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
“It lived in the deep sea, had two mouths, and a prehensile penis projecting from its forehead.” 10 prehistoric freaks of nature
There have been times evolution has got carried away and created creatures that look more alien than animal…
700,000-year-old elephant tooth found with stone axes on the banks of Israel's River Jordan. Here's why the discovery is so huge
It turns out scientists don’t need a time machine to explore prehistoric environments – a 700,000-year-old elephant tooth is more than enough.
The world's deadliest-ever eagles, including a 18kg mighty, powerful raptor that terrified New Zealanders until its extinction in the 15th century
For a time, humans may have been on the menu for giant, killer eagles that soared over New Zealand, Australia, and Africa.
From New York to Mexico City, some of Earth's biggest cities are sinking, say scientists
A growing number of cities are sinking due to land subsidence, putting people and wildlife at risk, according to a new study.
10 giant animals that started out tiny – including an elephant the size of a house cat and a rhino no bigger than a pet dog
From miniature to massive, evolution has supersized these animals and made them some of the largest of their kind to ever exist…
"They used their deadly, 12 inch teeth – as sharp as steak knives – to slash open their prey’s necks or tear open their bellies"
After T.rex, there are few prehistoric predators more infamous than sabre-toothed cats…
“'Gus' sold for an eye-watering $50.1 million - that's more than a luxury penthouse on Billionaires' Row in New York…" 10 most expensive fossils ever sold
If you have enough money, you really can display an almost complete, 67-million-year-old T.rex in your living room…
"With the head of a horse, the body of a gorilla, and the appetite of a giant panda, it really does look like a Frankenstein’s monster."
There were many strange mammals that lived during the Miocene, but few were stranger than Chalicotherium…
Is it a bear? Is it a dog? No, it’s something in between…
Long before modern bears and dogs took their familiar forms, strange predators known as bear dogs prowled prehistoric landscapes
Longer than two school buses put together – and ruler of the oceans for 20 million years: 7 biggest prehistoric sharks ever to terrorise Earth's oceans
You might think today’s sharks are big, but during prehistory there were species that grew more than twice as large…
It floats, it's bigger than a dinner plate and it's made up of more than 100,000 individuals
If you saw this circular raft floating down a river you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a discarded deep-dish pizza…
Scientists put tiny greenhouses over Antarctica’s only two flowering plants and left them there for 7 years. Here's why
A warming climate is forcing Antarctica’s native plants to adapt. Not only have they risen to the challenge, they’ve adapted in two different ways, according to a new study.
Manhattan-sized iceberg breaks free in Greenland. What caused the event has never been seen before
The Petermann Ice Shelf in northern Greenland just experienced its largest calving event since 2020 – here's what caused it.
Bizarre four-winged dinosaur discovered in China
This tiny, magpie-sized dinosaur adds further evidence to the theory that flight-related features evolved independently in several different groups, not just birds.
35 million years ago, a massive 7km-wide asteroid smashed into Earth – turning graphite into diamonds was just one of its incredible effects
The impact left a 100km-wide crater in Siberia and was so powerful it transformed graphite into diamonds – but that was just one of its astonishing effects.
There are green birds, reptiles and fish – so why are there no green mammals? The strange reason almost all mammals are brown
The colour green is quite common among animals, but it's nonexistent in mammals…
The first ever penis appeared 425 million years ago – and it wasn't small. So why did evolution make some animals’ so ridiculously large?
Its body might have been no bigger than a grain of rice, but the owner of the oldest-known penis was remarkably well-endowed…
When scientists sent a robot into the deep ocean over 20 years ago, they found something never seen before – a gruesome discovery that led to a bizarre revelation
It might act like a friend, but this is no friend – once it’s gained its victim's trust, it drugs them and tears chunks of flesh from them with its huge teeth
It looks like a snake, has a snake’s eyes and even flashes a forked, snake-like tongue – but this is far from a snake
This orange creature has one remarkable trick to keep it safe
It was taller than an elephant, laid eggs the size of basketballs and could crush you underfoot - meet the largest bird that ever lived
These flightless giants were the largest birds to ever walk the Earth, growing to sizes that echoed those of their dinosaur ancestors…
Scientists have brought a 170-million-year-old Jurassic forest back to life – and you can hear what it sounded like
It’s impossible to go back in time to the Jurassic, but thanks to a new study you can sit back and listen to what a forest during this period may have sounded like…
This lake in Canada just vanished. And it's not coming back.
The breakup of the Milne Ice Shelf in the far north of Canada has led to the collapse of a unique Arctic ecosystem.
What's the difference between humans and apes? And when did humans 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…
