Prehistoric

Prehistoric

Elgol, Isle of Skye

Mysterious snake-like animal found on Scottish island. Scientists have taken 10 years to figure out what it is

A 167-million-year-old fossil unearthed on the Isle of Skye has teeth much like those of a modern-day python.
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Xiphodracon goldencapensis skeleton

Scientists discover rare prehistoric 'sword dragon' on Jurassic Coast

More than 20 years after it was first discovered, a near-complete ichthyosaur skeleton found on the UK’s Jurassic Coast in Dorset has been identified as a new species.
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Compton Bay Isle of Wight

This island is the ‘dinosaur capital’ of the UK – although record-breaking prehistoric giants, heavier than African elephants, were found elsewhere

The UK has had its fair share of ginormous dino digs over the centuries – but what's been the biggest discovery?
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East Chisenbury Midden

Scientists examined 6 gigantic Bronze Age rubbish heaps across England. What they found is epic

Analyses of animal bones found in ancient rubbish heaps across Wiltshire and the Thames Valley suggest people travelled great distances to feast together towards the end of the Bronze Age.
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Welsh coastline

"Most unexpected is the size of the animal": massive flesh-eating dinosaur uncovered in Wales

The fossil of a jawbone kept in the National Museum of Wales for decades has finally been identified as a new species of dinosaur. Scientists estimate that the prehistoric predator measured up to 7 metres long – roughly the length of a bus.
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Homo floresiensis (Flores Man, nicknamed hobbit) is an extinct species in the genus Homo. The remains of an individual that would have stood about 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) in height were discovered in 2003 at Liang Bua on the island of Flores in Indonesia. This hominin had originally been considered remarkable for its survival until relatively recent times, only 12,000 years ago. However, more extensive stratigraphic and chronological work has pushed the dating of the most recent evidence of its existence back to 50,000 years ago. The Homo floresiensis skeletal material is now dated from 60,000 to 100,000 years ago. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

50,000 years ago, on an island in the Pacific Ocean, there lived real-life hobbits – wait, what?

Discover the ancient human species that was barely three feet tall
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Durlston Bay in Dorset

“A remarkable find": student unearths prehistoric animal on Jurassic Coast

The 145-million-year-old mammal fossil – discovered at Durlston Bay in Dorset – reveals a new species that lived alongside dinosaurs.
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10 deadly prehistoric dogs that roamed the Earth millions of years ago: Are these the most ferocious canine hunters of all time?

The ancestors of domestic dogs were different beasts and make today’s most terrifying breeds look like pampered pooches in comparison…
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Senior Zooarchaeologist and Collections Access Manager at Historic England with skull of aurochs

These 10 groundbreaking Historic England projects have revealed fascinating details about Britain’s past

Discover how archaeologists, conservationists and geophysicists at Historic England are piecing together the past – one burial, shipwreck and dinosaur sculpture at a time
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Cave lion

Were there ever any lions in Britain?

Did you know lions once roamed the British Isles?
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This petrifying, giant armored prehistoric millipede – the size of a double duvet – was the largest bug to ever stalk the UK and indeed the world

At 2.6m in length and nearly 50kg in weight, this massive stem-millipede is the largest terrestrial invertebrate ever discovered…
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Close up of one of the two mask-like human faces decorating the shoulder of the lidded vessel or cauldron from the Melsonby Hoard shown upside down as found during excavation

Colossal Iron Age hoard found by detectorist changes what we know about life in ancient Britain

Chariots, cauldrons and ceremonial spears – over 800 items unearthed near the village of Melsonby in North Yorkshire "one of the most important and exciting" Iron Age hoards ever found in the UK, say experts.
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worlds biggest ever dog

The world's biggest-ever dog was a prehistoric monster the size of a brown bear that could crush bone with its fearsome teeth

This ancient dog wasn’t anything like our beloved pooches, it was more comparable in size to a brown bear and it had powerful jaws designed for crushing bones…
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