Will Newton
Science writer
Will Newton is a freelance science writer with a passion for all things prehistoric, from dinosaurs to Ice Age humans. He is also a PhD student at the University of Manchester, where he studies 400-million-year-old, armoured fish known as Ostracoderms. He has written for both BBC Wildlife and BBC Science Focus, as well as several other popular publications. When he's not writing about ancient animals, he can be found with his elbows deep in one of the many fish tanks currently overtaking his home office."
Recent articles by Will Newton
It's been conformed – the kraken monster really did exist, 100 million years ago...
This giant cephalopod dwarfed mosasaurs and other massive marine reptiles that lived during the time of the dinosaurs…
"It looked more like something from Alien than an animal." 10 weirdest prehistoric bugs, including a car-sized one that weighed the same as a Labrador
If you thought there were some strange bugs living today, wait until you meet these oddballs from prehistory…
"They wore clothes, wielded fire, and created art; they may have even been smarter than us..." Just who were our closest cousins?
From ice-age hunters to our closest extinct relatives, this essential guide uncovers who the Neanderthals really were — and what they reveal about us.
Are humans still evolving? Is this really as good as we get?
It’s often said we’ve transcended our biological constraints and stopped evolving, but that’s simply not true…
Drones reveal massive ‘buried glaciers’ in the US. They could guide search for water on Mars
A major breakthrough in the search for water on Mars has been made thanks to a pioneering new study
"Extremely rare" platypus teeth found in Australian outback. Here's why the discovery has got scientists so excited
A new study describing the discovery of rare platypus fossils has shed some light on the evolutionary history of one of Earth’s most enigmatic mammals…
"Its vicious-looking, self-sharpening teeth were designed to slice effortlessly through tough meat." 10 deadliest, most ruthless prehistoric cats ever
From tigers to tabbies, today’s cats come in many different shapes, sizes, and temperaments.
Their ancestors were just as diverse, if not more so, says Will Newton. Here are our top 10 prehistoric cats…
"Their nests are made up of thousands of climate-controlled rooms, resembling a structure not too dissimilar to an urban office block"
When it comes to industrious hard work, leafcutter ants are the best in the business...
The Colorado River vanished for 5 million years. Scientists may have just figured out where it went
University of California researchers may have solved the mystery of the US river's disappearance from the geological record.
"It had big eyes, a large head, chubby cheeks, and short, stumpy legs." The 6 dinosaurs that would make the very best pets - if humans had been around
Not all dinosaurs were massive, meat-eating monsters; some were no bigger than labradors, covered in downy feathers, and cuter than buttons…
How many ways can evolution happen?
Evolution isn’t a single, straightforward process – it works in several distinct ways. From species splitting apart over time to unrelated animals developing similar traits, these patterns reveal how life adapts and changes.
“This colossal, complex city – the size of 2 tennis courts with thousands of rooms, from classrooms to ventilation units – was built by millions of hard-working architects”
Massive 15kg echidnas once roamed south-east Australia. Evidence of the bizarre animals was found 120 years ago in a cave
The re-examination of an Ice Age fossil that has spent the last 120 years in the bowels of a museum has filled a major knowledge gap in Australia’s prehistoric fauna…
"They actually perform amputations. Those that injure their legs above the femur have their whole leg lopped off..."
There are certain species of ants that have been observed treating injuries of their nestmates, with some even performing successful amputations…
Could there ever be a new species of human?
It’s happened before, many times, so surely it could happen again, right?
500-million-year-old clawed predator found in Utah desert forces scientists to rethink origin of spiders
Named after French explorer Jacques Cousteau, Megachelicerax cousteaui is the oldest of its kind ever found, not to mention one of the strangest…
Satellite images reveal hidden cause of melting glaciers in Greenland
A new study has found that meltwater lakes at the edge of the Greenland ice sheet are accelerating the flow of major glaciers, potentially contributing to global sea level rise.
“It was just bones all over the floor.” Fossil hunters make astounding discovery in Texan water cave
A flooded cave in central Texas has yielded the remains of Ice Age animals that have never been found in the region before…
"It has two, whopping, 22cm-long fangs that give it the look of an aquatic saber tooth tiger."10 deadly, utterly terrifying prehistoric fish
The saying ‘there’s always a bigger fish’ rings particularly true when looking at these monsters from prehistory…
It weighed less than 1kg yet remarkably could reach terrifying speeds of 65km/h: Meet 10 fastest, speediest dinosaurs on the planet
Not all dinosaurs were lumbering giants, some were streamlined speedsters that would have given today’s fastest animals a run for their money…
It’s a slimy, brainless creature that stalks prey, navigates mazes and creates elaborate transport networks more efficient than our own
These tiny microorganisms come together to create large, multicellular networks capable of navigating mazes and re-routing transport networks…
"Raiding parties are the soldiers, bearing enormous heads armed with long, scissor-like mandibles capable of dismantling prey piece by piece..."
This is definitely an army that marches on its stomach...
100km-wide "hidden giant" discovered beneath Antarctic ice sheet
A vast granite body roughly half the size of Wales has been found beneath the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica…
Scientists uncover 'lost world’ beneath North Sea – once home to beavers, deer and even bears
A new study has found evidence to suggest the now-submerged landmass of Doggerland in Europe was covered in a temperate mosaic of oak, elm, and hazel more than 16,000 years ago…
