Fossils: 48,000-year-old Neanderthal teeth from Jersey reveal interbreeding with humans was common

Interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans was common, reanalysis of thirteen 48,000-year-old Neanderthal teeth from Jersey has revealed. The teeth were first uncovered between 1910–11 from the top of a small granite ledge within the La Cotte de St Brelade cave by archaeologists with the Société Jersiaise. While the teeth had been assumed to come from a … Read more

Fossils: 98 million-year-old dino unearthed in Argentina may have been the largest land animal ever

Dinosaur fossil from 98 million-years-ago unearthed in Argentina may have been the largest animal to ever walk the Earth, study claims The fossil remains — including tail and pelvic bones — were uncovered in 2012 The giant titanosaur sauropod dinosaur would have had a long neck and tail It was preserved in a muddy floodplain in what … Read more

Fossils prove 6ft-long dire wolves split off from other wolves nearly six million years ago 

The fearsome 6ft-long dire wolves – as featured in Game of Thrones – first split from other wolf species about six million years ago, a new study discovered. The remains of more than 4,000 now extinct dire wolves have been excavated from La Brea Tar Pits in California and examined by experts from Durham University.   … Read more

Fossils: Chicken-sized dinosaur with shoulder ‘needles’ may have been illegally exported from Brazil

Controversy has surrounded the fossil of a chicken-sized dinosaur with unique shoulder ‘needles’ — after claims it may have been exported from Brazil illegally. Dating back some 110 million years, the unusual specimen was recently named Ubirajara jubatus — or ‘Maned Lord of the Spear’ — after its distinguishing spines. Experts have proposed that the … Read more

Fossils: Neanderthal who fell down a well and starved to death 130,000 years ago had buck teeth

Altamura Man — a Neanderthal who starved to death after falling down a well over 130,000 years ago — had buck teeth he likely used to hold meat while cutting it. Cavers spotted the remains in the Lamalunga Cave, Italy, in 1993 — finding them covered in deposits of calcite, a mineral derived from the surrounding … Read more

Din O’Saurs discovered! Ireland’s first dinosaur fossils are identified in County Antrim

It’s an Irish discovery 200million years in the making – for the first time ever, dinosaur bones have been identified on the island. Fossil bones from a four-legged plant-eating scelidosaurus and a deadly two-legged carnivore sarcosaurus were found in Islandmagee, on the coast of County Antrim. The remains were originally discovered by school teacher and … Read more

Din O’Saurs discovered! Ireland’s first dinosaur fossils are found in County Antrim

Din O’Saurs discovered! Ireland’s first dinosaur fossils from 200m-year-old beasts are found in County Antrim Fossil bones are from a four-legged plant-eating scelidosaurus in Antrim  Another dinosaur – a deadly two-legged carnivore sarcosaurus also found  Late teacher and fossil collector Roger Byrne found the bones years ago They were confirmed as being from the dinosaurs … Read more

Fossils: ‘Shark spines’ found in an English mine 100 years ago are actually pterosaur jaw fragments

Fossil ‘shark spines’ unearthed in an English phosphate mine a century ago are actually jaw fragments of 100 million-year-old toothless pterosaurs — including an unknown species The fossils were collected in the Fens by Victorian miners and sold for profit They came from a rock formation that dates back to the early Cenomanian The palaeontologists … Read more

Fossils unearthed in Antarctica belonged to the ‘bony-toothed’ bird 50 MILLION years ago

Newly analyzed fossils from Antarctica may represent an extinct species of giant bird with a wingspan of more than 20 feet. By comparison the largest modern-day bird, the wandering albatross, has a wingspan of just 11 feet and six inches. Called pelagornithids, the ancient avians soared over Earth’s oceans more than 40 million years ago. … Read more

Fossils reveal a new species of burrowing reptile that lived 220 MILLION years ago

Fossils reveal a new species of burrowing reptile with features of an anteater and chameleon that lived 220 MILLION years ago in what is now the Petrified Forest National Park Tiny fossils found in Arizona once belong to a new species of an ancient lizard   Skybalonyx skapter is a new drepanosaur that spent most of its … Read more