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Amazing fossil hints mammals hunted dinosaurs three times their size

18 July 2023

A small mammal from the Cretaceous Period appears to have been preserved by volcanic debris while attacking a dinosaur three times its size

Fossil of pregnant ground sloth discovered with fetus inside

14 July 2023

Found in a Brazilian cave, the remarkable specimen of a ground sloth fetus inside its mother offers a rare insight into the developmental biology of the extinct mammal

Bone disease in sabre-toothed tigers may be a sign of inbreeding

12 July 2023

An analysis of bones from the La Brea tar pits in California reveals that sabre-toothed tigers and dire wolves had very high rates of osteochondrosis, which may stem from a dwindling gene pool as they neared extinction

Ancient reptiles' long necks made them vulnerable to decapitation

19 June 2023

Extremely long necks probably helped ancient marine reptiles ambush prey in murky waters, but also made them easy targets for decapitation by predators

Extinct lizard was a bizarrely supersized version of modern skinks

13 June 2023

Tiliqua frangens, a giant, armoured skink that lived over 40,000 years ago, is the latest bizarre megafauna species to be discovered in Australia

Woolly mammoths had testosterone surges like those of male elephants

3 May 2023

Hormone measurements from the tusk of a male woolly mammoth show these animals went through musth, a seasonal peak in testosterone seen in elephants

Broad-nosed ancient shark was one of earliest fish to smell in stereo

8 April 2023

Fossils found in Morocco show the sensory specialisation of a 365-million-year-old shark, given the species name Maghriboselache mohamezanei

Longest dinosaur neck on record was six times longer than a giraffe's

15 March 2023

We only have a few fossil bones of Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum, but researchers have estimated its neck length by analysing its vertebrae and comparing them with those from related dinosaurs

Oldest ichthyosaur fossil hints they evolved before mass extinction

13 March 2023

Ichthyosaur bones found in 250 million-year-old rock hint that these swimming reptiles may have appeared before Earth’s biggest mass extinction and survived

Tiktaalik, an early fish that crawled on land

Spine of early crawling fish was becoming more like a land animal's

20 February 2023

Scans show that the spine and ribs of Tiktaalik, one of the first fish to crawl on land, had features that are more like those of early land animals than fish