New fossil reveals the weird ‘tooth cushions’ of an apex predator from 425 million years ago The newly discovered fish fossil fills a key gap in our understanding of the evolution of vertebrate diversity.

theconversation.com/new-fossil-r...
Amazing new papers out in Nature today- osteichthyan fishes are getting closer to placoderms than we thought ….

‘All you need are your eyes’: a stretch of Victorian shore is a magnet for fossil fossickers Experts and novices alike hunt for specimens that could change our understanding of evolution – and all only a short day trip from Melbourne

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Best books of 2025: our experts share their picks We found out the favourite 2025 books of 35 expert readers – and the Books & Ideas team shares our own picks, too.

Best books of 2025 review out today in The Conversation…

theconversation.com/best-books-o...

Friday essay: how societies evolved into fear-dominated goliaths – then collapsed A new book, Goliath’s Curse, will reset everything you thought you knew about the rise and fall of civilisations – with worrying implications for our world now.

My latest book review- about the state of the world, told by history databases, a totally engrossing read!

theconversation.com/friday-essay...

Shark tales from ancient seas The world’s oceans and rivers are currently home to at least 1,250 species of sharks (broadly including sharks, rays and chimaeras). They live in almost all marine habitats above 3,500 m depth, and th...

Shark tales from ancient seas: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

Many animals can reshape and shed their teeth – and now scientists have traced this ability back 380 million years A new study of ancient, extinct fish known as placoderms provides another piece of the evolutionary puzzle about our deep time, aquatic ancestors.

theconversation.com/many-animals...

‘Deceptively cute’ ancient whale with razor-sharp teeth and eyes the size of tennis balls discovered in Australia Scientist says new species described from 25-million-year-old fossil found in Victoria ‘was a gnarly whale I wouldn’t want to get in the water with’

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

'Wonderous reptile' fossil discovery deepens feather evolution puzzle A strange crest found on ancient reptile fossils suggests birds and dinosaurs may not have the exclusive lock on feather-like features.

www.abc.net.au/news/science...
Strange lizards-like reptile with early feather- like crest on its back!

The First Sharks | The Ancients

shows.acast.com/the-ancients...
Megalodon on the next episode ( 2 parts)

Adaptations for stealth in the wing-like flippers of a large ichthyosaur - Nature Analysis of a fossilized front flipper of the Jurassic ichthyosaur Temnodontosaurus that preserves details of soft tissue indicates the presence of a serrated trailing edge that would have reduced noi...

Great paper out in Nature today showing giant predatory ichthyosaur had serrated fin edges to cut down noise while hunting in the dark-

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How do we understand life on Earth? An 18th-century rivalry charts the tension between two types of science ‘genius’ A biography of scientists Carl Linnaeus and Georges-Louis LeClerc explores the complex, disparate lives of two brilliant men who shaped the study of natural history.

theconversation.com/how-do-we-un...
My review of ‘Every Living Thing’ - about Linnaeus v Buffon by Jason Roberts

New rhizodontid (Tetrapodomorpha, Sarcopterygii) material from Romer’s Gap (Tournaisian) of the Ballagan Formation (Scotland, U.K.) The Devonian and Carboniferous periods saw tremendous faunal turnover of early vertebrates. The end Devonian mass extinction, the Hangenberg Event, caused the extinction of ∼44% of jawed fish clade...

PhD student Josh Batt’s first paper out on a giant predatory rhizodont skull from Scotland- more to come on this later..

It’s about understanding our place in nature- the evolution of our deep time ancestors. Many people are fascinated by this, others are not.

That’s another way of looking at lungfish jaws!

Comparison of diverse mandibular mechanics during biting in Devonian lungfishes Biomechanics; Paleobiology; Zoology

Our new paper just out compares the diverse mandibular mechanics during biting in Devonian lungfishes: iScience www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Jaws at 50: how a single movie changed our perception of white sharks forever White sharks suffered great declines after the Jaws movie was released. But these iconic predators must be protected.

In case you missed it, our article combing humanities and science expertise writing about the impact of Jaws at 50!
theconversation.com/jaws-at-50-h...

Jaws at 50: how a single movie changed our perception of white sharks forever White sharks suffered great declines after the Jaws movie was released. But these iconic predators must be protected.

theconversation.com/jaws-at-50-h...

Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks In the summer of 1975, Jaws scared an entire generation out of the water. 50 years later, Radiolab is going back in.

You can listen to me speaking about the long evolution of sharks on the science podcast Radiolab today at 10am US EST

radiolab.org/podcast/swim...

The Pulse - WHYY Go on an adventure into unexpected corners of the health and science world each week with award-winning host Maiken Scott.

On NPR’s The Pulse talking sharks with Maiken Scott last Friday-

whyy.org/programs/the...

Earliest amniote tracks recalibrate the timeline of tetrapod evolution - Nature Analysis of a fossil trackway from the earliest Carboniferous of Australia shows prints of toes with claws, suggesting that the origin of amniotes was at least 35–40 million years earlier than pr...

Our paper in Nature today about the oldest reptile like tracks in the world from Australia

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Science Show with Robyn Williams - ABC listen Unique insights into the latest scientific research and debate, from the physics of cricket to prime ministerial biorhythms.

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
About sharks, chatting with Robyn Williams on the Science show

Could humanity be extinct within 10,000 years? A new book is the wake up call our species needs In The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire, science writer Henry Gee considers how long we’ve got, and how we can extend our time on Earth.

theconversation.com/could-humani...

My review of Henry Gee's latest book about how much time our species might really have... read the book for more details.

With the marvellous Steve Brusatte at the University of Edinburgh- with our books! I highly recommend Steve’s G great books on dinosaurs and mammal evolution.gig tonight at Blackwells in Edinburgh at 7 pm with Jack Cooper as MC if you are a local.

Biology of Otodus megalodon Reassessment of the possible size, form, weight, cruising speed, and growth parameters of the extinct megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontida

doi.org/10.26879/1502
New elongated body shape of megalodon now confirmed

It’s #WorldBookDay today so no better day to spend reading this gem for an upcoming event 😏 been a great read & I’m learning a lot about the oldie sharky sharks! 🦈

The secret history of sharks by @fossilfish.bsky.social is now available in the UK & on tour. You may even see me at an event or 2 😏🦈

Been out cage diving with white sharks - so cool with Rodney Fox shark expeditions, a truly memorable 4 days with 5 dives to sea bottom in a cage ( to 25 m).

Heading back to see white sharks from the bottom cage (on the seafloor) at the Neptune Islands again week after next- can’t wait!!!

Heading back to see white sharks from the bottom cage (on the seafloor) at the Neptune Islands again week after next- can’t wait!!!

Excited to be going back to the Neptune Islands at the end of the month to dive to the seafloor inside a cage and see white sharks in their natural habitat
with the Rodney Fox Shark Expeditions. Will be speaking on board about the history of sharks!

After half a billion years, are sharks heading for extinction? | The Spectator Australia Sharks were never far from our minds as we grew up on the beach in Adelaide. Although attacks were rare, they were real. My grandfather was witness to the fatal mauling of a swimming instructor in the...

A new review of my book just out in The Spectator (UK, Aus) by award winning author James Bradley-
www.spectator.com.au/2025/02/afte...