dinosaur era on Africa some 90 million years ago. Exposed as isolated patches, the target areas resemble an oceanic island chain, each patch decreasing in size until disappearing altogether under the sand seas.  Read More

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  • New Spinosaurus paper published

    Was Spinosaurus a diving hunter? UChicago paleontologists and colleagues unearth an array of new evidence that suggests the sail-backed giant was far too land-adapted to function even as a slow underwater predator. 

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  • Unearthing Africa’s giants — and an ancient calamity

    TCHINEKANKARAM, NIGER — One mile long, rising as barren rock no more than 10 feet above a parched plain of patchy grass and thorny acacia, is an area known as Tchinekankaran (chin-kan-karan), or “place of insects” in Tamasheq, the language of Tuareg nomads. True to its name, voracious scorpions wind spiders and praying mantises dueled under our camp lights, but we came for the sea of fossil bones peeking from rocks nearby. Read More

  • Exploring Gadoufaoua, known as ‘the place where camels fear to go’

    Dispatch No. 2 Live from the Field:

    Petrified tree trunks jut from the desert floor, and fossil jaws and bones of nameless beasts peek out from a barren landscape. Nomad legend describes it as “The place where camels fear to go.” Called Gadoufaoua (Ga-doo-fawa) by French geologists who visited in the 1950s, this 100-mile stretch of the Sahara comprises the richest dinosaur beds on the continent. Read More.

  • Launching a sojourn to uncover Africa’s past — but first a wait in Agadez

    AGADEZ, NIGER — Before COVID-19 shut down travel, I led expeditions that discovered some 25 tons of rare fossils scattered across the Sahara Desert, in remote areas of the West African country of Niger.
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  • Africa’s Lost World: 2022 Expedition to Niger

    For 3 months this Fall, Paul and his team of 20 will excavate some 25 tons of dinosaurs and ancient humans in the heart of the Sahara, a feat never before attempted. These fossils add to Africa’s world-class heritage.

    Read more at the Chicago Tribune!

    Learn more about the 2022 Expedition.

    Thanks to expedition sponsor Andera equipment 

  • Breaking News in the Washington Post

    NIAMEY, Niger — In secret patches of the south-central Sahara, blankets of sand hide 20 tons of dinosaur bones.

    There are flying reptiles. A creature that resembles an armored dog. Eleven species yet to be identified — all with long necks. They roamed the desert when it was still green, scientists concluded, as far back as 200 million years ago.

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  • Geology and paleontology of the Upper Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of eastern Morocco

    Predators abound on land, in the air and in water some 95 million years on the shores of northern Africa —as shown by the abundant fossils in the Kem Kem region. Large herbivores, such as the long-necked sauropod Rebbachisaurus, could have been hunted or scavenged by several large predators. Artwork by Davide Bonadonna.

    https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/47517/

  • Spinosaurus Revealed

    New fossils of the huge Cretaceous-era predator, Spinosaurus, reveal it adapted to life in water some 95 million years ago, providing the most compelling evidence to date of a dinosaur able to live and hunt in an aquatic environment. An international team based at the University of Chicago built a CT-based digital model of the 50-foot long dinosaur to understand its anatomy and capabilities.

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  • Skeletons of the Sahara

    “More than 100 human burials lay before me” stammered Paul Sereno, paleontologist at the University of Chicago and Explorer-in-Residence at National Geographic.

    Sereno had just discovered the Sahara’s largest graveyard—hundreds of burials older than the pyramids.

    Read more about Skeletons of the Sahara on PBS or get your own copy!

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  • Chicago Humanitites Festival 2013

    Sereno kicks off the Festival's Hyde Park Day with an illustrated discussion of the latest findings in his field, in a program appropriate for both children and adults.

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  • Sereno Fossil Lab

    Paul Sereno's Fossil Lab is located at the University of Chicago in Hyde Park. It is comprised of a prep lab, fossil storage areas, teaching space, molding and casting room, bug room, and houses part of the University of Chicago Research Collection.

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  • Google Science Fair

    Paul Sereno participates in Google Science Fair 2013 in a Hangout On Air answering questions about his discoveries and what it is like to be a paleontologist.

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  • National Geographic Live!

    Go behind the scenes and hear National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Paul Sereno talk about his decision to become a paleontologist and his most memorable discoveries.

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  • Extreme Dinosaurs

    National Geographic Live! Extreme Dinosaurs

    Hear about one of the most bizarre dinosaurs ever uncovered from its discoverer, acclaimed paleontologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Paul Sereno.

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  • TEDxUChicago

    Paul Sereno teaches the world about its evolutionary past through what he calls "adventure with a purpose." His travels have brought him to discover important links in the evolution of life on earth such as his discovery of the world's largest crocodile.

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  • Eodromaeus

    Paul Sereno talks about Eodromaeus the "Dawn Runner"

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  • UChicago Convocation

    "Historical Contingency and Ultimate Aims"

    by Paul C. Sereno - Spring 2010 Convocation

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  • Raptorex

    Paul Sereno describes Raptorex - a new dinosaur that show how the body plan of Tyrannosaurus rex evolved at 1/100th the size.

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  • TED Talk with Paul

    What can fossils teach us?

    Strange landscapes, scorching heat and (sometimes) mad crocodiles await scientists seeking clues to evolution's genius. Paleontologist Paul Sereno talks about his surprising encounters with prehistory -- and a new way to help students join the adventure.

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  • Super Croc

    Dr. Paul Sereno posing with the skull of Sarcosuchus imperator. This amazing 40 foot long crocodile was the subject of the National Geographic film 'When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs.'

    Nicknamed “SuperCroc,” the animal is believed to have reached 40 feet (12 meters) in length—the length of a city bus—making it one of the largest crocs that ever lived. SuperCroc lived alongside dinosaurs, perhaps feasting on them.

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Casts & Exhibits

Cast Sales

Spinosaurus: Lost Giant of the Cretaceous

Now through April 15, 2015Washington, D.C.

PaleoBlog

Big Brains Podcast: An Archaeological Riddle In the Sahara with Paul Sereno (Ep. 23)

Written by Paul Sereno & Paul Rand || July 15, 2019

On the Loose: Fossils and Footprints

Written by Paul Sereno || September 6, 2001

Parrot Beaks, Graveyard

Written by Paul Sereno || September 6, 2001

Update On Dinosaur Discoveries

Written by Paul Sereno || October 3, 2000

End of Camp 3

Written by Paul Sereno || September 19, 2000

Read More PaleoBlog Updates