Will Newton
Science writer
Will Newton is a freelance science writer with a passion for all things prehistoric, from dinosaurs to Ice Age humans. He is also a PhD student at the University of Manchester, where he studies 400-million-year-old, armoured fish known as Ostracoderms. He has written for both BBC Wildlife and BBC Science Focus, as well as several other popular publications. When he's not writing about ancient animals, he can be found with his elbows deep in one of the many fish tanks currently overtaking his home office."
Recent articles by Will Newton
85-million-year-old dinosaur eggs found in China. What they reveal is wild
What the researchers discovered could change our understanding of not only dinosaur evolution and extinction, but global environmental change too…
10 weirdest dinosaurs ever, from a crazed two-legged hedgehog look-a-like to one that resembled a cross between a duck, camel and giant sloth
For nearly 180 million years, dinosaurs ruled over land on Earth. In that time they evolved into countless different forms, many of which were downright weird…
1.1-million-year-old mammoth discovered in Siberian wilderness. What scientists find in its DNA has got them excited
A groundbreaking study has shed new light on the microbiomes of mammoths by examining hundreds of remains, including those of a steppe mammoth found near the Adycha River in northeastern Russia.
"We’ve never seen anything like this in any animal before": why this armoured dinosaur is one of the strangest ever discovered
A team of scientists working in Morocco have discovered more bones belonging to the bizarre armoured dinosaur Spicomellus…
This prehistoric sea monster was the size of a car, weighed the same as a rhino, had a deadly hooked beak for tearing flesh and swam alongside plesiosaurs
The prehistoric giant that wasn't a whale or a shark
Is the human race truly one species or the lovechild of various prehistoric hook-ups? Just how interbred are we?
Deadliest dinosaurs had a variety of killing methods from slashing and tearing to biting and crushing
New study finds not all giant dinosaurs killed the same way
Mega volcanoes, asteroid impacts and global cooling: The five deadly mass extinctions that changed life on Earth as we know it forever
What is a mass extinction – and how many of them have there been? Will Newton takes a look the 'big five' extinction events
How many species of human have there been?
We aren’t the only humans to have called Earth ‘home’; before us there were dozens of human species and like us they travelled far and wide…
It turns out we aren't as unique as we think we are: Here are 5 ancient human species that once lived alongside us
We may be the only human species alive today, but just a few hundred thousand years ago there was a remarkable diversity of humans living across the world…
Tiny, pea-sized dinosaur bone discovered in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert has scientists gobsmacked at what it means
This tiny, pea-sized bone has the potential to change everything we thought we knew about how flight originated in dinosaurs and their descendants birds…
5 ancient human species that lived BEFORE us: Meet the prehistoric pioneers who changed history forever
We're not the first species of ‘human’ to walk the Earth; thousands of years before us there was a rich diversity of hominins…
What's the difference between humans and apes? And when did we first appear?
We may be part of the same overarching group as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, but there are lots of things that set us apart from these other great apes…
Why did dinosaurs have horns and spikes?
Why did dinosaurs have horns and spikes for fighting, or just for show?
Is this the world's most gruesome – and unluckiest – death ever? Ancient human attacked by two deadly predators at once
As far as gruesome, prehistoric deaths go, none are worse than the death experienced by a Homo habilis known as OH 7.
10 gruesome deaths preserved as fossils: Nature’s most brutal final moments frozen in time
To become a fossil, an animal has to die. However, not all deaths are equal and some are a lot more gruesome than others…
Any animals standing within 1,500km of the impact would have been instantly vaporised: 10 terrible times to be alive
Over the course of its 4.5-billion-year history, the Earth has witnessed its fair share of terrible times…
10 fearsome prehistoric dogs that roamed the Earth millions of years ago: Are these the deadliest canine hunters of all time?
They may be closely related to today’s domestic dogs, but you certainly wouldn’t want to pet these extinct canids… Meet 10 deadly prehistoric dogs
Was this the largest, deadliest and most terrifying wolf of all time?
Once feared across Ice Age America, dire wolves were bone-crushing predators.
From a car-sized millipede and armoured worms to the spider-scorpion ‘hybrid’ – these are the weirdest prehistoric creepy crawlies
If you thought there were some strange bugs living today, wait until you meet these oddballs from prehistory…
Deadly prehistoric cats: 10 ruthless hunters that roamed the planet thousands of years ago – including one that was the size of a polar bear
From tigers to tabbies, today’s cats come in many different shapes, sizes, and temperaments.
Their ancestors were just as diverse, if not more so, says Will Newton. Here are our top 10 prehistoric cats…
Many prehistoric animals – especially dinosaurs – were absolutely enormous. A scientist explains why they were so darn big
The Earth has always been home to giants, but during prehistory there were a lot more giants than there are today - why is that?
Which dinosaur would make the best pet? Here's what a scientist thinks
Not all dinosaurs were massive, meat-eating monsters; some were no bigger than labradors, covered in downy feathers, and cuter than buttons…
The biggest-ever penguin was a prehistoric monster that weighed as much as a sumo wrestler
Tipping the scales at nearly 160kg, Kumimanu is by far the largest penguin that has ever lived and heavier even than today’s largest living bird, the common ostrich…
