240-million-year-old giant “sand creeper” found hidden in retaining wall
A forgotten fossil hidden inside a garden wall has turned out to be one of Australia’s most remarkable prehistoric discoveries. Scientists have now identified the 240-million-year-old amphibian, Arena...
Extinct relative of koalas discovered in Western Australia
Fossils reveal that there were at least two kinds of koala when humans first arrived in Australia, but one died out about 30,000 years ago when the west of the continent dried out
380-Million-Year-Old Fish Fossil Reveals Secrets of Life’s First Steps Onto Land
A rare fossil fish scan reveals brain features and adaptations tied to the transition from aquatic to land animals. Researchers at Flinders University have taken a closer look inside the head of one o...
What if the brain came first? Scientist rethinks the Cambrian Explosion
For decades, scientists have sought to explain the so-called "Cambrian Explosion," a pivotal period over 500 million years ago when a remarkable diversity of animal life appeared in the fossil record....
A 75-million-year-old fossil reveals a shocking tyrannosaur secret
Tyrannosaurs may be famous as fearsome apex predators, but new research reveals a more opportunistic—and slightly grim—side to their behavior. Using high-resolution 3D scans, a researcher identified p...
Giant octopuses ruled the oceans 100 million years ago, study finds
Giant, fearsome octopuses may have once ruled the ancient seas, according to new research that flips the script on their evolutionary past. By uncovering exquisitely preserved fossil jaws hidden insid...
Rewriting Dinosaur Evolution: Scientists Unearth Remarkable 150-Million-Year-Old Stegosaur Skull
A newly discovered stegosaur skull from Spain is offering rare insight into the anatomy and evolution of one of Europe’s most iconic dinosaurs. A rare skull from Spain is giving scientists a clearer l...
College Student Identifies Bizarre New Carnivorous Dinosaur Three Times Older Than T. rex
A distorted dinosaur skull, once dismissed as unusable, became the focus of a detailed digital reconstruction that revealed new insights into early carnivorous dinosaurs. “You want to stick your finge...
This 275-million-year-old animal had a twisted jaw like nothing alive today
Deep in a dried-up riverbed in Brazil, scientists uncovered a bizarre prehistoric mystery—twisted jawbones from a strange, long-lost animal unlike anything seen before. Dating back 275 million years, ...
Dinosaurs may have originated 10 million years earlier than fossils show
Dinosaurs are among the most majestic and iconic animals to have ever walked on our planet. While they are now extinct, they are estimated to have inhabited Earth for over 165 million years.
Why dinosaurs lived much more complex lives than we thought
A wave of dinosaur discoveries over the past decade has completely reshaped our understanding of these long-extinct animals. Palaeontologist Dave Hone spills the secrets of how dinosaurs lived, from h...
Earth’s Crust Is Tearing Open in Africa, and It Could Form a New Ocean
Africa may be slowly breaking apart—and that same process could explain our fossil record. Eastern Africa’s Turkana Rift is known both for its rich collection of early human fossils and its intense vo...
50-foot ancient snake discovered in India may be one of the largest ever
A massive prehistoric snake discovered in India may rank among the largest ever to slither across Earth. Named Vasuki indicus, this ancient giant lived around 47 million years ago and is estimated to ...
Famed Brazilian dinosaur fossil finally heads home
Germany and Brazil reach agreement over controversial spinosaurid fossil, heralding new collaboration between the two nations
100,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Fossils in Poland Reveal Unexpected Genetic Connections
A new genetic analysis of Neanderthal remains from Stajnia Cave offers an unusually detailed glimpse into a small group that lived together roughly 100,000 years ago. An international team has analyze...
Evolutionary decoupling between cranial shape and size underlies divergent evolutionary pathways in Cretaceous apex and meso-predator theropods
'He began to cry, and almost fell to the floor': The fluffy fossil that finally showed the world that birds are dinosaurs
In this excerpt from "The Story of Birds", author Steve Brusatte explores the moment where paleontologists realized they had critical evidence to show birds came from dinosaurs — a fluffy fossil from ...
Hidden taxonomic and taphonomic diversity revealed by mayflies (Ephemeroptera: Hexagenitidae) from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber
This tiny mammal survived the dinosaur apocalypse and changed life on Earth
A newly discovered prehistoric mammal may hold clues to how life survived the dinosaur-killing extinction. The tiny species, Cimolodon desosai, lived 75 million years ago and had traits—like a small b...