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
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…
Just 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 wiped out 90% of life on Earth, turned the oceans into graveyards – and it very nearly ended life on our planet entirely
The time nearly everything died
It looked like a rodent but don't be fooled, this was no rodent. This is thought to be the world's first primate – and our ancestor
Meet the tiny mammal that survived the dino-killing asteroid to became our earliest ancestor
“It triggered catastrophic global cooling and was twice the size of the one that killed the dinosaurs.” 6 deadliest, most apocalyptic asteroids to ever hit Earth
We’re not alone in space; swirling above our heads at any one moment are millions of rocks that, with only the slightest nudge, could be sent hurtling onto a collision course with Earth…
It looked like a pig and was just 20cm tall – meet the first-ever elephant on the planet, which looked nothing like today's majestic giants
Is this the world's most gruesome – and unluckiest – death ever? Ancient human attacked by two deadly predators at the same time
As far as gruesome, prehistoric deaths go, none are worse than the death experienced by a Homo habilis known as OH 7.
10 petrifying, humongous prehistoric beasts that would have utterly terrified early man, from a 3-metre tall primate to massive deadly eagles
Our time on this planet has been relatively short, yet in this time we’ve come face to face with some of Earth’s most infamous beasts. From giant cats with canines the size of our forearms to killer eagles capable of snatching children, here are 10 creatures that would have made our ancestors run away in terror…
It lived millions of years ago, was the size of of a brown bear and the largest dog ever; able to crush bone with its deadly teeth – but was wiped out by cats
Similar in size to the fictional dire wolves from George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, Epicyon is widely considered the biggest canid of all time…
It weighed the same as a BMW, was taller than Brad Pitt and had enormous horns. The terrifying, prehistoric aurochs that survived until the 17th century
Their descendants are some of the most intensively farmed animals in the world, yet just a few thousand years ago these giants roamed free…
"It had two gigantic 20cm fangs that it used to tear apart its prey." 10 horrifying, terrifying prehistoric sea monsters that once ruled our oceans
The seas have been home to some monstrous creatures over the course of the last 500 million years. Here are 10 that you’ll be glad are long extinct…
“It functions like an ecological time capsule, preserving landscapes that no longer exist...” 10 ancient locations that have barely changed for millions of years
Our planet’s surface is constantly changing, but some areas have remained relatively unchanged for millions, even billions, of years…
It was the size of a car, weighed the same as a rhino, had a deadly hooked beak for tearing flesh and lived alongside the dinosaurs…
The prehistoric giant that wasn't a whale or a shark
