Dinosaurs

About 65 million years ago, a huge asteroid slammed into the Earth and wiped out three quarters of all life on Earth, including the dinosaurs. Now, Yale researchers have found evidence that oceans became too acidic for marine animals to take.

A recent analysis of previously-unearthed pterosaur bones reveals that they belonged to a new genus and species.

A drilling expedition to the Chicxulub crater turned up new details of the immediate aftermath of the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs.

One the largest carnivores to ever walk the Earth may have had an air conditioner in its head to help regulate its temperature.

Although they may not be as well-known as dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus, the duck-billed hadrosaurs were the most common plant-eating dinosaurs at the end of the Mesozoic Era. Now, a newly-classified member of the group appears to be a common ancestor to the various types that came later.

​As you remember from Jurassic Park, velociraptors were known for terrifying claws on their toes. A newly-discovered dinosaur from a related species was packing twice as many weapons. Vespersaurus paranaensis has been found to brandish two large claws on each foot, supporting itself on just one toe.

Three important scientific auctions this week: a 13-m (43-ft) Diplodocus skeleton (US$1.5 to $1.8 million), a first edition Luca Pacioli’s "Summa de Arithmetica" ($1.0 to $1.5 million) and a presentation copy of Charles Darwin’s "On the Origin of Species" ($200,000 to $300,000).

Imprints of ancient bones or footprints are often found in rock, but that’s not the only way they form – in much rarer cases they can also be encased in opal. Now palaeontologists in Australia have uncovered the most complete “opalized” dinosaur, which also happens to be a new species.

Sauropods – the giant, long-necked dinosaurs like Brachiosaurus – were the largest land animals to ever walk the Earth. Now, researchers have studied sauropod feet and found that the animals may have had an unexpected gait – tiptoeing around like they were wearing high heels.

Like the Wright Brothers, evolution didn’t get flight exactly right the first time. It takes experimentation to find the best design, and now palaeontologists have found one of nature’s quirky side projects – a strange dinosaur that was covered in feathers but had leathery bat-like wings.

In 1998, a 16-year-old boy with a passion for paleontology unearthed a near-complete skeleton of one of Tyrannosaurus rex's cousins. It was a defining moment in the boy's life, but at the time nobody knew what it was. Now, 21 years later, the dinosaur he found finally has a name.

On the timeline of the evolution of flight in birds, gliding seems like a logical first step. But new research suggests that some species could have made the jump straight to flapping flight without a gliding phase in the meantime, which could force a rewrite of our understanding of avian evolution.