New Atlas

Robotics Audio available

Robotic fossil shows off the swagger of ancient animals

Michael Irving January 16, 2019

It can be hard to picture a living creature from dusty bones and old footprints, but now that might require a little less imagination. Researchers at EPFL and the Humboldt University of Berlin have built a robot to figure out just how a 300-million year-old ancestor of ours might have moved around.

The OroBOT is a robotic version of a 300-million-year-old animal called Orobates pabsti that was designed ...

Biology Audio available

Study suggests that giant prehistoric whale ate other whales

Ben Coxworth January 10, 2019

The 8-m (26-ft) killer whale is the ocean's top predator – it even goes after other whales. With that in mind, just imagine what fun a 15-meter (49-ft) predatory whale would be. That's the length of Basilosaurus isis, a prehistoric whale that is now believed to have also fed on its fellow whales.

A Basilosaurus isis skeleton (not the one from the study) on display at France's Museum d'Histoire ...

Science

Global wake up call headlines the year in science

Darren Quick December 29, 2018

Another year is winding up, so it's time to look back at the scientific breakthroughs that excited us this year. From innovative new materials that open the door to more advanced tools and products, to discoveries that continue to push the borders of human knowledge, 2018 didn't fail to deliver.

Biology

Study suggests prehistoric whales may have sucked at feeding

Ben Coxworth November 30, 2018

In the distant past, all whales had teeth. Now, some feed using baleen instead. A new analysis of previously-discovered fossils has provided a fresh insight into the evolution of that baleen, suggesting that for a while, some whales simply sucked down their food.

Carlos Peredo with the fossilized Maiabalaena nesbittae skull

Science Audio available

Ancient elephant-sized mammal ancestor gave dinosaurs a run for their money

Michael Irving November 22, 2018

While dinosaurs were the biggest land animals ever, mammals were mostly rat-sized critters running around underfoot. But now palaeontologists have described a mammal ancestor from the Triassic Period that grew to the size of an elephant, giving those early dinosaurs a run for their money.

An artist's reconstruction of Lisowicia bojani, an elephant-sized ancestor of mammals that lived during the Triassic

3D Printing

New 3D-printed museum piece is mammoth in scale

Ben Coxworth October 30, 2018

Over the past several years, Belgian manufacturing firm Materialise has 3D-printed items such as running shoes, a dress and a wheelchair. Now, the company has created something a little larger – a complete wooly mammoth skeleton.

The fully-assembled Mammoth of Lier replica

Biology

Newly-classified fossil fish was like a saltwater piranha

Ben Coxworth October 19, 2018

Sharks are in the ocean and piranhas are in freshwater … right? Well, it turns out that 150 million years ago, the sea was also home to a piranha-like fish known as Piranhamesodon pinnatomus. The recently-classified creature is officially the earliest known flesh-eating ray-finned fish.

Although it evolved along similar lines as the piranha, Piranhamesodon pinnatomus is not thought to have ...

Science Audio available

New study finds oldest evidence of life may just be boring old rocks after all

Michael Irving October 17, 2018

A few years ago, researchers studying stromatolites in Greenland dated them to 3.7 billion years old, making them the oldest evidence of life on Earth. However, a new study has now taken another look at the rocks and found that they probably weren’t biological in origin.

An earlier study found the conical structures (highlighted) appeared to be biological in origin, but a ...

Biology

Newly-classified dinosaur was world's largest at the time

Ben Coxworth September 28, 2018

Ledumahadi mafube was the world's largest land animal when it existed almost 200 million years ago. Despite this fact, none of the dinosaur's fossilized remains were discovered until relatively recently, and it has only now been scientifically classified.

An artist's reconstruction of Ledumahadi mafube foraging in the Early Jurassic of South Africa

Biology

Prehistoric turtle lacked a shell, but had a beak

Ben Coxworth August 23, 2018

In the past, scientists have discovered the fossilized remains of prehistoric turtles that had a partial shell, but that lacked the toothless beak of modern turtles. Recently, however, a fossil turtle was found that had no shell, but that DID have a beak.

Eorhynchochelys, depicted in its natural habitat