After analysing the teeth and thigh bones of 38 T. rex fossils, some researchers propose reclassifying them as three different species, but others are unconvinced. Image: Erik Schepers
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Winter began in spring for many animals during the final year of the age of dinosaurs. Palaeontologists studying fossilized fish suggest that spring was in full bloom in the Northern Hemisphere when an asteroid slammed into Earth, triggering a devastating global winter and mass extinction. Image: Joschua Knüppe
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Fifteen years ago, Mark Norell came across a clutch of dinosaur eggs in southern Mongolia. Frozen in place were at least a dozen embryos of the Triceratops relative Protoceratops. But “something weird” was going on, says the paleontologist, who works at the American Museum of Natural History. Image: M. ELLISON/© AMNH
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Since 2014, when news first broke of its discovery, Patagotitan has frequently been described as the most massive animal ever to walk the Earth. Except it isn’t. Weighing up such giants isn’t simple, but new calculations indicate that other dinosaurs from the same family were at least as massive. Image: Zachi Evenor
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More than half a billion years ago, a strange, worm-like creature died as it crawled across the muddy sea floor. Both the organism and the trail it left lay undisturbed for so long that they fossilized. Now, they are helping to revise our understanding of when and how animals evolved. Image: Dr. Zhe Chen at Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology
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It’s astonishing what you can buy on eBay. An ongoing auction on the site offers buyers the chance to own what is claimed to be “maybe the only” juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered for a whopping $2.95 million. Image: Iforce
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Dinosaurs were southerners. The famous group dominated the world for tens of millions of years and left behind fossils on every major landmass, which has led to some confusion over where the very first dinosaurs were born. Two new studies add to evidence that the earliest dinosaurs lived in South America. Image: MikeAncient
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Have we misunderstood the first known animal? Dickinsonia, a weird organism from half a billion years ago, may have inflated its body to feed. The strategy is not seen in animals today, which raises questions about whether Dickinsonia really belongs in the animal kingdom after all. Image: sharloch
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Fearsome sabre-toothed cats may have had a tender side. The prehistoric predators risked damaging their powerful jaws and teeth during hunts, but a study of their fossils suggests injured individuals could then rely on their peers for food. Image: tabitum
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So-called Ediacaran organisms have puzzled biologists for decades. Now, two paleontologists think they have finally established the identity of the mysterious creatures: They were animals, some of which could move around, but they were unlike any living on Earth today. Image: J Hoyal Cuthill
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On 4 June, geological hammers will give way to an auctioneer’s gavel as the fossilized skeleton of a gigantic predatory dinosaur goes up for sale in the Eiffel Tower in Paris, to the dismay of one of the world’s largest international paleontological societies. Image: zetgem
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Scientists have long struggled to explain why bony fishes are so small: The heaviest—the ocean sunfish—is just 2.3 metric tons, but cartilaginous fishes like whale sharks can weigh up to 34 metric tons. Now, a new study of an ancient giant suggests this modern difference is merely an evolutionary accident. Image: Maurilio Oliveira
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