Humans have walked the Earth for 190,000 years, a mere blip in Earth's 4.5-billion-year history. Learn more about the planet's tumultuous past.
More About the Prehistoric World
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Digging Up Sea Monsters
Follow the blog from the Spitsbergen Expedition as they unearth "sea monsters″ from the Upper Jurassic Period 150 million years ago.
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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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Pterosaurs—Lords of the Ancient Skies
The largest animals that ever flew, pterosaurs ruled the Mesozoic skies for 150 million years, flapping and soaring long before the first bird ruffled a single feather.
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Fossil Wars
In the international fossil trade, even priceless specimens have a price tag. Ancient bones can end up in a movie star's mansion as easily as in a museum.
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Angry Birds Space
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Blast Off!
Take off with the National Geographic Angry Birds Space book as the birds fly through space on an intergalactic rescue mission.
National Geographic Magazine
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Iceland's Resilient Beauty
Over the centuries, humans (and sheep) have taken a toll on the volcano- and glacier-shaped landscape. But what remains is still spectacular.
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Civil War Sketches
Browse through a gallery of historical illustrations depicting both the horrors of battle and the moments of grace, as captured by skilled battlefield artists of the American Civil War.
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Apostles Photo Gallery
They were unlikely leaders. As the Bible tells it, most knew more about mending nets than winning converts when Jesus said he would make them "fishers of men." Yet 2,000 years later, all over the world, the Apostles are still drawing people in.
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