The first hammerhead shark was likely the result of a genetic deformity. A biologist explains how shark DNA reveals hammerheads’ history.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Fossils
Displaying 81 - 100 of 390 articles
Megalodon, the world’s largest known shark species, swam the oceans long before humans existed. Its teeth are all that’s left, and they tell a story of an apex predator that vanished.
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.
The newly discovered species – Qikiqtania – highlights evolution’s twisty, tangled path.
Marrellomorphs are one of the rarest arthropod groups in the world. The discovery of a new fossil sheds light on this enigmatic creature.
A biologist explains how researchers nail down the age of ancient fossils thanks to a physical process called radioactive decay.
The discovery shakes up what scientists thought they knew about salamander evolution.
A terrifying sight in ancient waters, the megalodon shark was once the most feared creature in the sea.
Australia has them, so why doesn’t New Zealand have national or regional fossil emblems? A campaign to change that kicks off today.
How flowering plants evolved has been a mystery, but a new fossil discovery hints at the unknown complexity of ancient plant diversity.
Collectively, the evidence studied by ichnologists helps to paint a picture of long-gone landscapes and the creatures and plants that populated those spaces.
The discovery of a unique 510 million-year-old fossil in a Pennsylvania churchyard offers new clues into how early life evolved on Earth.
There is something near-miraculous in the concept of tiny creatures, weighing just grams, making tracks and traces so long ago, that are now evident in rock.
Some penguins would have been as tall (or even taller) than adults today.
Two newly discovered species of quokka-sized kangaroos, which lived 18 million years ago in the Queensland rainforest, show evolution in the act of giving kangaroos a taste for leaves.
Spoiler: lots more floods.
The lack of large numbers of fossils makes it hard to study sexual dimorphism in dinosaurs. But a new statistical approach offers insight into this question and others across science.
Baby Yingliang is a perfectly preserved oviraptorosaur embryo, a species where findings reveal the connections between dinosaurs and birds.
Why our chance discovery of an Arthropleura as long as an alligator, while on holiday on a beach in northern England, was such a landmark moment.
The little dinosaur is curled up inside its shell the same way birds do before hatching, shedding new light on the link between the behaviour of dinosaurs and modern birds.
Top contributors
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Senior Researcher in Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of the Witwatersrand
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Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University
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Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University
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Professor in Evolutionary Biology (jointly appointed with South Australian Museum), Flinders University
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Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of Bristol
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Associate Professor, Vertebrate Palaeontology Group, Flinders University
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Senior Lecturer in Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences at the University of Bath, University of Bath
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Professor, Southern Cross University
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Research Assistant in Palaeontology, University of Bristol
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Research associate, Curtin University
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Honorary Research Associate, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand
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Lecturer, University of Cape Town
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Professor, Flinders University
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Honorary Associate Professor, UNSW Sydney
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Lecturer in Palaeontology, Flinders University
