Dinosaurs

Scientists have found a massive area the size of 1.5 football fields, now dubbed "The Coliseum," which was once a popular thoroughfare to water for multiple species of prehistoric beasts over many generations some 70 million years ago.

Paleontologists have now uncovered the fossils of a dinosaur and a small mammal locked in combat when they apparently died together mid-fight. The remarkable find reveals new insights into the relationship between ancient reptiles and mammals.

With evolution there’s always a trade-off – long necks may help you find food but they’re also a massive weak spot. Now, paleontologists have found direct fossil evidence of prehistoric, long-necked marine reptiles being decapitated by predators.

Meet the Gonkoken nanoi, a large duck-billed dino that roamed very far and wide 72 millions years ago. Discovered in southern Chile, it has now raised even more questions as to how ancient hadrosaurs moved across the planet during the Mesozoic Era.

Scientists have observed the first known “virgin birth” in a female crocodile, kept alone in captivity for 16 years. The find reveals that this unusual form of reproduction is possible in more species than we thought – including, perhaps, dinosaurs.

Dome-skulled dinosaurs may have looked less like Friar Tuck and more like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. New fossil finds suggest they may have had big bristly ornaments on their heads, and might not have butted heads like they do in the movies.

Paleontologists have discovered fossils from a gigantic marine predator that stalked the Jurassic seas. The creature could have grown to twice the size of an orca, and fed on pretty much anything else unlucky enough to be in the ocean at that time.

With a revelation that threatens to ruin some childhood toys or a Jurassic Park rewatch, paleontologists have given one of the most famous dinosaurs a facelift, proposing that the ferocious Tyrannosaurus sported a set of scaly, lizard-like lips.

It’s no secret that sauropods had really long necks, but now paleontologists claim to have identified the species that takes the crown. According to the team, Mamenchisaurus has the longest neck of any known animal ever, measuring 50 ft (over 15 m).

Back in 2021, we heard about a pterosaur that had a mouth full of big, sharp teeth. Well, scientists have now discovered a pterosaur that went to the other extreme, as it used over 400 small, hooked teeth to catch its prey.

It has long been known that some of the earliest mammals coexisted with the later-period dinosaurs. Now, for just the second time ever, scientists have documented fossil evidence of a dinosaur having actually eaten one of those mammals.

A new study has examined the diets of the earliest dinosaurs and found them to be carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. But surprisingly, the ancestors of many of the most famous herbivores – like Triceratops and Brachiosaurus – originally ate meat.