During the Jurassic period, various dinosaurs experimented with different forms of powered flight. The discovery of a new dinosaur species in China suggests some of these pioneering flyers evolved webbed fingers and an elongated forelimb, allowing them to fly in a distinctly bat-like fashion. Read More >>
Palaeontologists have identified a previously unknown relative of T. rex that stood just below 3 feet at the hip. The discovery is shedding new light on the evolutionary origins of tyrannosaurs, while providing a glimpse of these fearsome creatures before they reached enormous sizes. Read More >>
Using robotic and animal models, researchers have shown that some dinosaurs were already flapping their rudimentary wings as a side effect of running, prior to evolving the ability to fly. The finding offers a unique perspective on the origins of flight, but experts say more evidence is needed. Read More >>
An asteroid slammed down and did away with all the dinosaurs, paving the way for such developments as the human race, capitalism, and posting on the internet: it’s the story we all know and love. Yet if things had shaken out differently—if the asteroid had stayed in its place, and the dinosaurs allowed to proceed with their business—what would things have looked like? Read More >>
During the Early Cretaceous, a small two-legged dinosaur walked across a stretch of fine-grained mud following a rainstorm. The resulting footprints became locked in stone, but unlike other fossilised dinosaur tracks, these 120-million-year-old fossils show skin impressions across the entire footprint, in what is considered an unprecedented discovery. Read More >>
Palaeontologists unearthed among the most important graveyards on Earth in the US state of North Dakota: the fossilised remains of fish seemingly killed by the effects of the dinosaur-ending meteor. Read More >>
Updated measurements of a large fossil found in Saskatchewan nearly 30 years ago confirm it as the world’s largest known Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. Remarkably, the new work suggests T. rex and other dinosaurs grew to a greater size than is typically appreciated. Read More >>
Solidified lava from ancient volcanoes, over a mile thick, covers about 200,000 miles of west-central India. Contained in the dramatic and craggy striped rock are secrets scientists are only beginning to uncover—secrets that could partially rewrite the story of the dinosaur mass extinction 66 million years ago. Read More >>
Titanosaurs were the giants of the giants—four-legged behemoths that stomped around Cretaceous South America and Africa 100 million years ago. The discovery of a previously unknown titanosaur in Tanzania with a unique heart-shaped tailbone is adding to our knowledge of these enigmatic beasts, and how they lived and evolved on the African continent. Read More >>
Palaeontologists in Argentina have uncovered a dinosaur unlike anything ever seen before. Alive some 140 million years ago, these majestic herbivores featured long, forward-pointing spikes running along their necks and backs. These spikes may have served a defensive role, but their exact purpose now presents a fascinating new mystery. Read More >>
A trove of well-preserved dinosaur footprints has been uncovered on a beach in East Sussex. Dating back to the Cretaceous Period, the prints still show traces of skin, scales, and claws. Read More >>
Ichthyosaurs and dolphins are the archetypal examples of convergent evolution in action, in which two completely unrelated species acquire near identical characteristics. The discovery of a new ichthyosaur fossil suggests this Jurassic-era creature was even more dolphin-like than we appreciated, featuring warm-blood, blubber, and even similar camouflage. Read More >>
A museum might wow you with all of its fossil specimens on display, but that’s often just a small part of what’s really there – specimens in the back might lay in drawers or plaster-wrapped in boxes, quietly holding yet-to-be-revealed secrets or further mysteries about the past. Such is the case with an incredible bird fossil, found 25 years ago in Utah but only just described. Read More >>
The winged Archaeopteryx is one of the most famous dinosaurs known to science, yet arguments persist about its place in the evolutionary family tree. The reported discovery of an entirely new species of Archaeopteryx with distinctly bird-like characteristics suggests its relationship to modern birds is more meaningful than we realised. Critics, on the other hand, say it’s premature to designate the fossil specimen as belonging to a new species. Read More >>
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