Tritylodon, a therapsid, reconstructed as a night dwelling warm blooded animal. Note the steam coming out of its lungs.
Illustrated by Luzia Soares
Warm-bloodedness is the key to what makes mammals what they are today. That’s why working out when it emerged in mammal ancestors matters.
A reconstruction of face-biting gorgonopsian skulls.
Sophie Vrard, Creaphi
Finding a fossil tooth embedded in bone is always great news for palaeontologists, as it is the gateway to some otherwise out-of-reach understanding of the behaviour of extinct animals.
This pair of curled-up Diictodon skeletons tell a story of male parental care.
Authors supplied
These new finds indicate that Diictodon was burrowing and giving some parental care to its young. This was long thought to be unique to mammals.
Two gorgonopsian rivals fighting and displaying their large sabre like canines.
Viktor Radermacher
The discovery of a fossilised large predator is a rare event that offers insight into these beasts from the past.
A fossil tooth contains isotopes that offer clues of aridification.
Supplied
A study has found that a local event rather than a global shift in climate caused the mass extinction in South Africa.
The skeleton of a therapsid dicynodont Lystrosaurus .
Flickr
Climate was the main factor that triggered the evolution of warm-bloodedness in mammals and the subsequent mammalian evolutionary success.
A reconstruction of Euchambersia with its venomous and ridged fangs.
SimplexPaléo/Alex Bernardini (alex-bernardini.fr)
CT scanning allows scientists to observe and “dissect” fossils digitally using computer software - and to uncover secrets that are hundreds of millions of years old.
All primates have opposable thumbs – and some flaunt these in the cutest way.
Courtesy of Lory Park Zoo
Much like the hair you carefully rearrange before a selfie, your cheek muscles and the accompanying smile date back about 250 million years.