This strange giant dinosaur may change what we know about Jurassic titans
A bizarre new giant dinosaur discovered in Argentina is giving paleontologists a fresh look at how Jurassic titans evolved in the Southern Hemisphere. Bicharracosaurus dionidei stretched about 20 mete...
Stunning fossil discovery challenges the origins of animal life
Scientists revisiting mysterious 540-million-year-old microfossils from Brazil have overturned a major idea about early animal life. What were once thought to be trails left behind by tiny worm-like c...
A new early monofenestratan pterosaur from the Mörnsheim Formation of southern Germany
A number of new early monofenestratan pterosaurs have recently been described from the Late Jurassic Mörnsheim Formation of Southern Germany, greatly expanding our knowledge of the diversity and evolu...
Scientists Just Exposed a 300 Million-Year-Old Fossil Mistake
The “world’s oldest octopus” was actually a 300-million-year-old fossil impostor hiding its secret in tiny teeth. A fossil long celebrated as the world’s oldest octopus has now been revealed to be an ...
Dinosaur dental fossils reveal bird-like parental care bonds
Baby dinosaurs were likely fed more nutritious food than their adult counterparts, a finding that could offer insights into their social evolution, suggests a new study. Paleontologists uncovered this...
Ancient sea fossils indicate millipede and centipede ancestors evolved their legs while still underwater
The myriapoda group of arthropods includes the many-legged centipedes and millipedes that most people are familiar with. Although myriapods are all terrestrial creatures, researchers are unclear about...
Osteology and phylogeny of Panzhousaurus rotundirostris from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) of Guizhou Province, China, and implications for the origin of Keichousauridae (Pachypleurosauroidea, Eosauropterygia)
Sauropterygia (including Placodontia and Eosauropterygia) is the most species-rich group of marine reptiles in the Mesozoic. Panzhousaurus rotundirostris is a rare eosauropterygian from the early Midd...
The lost koala: New fossil species was hiding in plain sight for 100 years
In 2024, the Western Australian Museum received a donation. It was a koala skull collected from Moondyne Cave in Margaret River by Lindsay Hatcher, an avid caver. There was something a bit odd about t...
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...