Topic description and stories

Janavis finalidens, the last known toothed bird.

Bird beak evolved before dinosaur extinction

30 Nov 2022

Fossilised fragments of a skeleton, hidden within a rock the size of a grapefruit, have helped upend one of the longest-standing assumptions about...

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Shaking the dinosaur family tree: how did ‘bird-hipped’ dinosaurs evolve?

21 Sep 2022

Researchers have conducted a new analysis of the origins of ‘bird-hipped’ dinosaurs – the group which includes iconic species such as Triceratops –...

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Illustration of Spinosaurus hunting underwater

Dense bones allowed Spinosaurus to hunt underwater

23 Mar 2022

Its close cousin Baryonyx probably swam too, but Suchomimus might have waded like a heron.

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Chimpanzee

Tree-dwelling mammals survived after asteroid strike destroyed forests

14 Oct 2021

An asteroid strike 66 million years ago wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs and devastated the Earth’s forests, but tree-dwelling ancestors of primates...

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Deccan Traps, India

Scientists zero in on the role of volcanoes in the demise of dinosaurs

29 Mar 2021

Researchers have uncovered evidence suggesting that volcanic carbon emissions were not a major driver in Earth’s most recent extinction event.

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Scelidosaurus: ready for its closeup at last

26 Aug 2020

The first complete dinosaur skeleton ever identified has finally been studied in detail and found its place in the dinosaur family tree, completing a...

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‘Wonderchicken’ fossil from the age of dinosaurs reveals origin of modern birds

18 Mar 2020

The oldest fossil of a modern bird yet found, dating from the age of dinosaurs, has been identified by an international team of palaeontologists.

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Two large iguanodontian footprints with skin and claw impressions

‘Treasure trove’ of dinosaur footprints found in southern England

17 Dec 2018

More than 85 well-preserved dinosaur footprints – made by at least seven different species – have been uncovered in East Sussex, representing the...

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‘Treasure trove’ of dinosaur footprints found in southern England

14 Dec 2018

More than 85 well-preserved dinosaur footprints – made by at least seven different species – have been uncovered in East Sussex, representing the...

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Life reconstruction of Chilesaurus diegosuarezi

Study identifies dinosaur ‘missing link’

16 Aug 2017

A ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ dinosaur may be the missing link between two major dinosaur groups, plugging what was previously a big gap between them...

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Kulindadromeus, a small bipedal ornithischian dinosaur that is now part of the new grouping Ornithoscelida and identified as more obviously sharing an ancestry with living birds

New study shakes the roots of the dinosaur family tree

22 Mar 2017

More than a century of theory about the evolutionary history of dinosaurs has been turned on its head following the publication of new research from...

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Image of specimen

Fossilised dinosaur brain tissue identified for the first time

27 Oct 2016

Researchers have identified the first known example of fossilised brain tissue in a dinosaur from Sussex. The tissues resemble those seen in modern...

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