Paleontology

It's been called plain and boring, but this Thescelosaurus species has now had its sad reputation upended, thanks to fascinating sensory discoveries that suggest it lived a unique, successful life underground, beneath the feet of its fearsome predators.

A new genus and species of ancient sea worm with an impressive set of star-shaped chaetae has been identified, after its fossil first puzzled paleontologists. Thanks to its alien-worm-like appearance, scientists found a fittingly sci-fi name for it.

The blue whale has long been considered the largest animal to have ever existed, even dwarfing the biggest known dinosaurs. But now a new species threatens to steal the crown, and upends what we thought we knew about whale evolution.

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.

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.

There was a time before the dinosaurs when ancient sheep-sized reptiles thrived on Earth. While they were numerous, a new study reveals that their diets actually led to their own starvation by wearing out their teeth.

Scientists have identified an ancient marsupial for the first time, whose special adaptations allowed it to walk huge distances across the Australian continent 3.5 million years ago. And it's a feature you can still see in diverse marsupials today.

Scientists have discovered a new species of mosasaur, a giant sea-dwelling lizard that dates back to the age of the dinosaurs, in Morocco. Stelladens mysteriosus differs from other mosasaurs because of its unique, star-shaped teeth.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered a new species of rhynchosaur, an ancient reptile, in central Wyoming and named it in the language of the First Nations people indigenous to the area where it was found.

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.

Some 180 million years ago, there lived an early mammal – built a lot like the guilty looking fella above – that became the earliest-known ancestor to all mammals on Earth, from the blue whale, to the camel, the rhino, the koala, and your good self.

Soft tissues don’t fossilize well, so scientists have to infer organ anatomy from bones. But an unexpected treasure trove of new information has been discovered in Australia, with a 380-million-year-old fish fossil preserving the oldest heart ever found.