The armour of the 380 million year old placoderm fish Mcnamaraspis kaprios .
John Long
Scientists have long believed that our distant cousins are the placoderms, and ancient group of armoured fish. But a new study is casting doubt on that view.
Sphenacodon.
Wikimedia Commons
A set of fossils that lay forgotten in a museum are revealing new secrets about Britain’s prehistoric wildlife.
Jamie Hiscocks
A 133 million-year-old fossil hints that dinosaurs had bigger brains than we’ve realised.
Robert Nicholls, Palaeocreations
Uncovering the monsters of the prehistoric deep.
Mark Witton
An exciting discovery suggests small pterosaurs weren’t forced out by the rise of birds.
Shutterstock
New research reveals that the first songbirds emerged from Australia when a new chain of islands formed.
Shutterstock
New research suggests the Chicxulub asteroid impact threw up billions of tons of oil soot that blocked out the sun for a decade.
Two giant Arambourgiania pterosaurs sharing a small theropod for dinner.
Mark Witton
Recent research is helping us to solve the mysteries of these bizarre prehistoric creatures.
The 37,000 year old Deep Skull from Niah Cave in Borneo is the oldest modern human skeleton found in island Southeast Asia.
Darren Curnoe
Another look at a skull unearthed in Malaysian Borneo 60 years ago can shed light on the mystery of how early humans moved throughout Southeast Asia thousands of years ago.
Simo Q/Flickr
Think you know all about the dinosaurs? You might be surprised.
Early mammal Purgatorius unio
Nobu Tamura
New research reveals that mammals didn’t wait for the dinosaurs to die out before starting their rapid spread.
This 119 million year old fish, Rhacolepis , is the first fossil to show a 3D preserved heart which gives us a rare window into the early evolution of one of our body’s most important organs.
Dr John Maisey, American Museum of Natural History in New York
For centuries, the fossil remains of back-boned animals were studied primarily from their hardened bones. Now palaeontologists can study the softer side of these ancient creatures.
Shutterstock
The idea that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a giant asteroid was ridiculed – until the remains of a giant crater were found deep underground.
Timurlengia euotica.
Todd Marshall
Fossils discovered in Uzbekistan help tell the story of how T. Rex evolved to become the biggest predator ever to live on land.
Jie Yang (Yunnan University, China)
Scientists have uncovered one of the most detailed and well-preserved nervous system fossils ever found.
Watch your step.
Lida Xing
New research reveals the case for swimming dinosaurs isn’t as clear cut as once thought.
Diprotodon, the largest ever marsupial, probably died out at human hands.
Peter Murray (courtesy of Chris Johnson)
What killed off Australia’s giant wombats and other megafauna? New dating once again points the finger at human hunters, rather than abrupt changes to the climate.
Rebecca Gelerenter/QMUL
Researchers have found the first evidence that dinosaurs grew unusual features like crests and horns as a way of attracting a mate.
Doomed dinos, but these Psittacosaurs weren’t killed by volcanic ash.
John Sibbick
Was there a ‘dinosaur Pompeii’ in China? New research questions the claim.
Tyrannosaurus tango.
Xing Lida and Yujiang Han
Researchers believe newly uncovered fossils suggest some dinosaurs had similar courtship practices to modern birds. But can ancient footprints really reveal so much?