Fossils

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.

Imagine if you were tasked with sorting and separating thousands of tiny fossils, most of them less than a millimeter wide. It would quite a tedious, time-consuming task … which is why scientists have recently created a robot to do the job.

The remains of the oldest meal on record have been identified. In half-billion-year-old fossils of a strange slug-like creature called Kimberella, scientists found preserved food molecules in the gut, revealing what and how these ancient animals ate.

It's thought the Earth is currently entering its sixth major extinction event, but a new study suggests it may actually be the seventh. Scientists have found evidence of a previously unknown mass extinction event that struck half a billion years ago.

Paleontologists have discovered the fossil remains of one of the largest turtles that ever lived. Measuring about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, it roamed the seas of Europe during the age of the dinosaurs.

Scientists have sequenced the genomes of two ancient skeletons and found the oldest human DNA in the British isles. The data reveals the story of two separate migrations of early humans into what is now the UK, and how these different cultures lived.

New research has provided unprecedented insights into the genetics and social structures of Neanderthals. Scientists have sequenced the genomes of 13 individuals that lived in a close-knit community, revealing some specific family ties.

Humans might not be the first lifeforms to face self-induced climate change. A new model suggests Mars was once habitable enough to support microbes, and they may have wiped themselves out by causing irreparable damage to the Red Planet’s atmosphere.

Predicting the likelihood and severity of earthquakes is important, but it’s hard to account for all factors. Researchers in New Zealand have now uncovered an overlooked factor that could affect the impact of the next big quake – tiny marine fossils.

Around 66 million years ago a huge asteroid slammed into Earth and wiped out most life. Two new studies have identified evidence that the impact triggered global tsunamis almost a mile high and mega-earthquakes that rumbled for months afterwards.