An artist’s impression of Diamantinasaurus matildae, a sauropod dinosaur that lived about 94 million years ago Travis Tischler The fossilised gut contents of a sauropod dinosaur have been studied for the first time, revealing that the largest land animals that have ever lived were herbivores that barely chewed their food. A fossil nicknamed Judy, from…
A ban on a “destructive” type of fishing that drags large nets along the seafloor could be extended across English waters, the government has said. The proposal would expand the ban on bottom trawling from 18,000km2 to 48,000km2 (around 18,500 sq miles) of the UK’s offshore areas that are already designated as protected. The plan…
Illustration of ancient birds nesting above the Arctic circle Gabriel Ugueto Newly discovered bone fragments from Alaska suggest birds have been breeding and nesting in the Arctic for at least 73 million years. “Which is kind of crazy, because it’s not easy to live in the Arctic and have newborn babies up there,” says study…
A small region of the brain, known as the ventral tegmental area (VTA), plays a key role in how we process rewards. It produces dopamine, a neuromodulator that helps predict future rewards based on contextual cues. A team from the universities of Geneva (UNIGE), Harvard, and McGill has shown that the VTA goes even further:…
Esme Stallard Climate and science correspondent Reporting fromUN Oceans Conference, Nice, France Getty Images Unregulated mining in the deep sea should not be allowed to go ahead, the head of the United Nations has warned. “The deep sea cannot become the Wild West,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said at the opening of the UN…
The end-Permian mass extinction was the deadliest event in Earth’s history. Also called the Great Dying, it is thought to have nearly wiped out all life on Earth 252 million years ago. Yet, earlier this year, we learned of an ancient ecosystem at South Taodonggou, a geological site in what is now China, where plants…
An egg mass with adult termites of the invasive Coptotermes gestroi species T Chouvenc, UF/IFAS Florida’s newest termite is two for the price of one, but nobody’s celebrating. Two species of globally invasive, timber-chewing insects are interbreeding there, creating hybrid colonies that could produce incredibly hardy termites that threaten buildings and forests alike. The findings are…
Palaeontologists are finding more dinosaur remains than ever before, and with new technology they can now peer inside these creatures’ brains, understand their sensory anatomy and reconstruct whole skeletons from fragmentary remains. Applying novel techniques to a single Spinosaurus skeleton discovered in Morocco, researchers have revealed that this dinosaur was perfectly adapted to an aquatic…
Cockatoos in Sydney, Australia, have learned to use public water fountains by twisting a handle, despite how difficult they are for birds to operate. It seems to be a behaviour they copy from each other. Sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) have already learned how to open waste bins in eastern Sydney, leading to a battle of wits…
Esme Stallard Climate and science correspondent Justin Rowlatt Climate editor The Prince of Wales interviewed TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough ahead of the UN oceans summit Sir David Attenborough has told Prince William he is “appalled” by the damage certain fishing methods are wreaking on the world’s oceans. The Prince of Wales interviewed the TV…
