Prehistoric

Fossils discovered in northern Australia mark the beginning of a 25-million-year-old family.

The earliest ancestors of birds looked noticeably different from the creatures familiar to us today, reflecting their dinosaur origins.

Tiny teeth are revealing the roots of the modern mammal lifestyle.

With wingspans that stretched a whopping 71 centimetres, these epic insects would have blocked out the Sun as they flew past.  

A three-dimensional preserved fossil larva has been found to contain traces of internal organs.

A molar found in sand from south London could shed light on the last days of an ancient mammal.

Iron-rich enamel helps the world’s largest living lizard to keep its teeth sharp.

From hidden highlights to star sights and surprising sounds, explore 12 treasures in our new gardens.

Experience the connection between rocks and life in our new Evolution Garden where rocks, fossils, plants and sculpture tell a story of evolution and geological change.

Ancient DNA has been reconstructed in three dimensions for the first time ever using a 52,000-year-old mammoth.

Comptonatus chasei is the newest member of the Iguanodon family.

Some of the best three-dimensionally preserved fossil trilobites have been revealed from Morocco.

The iconic marine molluscs might be alive today had Earth not been struck by a meteorite.

A new species of 237-million-year-old reptile has been uncovered in Brazil. 

By the end of the Jurassic Period, dinosaurs ruled our planet. But how they became such a diverse group remains a mystery. 

Scientists are trying to unravel the mysteries of an extinction event that occured in North America at the end of the Jurassic.

While the researchers describing Buronius manfredschmidi claim it is a new species, not all scientists are convinced.

After more than a century of searching, the head of one of the largest ever birds has been found.

Musankwa sanyatiensis is just the fourth dinosaur species ever found from Zimbabwe.

An ancient worm may have dragged itself along the sea floor, consuming whatever prey it could find.

The first animal communities could have impacted on how complex life evolved over 550 million years ago.

A fossil jawbone, which may belong to the largest marine reptile ever discovered, has been found in Somerset.

Kermitops gratus highlights the number of specimens waiting to be described in the world’s museums.

The discoveries that changed our understanding of dinosaurs over the past two centuries.

A new study of Tridentinosaurus suggests that preserved skin is just black paint.

Discovered in Scotland, Ceoptera evansae has been named as a new species of pterosaur. 

The first modern humans to live in northern Europe arrived more than 45,000 years ago.

Dinosaur expert Professor Paul Barrett answers your questions about the prehistoric reptiles that once ruled our world.

A jawbone fragment overlooked for more than 100 years was once part of a nine-metre-long ancient whale.

Going back to basics could help to unlock the mysteries of our origins.

An extraordinary dinosaur fossil has revealed what young tyrannosaurs were eating over 70 million years ago.

Fossils are physical evidence of prehistoric animals and plants, but there may be more to them than you ever realised. 

The oldest disease-causing fungus on record has been found in the Natural History Museum’s collection.

Jaculinykus yaruui is thought to have dug for food using an enormous thumb on each hand.

A question that has puzzled scientists for over 150 years may finally have been answered.

Dental plaque may help to reveal what prehistoric humans ate.

Trilobites survived for more than 250 million years. But what made them some of the most successful early animals?

Sharks have been around for millions of years. Their teeth are some of the most common fossils you can find.

Human bones with cutmarks, breaks and human chewing marks are found across northern Europe. 

Researchers are hot on the trail of Morocco’s missing dinosaurs.

For the first time ever, researchers have found a trilobite’s final meal.

If you know what you’re looking at, little bits of bone can add up to something big. 

Though the Portland plesiosaur made headlines in the 1960s, it has never been formally described.

New research on the 450-million-year-old Eriptychius suggests it could be a ‘missing link’ in the evolution of the vertebrate skull.

A marine predator living over 500 million years ago might bridge the gap between insects and their ancient relatives.

Almost 99% of all human ancestors may have been wiped out around 930,000 years ago, a new paper has claimed.

The new species, named Venetoraptor gassenae, suggests that the lagerpetids were more diverse than previously realised.

Elephants and their relatives evolved in a previously unappreciated way.

Melting polar ice caps may have pushed some of the first ancient humans out of Europe.

Discover a treasure trove of fossils just off Britain’s south coast.

All it takes is a bit of practice and plenty of patience.

A new statue is joining the world’s oldest display of extinct wildlife in south London.

Neanderthals might have been making some of Europe’s oldest art thousands of years before the arrival of humans.

Our ancient relatives may have reached southeast Asia over 10,000 years earlier than thought.

The ancient relative of some of the largest ever animals may have been lighter than some humans.

An ichthyosaur fossil found in Svalbard is finally revealing its secrets 15 years after it was discovered.

A previously unappreciated group of lifeforms are changing what we know about the evolution of life on Earth.

The bivalves appear to have been left behind in history’s biggest ever burst of evolution.

New research reveals that Yersinia pestis was widespread across Europe during the Bronze Age, thousands of years before the Black Death.

A new fossil predator has offered an insight into the chaotic final years of the largest extinction of all time over 250 million years ago.

Protathlitis cinctorrensis is the latest to be discovered in Spain, adding to the evidence that spinosaurs first evolved in Europe.

A new technique allows researchers to extract the DNA of people who have handled bone artefacts, giving clues about prehistoric cultures.

Digital reconstructions of broken fossils have revealed more about the life of an ancient crocodile-like predator.

New research suggests that ichthyosaurs may have pre-dated the age of the dinosaurs after surviving Earth's largest mass extinction event.

The insects were frozen in time after being caught in amber, revealing rare evidence of how dinosaurs and insects interacted.

The isolated teeth were identified using machine learning models, and could represent some of the earliest relatives of birds ever discovered.

52-million-year-old fossils of Icaronycteris gunnelli offer researchers a deeper look at how bats evolved.

Explore our collections and discover some of the many specimens you won't see on a regular visit to the Museum. 

The Cretaceous Period is famous for ending with a massive asteroid impact, but what was our planet like in the millions of years before that?

Rather than keeping them permanently exposed, like crocodiles, a new study suggests the teeth of theropods would have been kept behind lips.

Amphibians the size of crocodiles once lurked along the shores of ancient South Africa.

Dinosaurs are the largest land animals to ever live. Titanosaurs were the biggest of them all. Explore how they were able to grow to such a size.

The discovery was made three decades after the species was first uncovered as scientists try to understand more about how sauropods evolved in what is now eastern Asia.

Get to know some of the largest dinosaurs to have ever walked the planet. 

A fossil found in northern Britain is revealing insights into the behaviour of a 166-million-year-old carnivorous dinosaur.

It may have been a case of matter over mind for dinosaurs which lived around water.

Early humans, and an ancient relative, may have been using complex stone tools as early as three million years ago. 

More than 250 titanosaur eggs have been uncovered in India, revealing more about the lives of some of the largest animals which ever lived.

Fighting for mates may be a behaviour that dates back over 400 million years.

Competition between ankylosaurs may be responsible for their iconic tail clubs.

DNA found in Greenland has broken the record for the oldest yet discovered.

A new species of extinct lizard has been described from the Museum's collections. 

Leeches, mites and plants found at the site are revealing the ecosystems ancient animals walked over 260 million years ago.

A chink in the armour of giant South American armadillos may have left them vulnerable to human hunting. 

Algae and bacteria were on the menu for the early animal Kimberella shortly before it was buried over 500 million years ago. 

Measuring almost four metres in length, Leviathanochelys aenigmatica reveals that giant turtles were more common than previously thought.

The first complete ichthyosaur skeleton has resurfaced, despite being thought destroyed during World War Two.

The most complete Jurassic fossil lizard ever found has been discovered in Scotland.

While their function remains uncertain, the sinuses provide an insight into how ancient human skulls changed over time.

Neanderthals may have lived in small groups of around 10 to 20, with females moving between the different communities. 

Scavengers could help to preserve the soft tissue of the ancient reptiles by removing flesh and fluid from the body shortly after death. 

Living over 200 million years ago, Scleromochlus helps to show how ancient reptiles took their first steps towards flight.

Professor Svante Pääbo, considered a founding father of palaeogenomics, has helped to reveal how humans evolved, and how we relate to our closest relatives.

Investigating Mars' dry lakes could help scientists to discover how life began on Earth. 

Researchers have reconstructed one of the first gliding reptiles in extraordinary detail.

While the evolutionary history of the bears remains uncertain, it contributes evidence to suggestions that panda bears could have evolved in Europe. 

As mammaliamorphs switched from being cold to warm blooded, new behaviours, habitats and ways of living became available to them.

Measuring almost two metres tall, Leptoptilos robustus would have lived in a unique ecosystem which included the mysterious miniature human relative Homo floresiensis. 

Fossil bones and antlers in the Museum's collection hold clues about the life and disappearance of Europe's biggest ever deer.

Genyornis newtoni may have become extinct after humans stole and ate its eggs.

Some dinosaurs, such as stegosaurs, may have needed to bask in the sun to keep their body temperature constant.

How we depict extinct animals has changed significantly over time, as artists keep up with the latest scientific discoveries.

Plankton which help feed the ocean, lock away carbon dioxide and even influence the weather may not be as vulnerable to climate change as feared.

The tooth of a young girl living hundreds of thousands of years ago may be from the Denisovans, an extinct hominid species of which very little is known. 

Male trilobites could have acted like modern horseshoe crabs, using claspers to grip females and increase their chance of fathering young.

Some of the largest animals that ever lived retained their size right up until they were wiped out 200 million years ago.

Analyses of three meteorites suggest that the raw material for the origin of life may have formed in space.

It beats the previous record holder by tens of millions of years.

With the finding yet to be published in a scientific journal, debate continues over whether this could be the case. 

Spinosaurs were some of the only dinosaurs that spent much of their lives in water.

Living over 40 million years before the sabre-tooth tiger, Diegoaelurus vanvalkenburghae may have preyed on rhinos and primates in the forests of California. 

While its impacts are uncertain, it could have caused the world to warm significantly.

The finding could offer insights into the impact of climate change on its modern relatives. 

Bashanosaurus primitivus adds to evidence the group of dinosaurs may have originated in Asia.

Palaeontologists have reacted with scepticism over the claims.

Ancient plants measuring just two centimetres long could show what the ancestor of vascular plants looked like.

The animals roamed Devon's vast grasslands thousands of years ago.

A group of fossilised snails and clams are challenging suggestions that ocean acidification contributed to the largest extinction in history. 

Evidence of increasing carnivory in ancient humans may just be a quirk of sampling.

The largest and most complete ichthyosaur ever found in the UK has been unearthed in the nation's smallest county.

The first large raptor to ever be discovered in the UK has been described as a new species. 

A series of tracks on a public beach point to the presence of large, long-necked dinosaurs in Wales over 200 million years ago. 

The genetic landscape of England and Wales was shaken up thousands of years ago as new arrivals redefined its people.

One of the largest invertebrates to have ever lived once roamed the beaches of ancient England.

The largest-ever flying animal acted like a giant heron, plucking prey from the water and launching itself into the air. 

An ancient relative of modern crocodiles and alligators shows that their semi-aquatic lifestyle dates back over 150 million years. 

Scientists have discovered how a bird of prey dubbed 'the flying tiger' could take down one of the heaviest birds that ever lived.

The end of the mammoths gave rise to a tinderbox world that was more likely to catch fire. 

Ancient elephants that would have been born the size of a puppy lived for decades more than previously thought.

Neanderthals lived fast and died young, developing their teeth earlier than humans to power their rapid growth. 

The fossils of 'very weird animals' have helped show how elephants and walruses may have evolved their iconic tusks. 

A new ancestor of modern humans with the potential to rip up the family tree has been tentatively named.

Domesticated horses are about three centuries younger than the Pyramids of Giza, researchers have found, as they uncover the origin of all domestic horses. 

A conundrum that has foxed scientists for decades has been solved, revealing the origins of an ancient group of animals. 

The largest Triceratops ever found has sold for over £5 million in an auction that has caused controversy. 

Some of the oldest evidence for modern humans living in rainforests has been found in a cave in Southeast Asia. 

A giant ground sloth that once roamed South America occasionally broke its plant-based diet to eat meat, researchers have found.

Most African mammals all went extinct 33 million years ago as the world became dramatically cooler. 

The 'lost world' gives a glimpse of the planet before the last Ice Age. 

The oldest-known meat-eating dinosaur discovered in the UK has been named in honour of trailblazing Museum scientist Angela Milner, who passed away in August 2021.

Prehistoric humans may have 'farmed' cassowaries as early as 18,000 years ago. 

The oldest confirmed human footprints from the Americas have been found in New Mexico, pushing back the date of our ancestors' arrival on the continent by thousands of years.

A nursery for the largest land mammals ever to have lived has been uncovered in Spain, offering rare clues to their family lives. 

Mammoth ivory is appearing from melting permafrost and joining international markets.

Dating to roughly 78,000 years old, the grave is the oldest human burial discovered in Africa to date. 

The often tightly wound shells of ammonites may be a familiar sight, but how much do you know about the animals that once lived inside?

Ancient teeth could be evidence of a hybrid population of Neanderthals and modern humans. 

A milestone has been reached in the campaign for a statue of fossil hunter Mary Anning in Lyme Regis.

Meet the remarkable fish that turned up alive in 1938, despite having been presumed extinct for 70 million years.

Bronze Age people were keeping human body parts and preserving them.