Prehistoric life
83 whale bone tools pulled from Bay of Biscay caves are oldest ever discovered
New research, based or remains found in Spain and France, shows ancient humans used whale bones as tools as far back as 20,000 years.
100-million-year-old fossil found INSIDE belly of gigantic dinosaur in Australian desert
In a world-first discovery, fossilised gut contents from a sauropod reveal what these enormous dinosaurs ate.
Many prehistoric animals – especially dinosaurs – were absolutely enormous. A scientist explains why they were so darn big
The Earth has always been home to giants, but during prehistory there were a lot more giants than there are today - why is that?
"Exceptional" stegosaur skull unearthed in Spanish crop field stuns dinosaur scientists
It's the most complete stegosaur skull ever found in Europe and offers fresh insight into the evolution and diversity of these iconic plated dinosaurs.
The biggest-ever penguin was a prehistoric monster that weighed as much as a sumo wrestler
Tipping the scales at nearly 160kg, Kumimanu is by far the largest penguin that has ever lived and heavier even than today’s largest living bird, the common ostrich…
How old is life on Earth? Well, it depends on what you mean by 'life'
Ever wondered how old life on Earth is? Well, it depends on your definition of 'life', says Will Newton
Are humans really descended from fish?
Our evolutionary origins can be traced far back through Earth’s long history, but are we really related to those strange fish that crawled out of water 375 million years ago?
What is the largest shark of all time? Meet the ocean giant with a bite force ten times stronger than a great white
Ever wondered what the largest shark of all time is? Will Newton take a look at the evidence
What was the first ever shark? Meet the prehistoric predator that survived five mass extinctions
Sharks are one of the greatest modern day apex predators – but what was the first shark? And was it just as terrifying as we find them today?
"Stunned" fossil hunters just found the oldest ever reptile footprints on a riverbank in Australia
The incredible discovery rewrites the history of when animals evolved to live on land, say experts.
It's only 15cm long, looks like a weird mouse, outlived the dinosaurs – and humans are descended from it
Meet the tiny mammal that survived the dino-killing asteroid to became our earliest ancestor
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's like a renaissance": tooth of enormous ancient predator found on Caribbean roadside
The fossil – which belonged to a crocodile-like carnivore that grew up to six metres long, armed with sharp teeth and bony armour – changes our understanding of the Caribbean's ancient ecosystems, say scientists.
"Extremely rare event": why an ancient bone found at Dinosaur Cove in Australia has got evolution scientists so excited
The small bone was discovered 30 years ago, but it wasn't until now that its significance was fully understood.
This fossilised 'hell ant' found in a Brazilian museum has been hiding a mighty secret
Experts say the 113-million-year-old fossil is the oldest ant specimen ever discovered.
Dinosaur hunters just made a monstrous discovery in the Canadian Rockies
The palaeontologists found are series of prehistoric footprints in two locations in the rugged mountains – and they belonged to an enormous animal.
The world's most ferocious ocean predator ever? This prehistoric, 11 metre long, whale-cross-crocodile monster had a bite as strong as a T-Rex
The world’s oceans were home to many monstrous marine reptiles during the Mesozoic, and chief amongst them were the pliosaurs…
In the 1970s, over 100 ancient rhinos were found entombed in Yellowstone ash – we finally know what happened
It has taken researchers more than 50 years to solve the mystery of why so many rhinos died in the same spot.
This utterly terrifying, armoured, prehistoric millipede was the size of a double duvet and the biggest bug to ever walk the Earth
300 million years ago, there was a giant bug that looked like a millipede but grew as large as the width of a small car…
Prehistoric giant ground sloths once roamed the Americas – including one colossus that weighed 4 tonnes and stood 3.5 meters tall - yet couldn't run
From pig-sized species to those that would have rubbed shoulders with today’s elephants, ground sloths were an incredibly diverse group of mammals that persisted in the Americas for nearly 30 million years…
These prehistoric terror birds – with 'walking bolt cutters' for beaks – would have petrified early humans
Carnivorous terror birds would have towered over humans and may have torn off flesh using their hooked beaks.
Terminator pigs: These 2-metre-tall prehistoric monsters – with their bone-crushing jaws – were one of the most ferocious predators to have ever lived…
These huge, terrifying, prehistoric pig-like creatures were the t-Rex of their day, says Will Newton
Muscles and guts of prehistoric animal found “preserved in unimaginable detail” in South African mountains
The fossilised remains, unearthed 25 years ago from farmland in the Cederberg Mountains, have only recently been described.
Ancient creatures found encased in amber in remote forests of Myanmar – and they’ve been hiding a deadly secret
The 99-million-year-old specimens were discovered in the isolated Hukawng Valley in the north of the country.