Prehistoric life

Prehistoric life

African elephant

“A mouse can’t be ‘stretched out’ to the size of an elephant.” How to make the largest animal that could ever live – according to an evolutionary biologist

Supersized animals should not be taken for granted – Earth’s great, hulking giants are biological phenomenons
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Drone image of bonebeds in Dinosaur Provincial Park

When scientists sent drones into Dinosaur Provincial Park, they made a remarkable discovery

What the drones found in the rugged and remote Canadian hills could "revolutionise how palaeontologists search for fossils," say scientists
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Before they shrunk: 6 huge prehistoric ancestors of animals you know today

Long before evolution downsized them, these giant prehistoric ancestors roamed the Earth, giving rise to the animals we know today.
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Western Desert in Egypt

Formidable crocodile-like predator discovered in Egyptian desert

Fossils of the four-metre-long prehistoric crocodile were found in the sun-baked Western Desert.
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A saber-toothed cat tries to drive a short-faced bear out of its territory. The bear is annoyed and roars back in retaliation.

10 petrifying, huge prehistoric beasts that would have utterly terrified early man, from a 3-metre tall primate to massive deadly eagles and the infamous Smilodon

Our time on this planet has been relatively short, yet in this time we’ve come face to face with some of Earth’s most infamous beasts. From giant cats with canines the size of our forearms to killer eagles capable of snatching children, here are 10 creatures that would have made our ancestors run away in terror…
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Wyoming’s duck-billed dinosaur ‘mummies’

100-year-old mystery of Wyoming’s duck-billed dinosaur ‘mummies’ finally solved

A new study has revealed the exceptionally preserved skin, spikes and hooves of Wyoming’s famous duck-billed dinosaur ‘mummies’ aren’t fossilised flesh, but rather clay moulds formed by microorganisms during decay.
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Computer generated 3D illustration with the prehistoric fish Rhizodus

10 horrifying, prehistoric sea monsters: Discover menacing, deadly creatures that once ruled our oceans – and be glad they don't live today...

The seas have been home to some monstrous creatures over the course of the last 500 million years. Here are 10 that you’ll be glad are long extinct…
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Golden Cap

Rare 'sword dragon' with bite marks on skull found on UK coast. Experts know what killed it

After more than 20 years gathering dust in the bowels of a museum, an ichthyosaur skeleton from the UK’s Jurassic Coast has finally been studied and identified as a new species.
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10 gigantic, deadly, prehistoric insects – from acid-spaying ants to cat-sized scorpions – that are among the most terrifying bugs that have ever lived

Entomophobes look away now! Here are some of the largest, deadliest, and most terrifying bugs to ever live…
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Zavacephale rinpoche skull

Exquisite dome-headed dinosaur unearthed in Mongolian desert is oldest ever found

The skull of the newly described dinosaur species was found “exposed on a cliff like a cabochon jewel” in the Eastern Gobi Desert.
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The hatchling Pterodactylus, nicknamed Lucky, illuminated UV light. Both part and counterpart show the delicate bones of this tiny pterosaur, capturing a fractured wing in extraordinary detail.

"Our hearts stopped": scientists unearth 150-million-year-old animals in Germany. Post-mortem reveals violent thing that killed them

Analysis of two exquisitely preserved baby pterosaurs fossils shows both animals had a broken wing when they died.
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Mammoth foot

1.1-million-year-old mammoth discovered in Siberian wilderness. What scientists find in its DNA has got them excited

A groundbreaking study has shed new light on the microbiomes of mammoths by examining hundreds of remains, including those of a steppe mammoth found near the Adycha River in northeastern Russia.
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Spicomellus afer

"We’ve never seen anything like this in any animal before": why this armoured dinosaur is one of the strangest ever discovered

A team of scientists working in Morocco have discovered more bones belonging to the bizarre armoured dinosaur Spicomellus…
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Kostensuchus atrox skull

Huge dinosaur-eating 'hypercarnivore' as heavy as a grizzly bear discovered in Argentina

The remains of the massive crocodile relative – which may have grown up to 3.5 metres long and weighed as much as 250 kilograms – were found in southern Patagonia.
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Greenland sky

Fossil hunters find nervous system of ancient predator in North Greenland

Researchers say the remarkable fossils – which also contain digestive systems and muscles – help solve a 500-million-year-old puzzle surrounding the squid-like creature.
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Archelon

This prehistoric sea monster was the size of a car, weighed the same as a rhino, had a deadly hooked beak for tearing flesh and swam alongside plesiosaurs

The prehistoric giant that wasn't a whale or a shark
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how human are we

Is the human race truly one species or the lovechild of various prehistoric hook-ups? Just how interbred are we?

Prehistoric Planet Ice Age sabre toothed tiger

Wooly rhinos, rock-climbing snow sloths and sabre-toothed tigers: Everything you need to know about Apple's new prehistoric TV series

Apple TV's award-winning natural history series is back – and this time, we're meeting prehistoric sub-zero giants
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Jan Juc beach

Man finds remains of "little whale with big eyes and a mouth full of slicing teeth" in Australia

The 26-million-year-old fossil – comprising part of a skull with ear bones and teeth – was found on the coast of Victoria in 2019. A new study reveals exactly what the remains are.
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Plesionectes longicollum

In 1978, palaeontologists unearthed an ancient sea reptile from a German quarry. They've only just realised its significance

Researchers have found a new species of prehistoric marine creature that lived alongside the dinosaurs – almost 50 years after its fossil was first dug up.
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Tyrannasaurus rex skull

Dinosaur scientists test bite strength of 18 prehistoric predators. Here's what they discover

New research reveals tyrannosaurs had powerful crushing bites, while other carnivorous giants evolved lighter skulls designed for ripping and slashing.
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Mass extinctions

Mega volcanoes, asteroid impacts and global cooling: The five deadly mass extinctions that changed life on Earth as we know it forever

What is a mass extinction – and how many of them have there been? Will Newton takes a look the 'big five' extinction events
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It turns out we aren't as unique as we think we are: Here are 5 ancient human species that once lived alongside us

We may be the only human species alive today, but just a few hundred thousand years ago there was a remarkable diversity of humans living across the world…
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Grand Canyon

Why half-a-billion-year-old animals unearthed in Grand Canyon have got evolution experts so excited

The astounding collection of soft-bodied Cambrian fossils was found buried in the walls of the vast US canyon.
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