Category: Archaeologists

A fossilized giant amphibian that lived 240 million years ago has been hiding in an extraordinarily unlikely place — inside rocks intended to build a garden retaining wall. The remarkable fossil was discovered in the 1990s by a retired chicken farmer, who spotted it among rocks taken from a nearby quarry. The stones were destined…

A fossilized tooth belonging to one of the most terrifying predators ever to roam the oceans has been discovered off the Florida coast — and it carries a bizarre secret. Divers searching for ancient shark teeth near Venice, Florida, uncovered a finger-length megalodon tooth covered in prominent bite marks. The remarkable fossil was found by…

A tiny reptile that prowled across southern Brazil 237 million years ago could hold clues to one of the biggest mysteries in prehistoric history: how dinosaurs eventually came to dominate the planet. Scientists have identified the fossil as a previously unknown species named Gondwanax paraisensis, an ancient four-legged reptile that was roughly the size of…

A remarkable fossil has captured a prehistoric battle frozen in time — a badger-like mammal locked in a deadly struggle with a dinosaur roughly 125 million years ago. The extraordinary specimen shows Repenomamus robustus, one of the largest mammals known to have lived during the Cretaceous, apparently attacking a young Psittacosaurus, a plant-eating dinosaur roughly…

A tiny snake fossil unearthed from a German quarry has revealed a startling chapter in the history of one of the world’s most famous predators. Scientists have identified what they believe is the world’s earliest known python, a previously unknown species that slithered through Europe around 47 million years ago. Named Messelopython freyi, the ancient…

A dinosaur that lived more than 220 million years ago endured a devastating bone infection that may have left one of its arms completely useless, scientists have discovered. The nearly 26-foot-long Plateosaurus was found in 2018 in Switzerland’s Frick Valley, preserved in the remains of an ancient mud trap. But hidden inside its bones was…

Around 150 million years ago, a young long-necked dinosaur living in what is now Montana may have struggled to breathe, cough and survive a mysterious illness. Scientists have nicknamed the unfortunate animal “Dolly” — and her fossilized remains are revealing something almost never seen in the dinosaur fossil record. Dolly was a previously unknown species…

For more than 110 million years, an extraordinary dinosaur lay hidden beneath the earth in what is now northern Alberta. When researchers finally began preparing its remains, they discovered something almost impossible to imagine: the animal’s skin, scales and armored coverings had survived alongside its skeleton. The dinosaur was Borealopelta markmitchelli, an armored plant-eater that…

A dinosaur that walked across Europe 155 million years ago has emerged from a Portuguese cliff — and scientists believe its fossil could be the most complete dinosaur skeleton ever discovered in the country. The remarkable ankylosaurus was found near Torres Vedras after a single bone was spotted protruding from a cliff close to the…

A man carrying out construction work in his backyard made a discovery that sounds almost impossible: fossilized bones belonging to a gigantic dinosaur were buried beneath his property. The extraordinary find was first made in 2017 in Pombal, Portugal. Years later, paleontologists from Portugal and Spain have identified the remains as potentially belonging to a…