Crikey! We’re gonna need a bigger boat…

0000-0001-7794-0218 The first fossils of a giant ancestor of the great white shark have been discovered in Victoria, Australia. Philip Mullaly, a fossil enthusiast, was having a stroll down the beach at Victoria’s popular surf

Snakes. Why did it have to be giant snakes?

0000-0002-8715-2896 Snakes are beautiful and bizarre animals. Limbless vertebrates, they have been around for more than 150 million years, and occupy almost every ecological role possible, including living under the sea! Over geological time, they

Life after death: Largest discovered Ichthyosaurus preserves a fossilised embryo

0000-0002-8715-2896 Ichthyosaurs, meaning ‘fish lizards’, are a bizarre group of ancient marine reptiles that went extinct around 90 million years ago. They looked suspiciously similar to dolphins, but are only very, very distantly related to

Let sleeping dragons lie

0000-0002-8715-2896 Mistaken identity In Palaeontology, there is perhaps no greater story of an accidental mix-up than the story of Oviraptor. When this dinosaur was first discovered back in 1924, it was alongside a clutch of

PLOS Paleo: Whales, dolphins, and seals all follow the same evolutionary patterns

0000-0002-8715-2896 From the poles to the equator, marine mammals such as seals, dolphins, and whales, play an important role in global ecosystems as apex predators, ecosystem engineers, and even organic ocean fertilisers. They occupy a

A 180 million year old dinosaur dinner

0000-0002-8715-2896Source: A 180 million year old dinosaur dinner   While artistic reconstructions of dinosaurs preying on each other are a fantastic way of illustrating the real-life behaviours of these fantastic creatures, direct evidence of dinosaur-food

Congratulations! Your Platychelys learned the move ‘Neck retraction’

0000-0002-8715-2896Source: Congratulations! Your Platychelys learned the move ‘Neck retraction’ One of the unique and most iconic features of many modern turtles is that they can withdraw their neck and head to hide and protect them

Early baleen whales contended for title of ocean’s Barry White

0000-0002-8715-2896Source: Early baleen whales contended for title of ocean’s Barry White Until now, it has been a bit of a mystery about the evolution of hearing capabilities in those graceful ocean behemoths, the baleen whales.

Synapsida – Gotta catch ‘em all!

0000-0002-8715-2896Source: Synapsida – Gotta catch ‘em all!   Let’s go back to the Permian period, around 260 million years. Life was quite blissful, with no dinosaurs tearing up the turf as of yet. Animals from

Terrestrial Mesozoic ninja turtles

0000-0002-8715-2896Source: Terrestrial Mesozoic ninja turtles Turtles are an incredible evolutionary success story, with about 350 extant species that inhabit all major oceans and landmasses and from tropical to temperate climates. The fossil record of turtles