Nocturnal dinosaurs: Night vision and superb hearing in a small theropod suggest it was a moonlight predator

By looking at the eye bones and ear canals of extinct dinosaurs, researchers show that a small ancient predator likely hunted at night and had senses as good as a modern barn owl.

Roger Benson, Professor of Palaeobiology, University of Oxford • conversation
May 6, 2021 ~9 min

How many Tyrannosaurus rex walked the Earth?

Using the incredible wealth of fossil data and a modern ecological theory, researchers estimated population density for the extinct apex predator.

Daniel Varajão de Latorre, Ph.D. Student in Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley • conversation
April 16, 2021 ~6 min


Dinosaurs: how our understanding of what they looked like keeps changing

A transcript of episode 11 of The Conversation Weekly podcast, including an interview on Israel's foreign policy options following its recent election.

Daniel Merino, Assistant Editor: Science, Health, Environment; Co-Host: The Conversation Weekly Podcast • conversation
April 16, 2021 ~42 min

Dinosaurs: from giant reptiles to warm-blooded, feathered creatures, how our understanding of what they looked like has changed – podcast

Plus, what Israel's latest election could mean for its foreign policy. Listen to episode 11 of The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Daniel Merino, Assistant Editor: Science, Health, Environment; Co-Host: The Conversation Weekly Podcast • conversation
April 15, 2021 ~4 min

Largest ever flying creatures had longer necks than giraffes – we found out how these pterosaurs kept their heads up

Gigantic flying reptiles had impressive wingspans of up to 12 metres – and a special trick in their necks.

Cariad Williams, PhD Candidate, Paleoentomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • conversation
April 14, 2021 ~7 min

Tyrannosaurus rex didn't get its ferocious bite until it was an adult - new research

Our new study has found younger tyrannosaurs would have hunted small prey.

Andre Rowe, PhD Candidate in Geology, University of Bristol • conversation
March 9, 2021 ~5 min

Scientists have found dust from the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs inside the crater it left

A new study found iridium, an element found in asteroids, in the rocks of the Chicxulub impact crater.

Queenie Hoi Shan Chan, Lecturer in Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway • conversation
March 2, 2021 ~6 min

Dinosaurs may have 'flashed' each other with their bottoms, newly discovered fossil shows

A reconstruction of a dinosaur's back passage reveals it may have been used for visual communication.

Diane A. Kelly, Senior Research Fellow, University of Massachusetts Amherst • conversation
Jan. 22, 2021 ~6 min


Crocodiles today look the same as they did 200 million years ago – our study explains why

New research shows crocodiles have landed upon an equilibrium state of evolution.

Max Stockdale, Teaching Associate, Vertebrate Macroevolution and Palaeoecology, University of Bristol • conversation
Jan. 7, 2021 ~6 min

Pterosaurs increased their flight efficiency over time – new evidence for long-term evolution

Fossils reveal that dinosaurs' flying cousins become twice as efficient at flying over 150 million years.

Michael J. Benton, Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of Bristol • conversation
Oct. 28, 2020 ~6 min

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