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Palaeontology

Essays and videos exploring physics, evolution, cosmology and other frontiers in science

Astronomy Biology Biotechnology Chemistry Complexity Computing and artificial intelligence Cosmology Deep time Earth science and climate Ecology and environmental sciences Engineering Evolution Genetics History of science Human evolution Human reproduction Illness and disease Mathematics Medicine Oceans and water Palaeontology Physics Quantum theory Space exploration

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Photo of an astronaut beside a large boulder on the Moon’s surface with lunar rover in the background against a dark sky.

essayPalaeontology

Life happened fast

It’s time to rethink how we study life’s origins. It emerged far earlier, and far quicker, than we once thought possible

Michael Marshall

Weathered hands holding a small, carved stone tool with intricate details, set against a blurred background.

videoArchaeology

At a prehistoric pigment mine, researchers glimpse our earliest moments in the Americas

25 minutes

Medieval manuscript illustration of a dragon with a red head, green and blue wings, and a snake-like tail, standing on a hill. The dragon is bordered by a decorative green frame with circular patterns and a blue border with white rings. The background features golden leaf motifs.

videoAnimals and humans

Why be dragons? How massive, reptilian beasts entered our collective imagination

58 minutes

Illustration of a prehistoric forest with various dinosaurs, including herbivores, a pterosaur flying, and a small carnivorous mammal-like creature.

essayPalaeontology

The dinosaurs didn’t rule

When we think of changes in Earth’s history as changes of dynasty we miss out on understanding how life really works

Riley Black

A vast, green valley with rolling hills under a partly cloudy sky, featuring a prominent ridge extending into the distance.

essayDeep time

The Rift

Splitting the African continent, it is the only place where our human story can be read continuously from the very start

Tristan McConnell

essayPalaeontology

A dinosaur is a story

As Brontosaurus tells us, in science as in fiction, the stories we tell to understand the world are always being revised

Nathaniel Goldberg & Chris Gavaler

A large, headless dinosaur sculpture next to a dustbin, with a shipping container in the background.

essayPalaeontology

This riotous life

There’s no rhythm to mass extinctions, no pattern to evolutionary recovery. Life bursts forth, in cacophonous adaptation

Riley Black

A lifelike sculpture of an early human with long dark hair, prominent eyes and a serious expression in a museum display.

ideaPalaeontology

Investigating Homo floresiensis and the myth of the ebu gogo

Paige Madison

Graphic showing the timeline and regions of early human species in Africa, including images of Homo habilis, Homo ergaster, Homo erectus, and Paranthropus boisei.

videoHuman evolution

Last hominin standing – charting our rise and the fall of our closest relatives

6 minutes

Cartoon of a green character with a serious expression in a forest area with a pond. The background appears painted.

videoHuman evolution

Why did our sea-dwelling ancestors leap to land? It might have been the view

4 minutes

A shallow coastal area with numerous dark, round formations in clear water, a hazy horizon and partly cloudy sky.

essayEarth science and climate

The shape of life

The ancient Earth was profoundly alien. How do we distinguish between the living and non-living in the fossil record?

Sophia Roosth

A fossilised marine reptile on a grey stone background showing detailed ribs and skull.

ideaHistory of science

What a fossil revolution reveals about the history of ‘big data’

David Sepkoski

A detailed fish fossil embedded in stone, showcasing intricate skeletal structures and fins.

ideaHistory of science

The missing fossils matter as much as the ones we have found

Adrian Currie & Derek Turner

Painting of a colourful dinosaur with a textured, scaly skin pattern and vibrant hues of red, yellow, and blue against a green background.

essayPalaeontology

What say you, dinosaur?

Did Neanderthals speak? Did dinosaurs roar? And when did birds begin to sing? The soundscape of deep time is coming back

Alex Riley

A skeleton of scattered ancient bones arranged on a dark surface to form the outline of a human figure.

ideaHuman evolution

Anthropology is far from licking the problem of fossil ages

Paige Madison

Illustration of a stylised sabre-toothed cat head with mouth open, showing fangs on a black background.

videoEvolution

Great for killing, and for research: the lethal fangs of saber-toothed cats

5 minutes

Three palaeontologists meticulously cleaning a large dinosaur skull fossil with brushes, focusing on its teeth and bone structure.

essayDeep time

A tyrannosaur of one’s own

Dinosaur collecting isn’t just for museums any more – film stars and sheikhs do it too. What drives a man to covet big bones?

Laurie Gwen Shapiro

Black and white photo of a person in fur clothing holding rope, standing in a snowy landscape with tents and sleds in the background.

essayPalaeontology

Origins

Paleogenetics is helping to solve the great mystery of prehistory: how did humans spread out over the earth?

Jacob Mikanowski

Illustration of a roaring lioness with two blue-grey birds flying nearby against a white background.

essayBiology

Once and future cats

Sabercats were magnificent, powerful predators – what does their extinction tell us about the future of life on Earth?

Riley Black