2025

The new species is found in Madagascar, a country closely linked to Gerald’s conservation work.

Horneophyton lignieri is changing what we know about plant evolution.

The identity of a mysterious Roman-era skeleton found in southern England may have finally been resolved.

The mystery surrounding dozens of small dinosaur fossils has finally been solved.

The impact of climate change on diseases spreading between animals is not well understood.

Five former Thereus butterflies from South America have been revealed as 16 different species.

We were not the first species to master the flame. 

We now know how good the sense of smell was in giant sloths, sabre-toothed tigers and other long-lost species.

In the last 12 months, we celebrated the start of our new science centre and appointed our first Director of Collections.

There’s intense interest in mining the deep sea for technology critical minerals. 

Some of the ocean’s most important habitats aren’t included in protected areas.

The lifestyle of the dingo was dramatically altered after European colonists reached Australia in 1788.

As animals and plants are removed from an ecosystem its ability to function falters.

New Australopithecus fossils found in Ethiopia are changing the human family tree.

Life may have bounced back more quickly than expected after the worst mass extinction in history.

A new fossil fungus discovered in Scotland shows evidence of plants and fungi sharing nutrients to survive on land.

An extinct snake named Paradoxophidion richardoweni has slithered its way out of obscurity.

Museum specimens have helped scientists discover three new species of tree-dwelling toads.

New research reveals that these insects likely evolved in the Mediterranean basin more than 1,000 years ago.

Scientists are using DNA to predict how African reed frogs will be affected by environmental change.

The unique organ was initially thought to be used for hearing, but actually carries a fungal symbiote around.

Shifts in Earth’s climate and ecosystems will have untold consequences for billions of people across the world.

Wim van den Heever awarded the Grand Title for Wildlife Photographer of the Year 61.

As the animals which spread their seeds go extinct, island plants are at risk of disappearing forever.

New analysis shows that the vast majority of the areas we depend on for our survival aren’t being well looked after.

Our ancestors appeared over 400,000 years earlier than thought.

Columbian and woolly mammoths were breeding together for thousands of years.

Insects that lived alongside the dinosaurs have been discovered in Ecuador.

It crucially also reveals promising genetic targets for potential control. 

Zavacephale rinpoche is the oldest and most complete pachycephalosaur ever found.

Seaweed growing along the world’s coastlines could help to inspire new materials.

An extinct species known as Agriodontosaurus helsbypetrae has revealed new twists in the tale of lizards and their relatives.

DNA can tell us how species’ ranges are changing in response to environmental change.

Prochlorococcus produces vast amounts of oxygen, but isn’t immune to the effect of climate change.

The overlooked thumbs of rodents are key to understanding the lives of mice, rats and more.

Whilst in the newly transformed gardens, Their Royal Highnesses joined some of the students for outdoor learning activities. 

The biggest study of starfish is challenging some long-held assumptions. 

Some of the world’s oldest evidence of human violence has been discovered in Vietnam.

Take a look at some of this year’s incredible images with a sneak peek of bellowing stags, scratching flamingos and ethereal jellyfish from 2025’s entries. 

The world’s most unusual dinosaur is even stranger than first realised.

The name of Istiorachis macarthurae honours the sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur.

Some of the most basic building blocks of the solar system are missing from one of its most dangerous asteroids.

Moon rock collected on the last Apollo mission is revealing more about one of the Moon’s most unusual structures.

A human species arrived on the island of Sulawesi in southeast Asia more than 800,000 years earlier than previously known.

The cause of sea star wasting disease has been identified, offering hope that the epidemic might be overcome.

Crisps and mash owe their existence to a series of precise events that took place nine million years ago.

The 76-million-year-old trackways could offer a rare glimpse into the social lives of these ancient reptiles.

Mirasaura grauvogeli’s crest looks feather-like, but evolved entirely separately.

The oldest signs of a spider-like brain have been found in an ancient marine fossil called Mollisonia.

A gap in a distant cloud has allowed astronomers to peek inside a developing solar system.

One of the first known ichthyosaurs, Temnodontosaurus, was a covert ocean predator.

A fossil of an extinct reptile known as a silesaur suggests that the size of early dinosaurs might have been underestimated.

The Cambrian Explosion may have been less of a burst of evolution, and more of a final flourish.

Bone-eating worms have been cleaning up the ocean floor for over 100 million years.

Sphenodraco scandentis would have climbed among the trees of ancient Jurassic forests.

Antarctic meltwater ponds are helping scientists understand how early organisms survived a frozen Earth.

How echinoderms evolved such an unusual shape has long troubled biologists. 

Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae is going on display in our Earth Hall.

Garden snails and aphids are venomous animals.

Two new species of ancient fungi are shedding light on the origins of these deadly parasites.

Scientists have taken a step forward in understanding how our species survived outside Africa.

The early evolution of pterosaurs is a mystery – and the ancient climate might explain why.

Mineral with a chemical composition very similar to that of the fictional Kryptonite could help Europe transition to a greener future. 

Scientists have tracked over 100 species of marine animals and found that plans to protect almost a third of our seas may be insufficient.

Studying an ancient extinction could help at-risk mussels, scallops and clams today.

The impact of melting glaciers will be felt for centuries – even if global warming is reversed.

Fossil footprints could push back the origins of the amniotes by as much as 40 million years.

At more than half a billion years old, Mosura fentoni sheds new light on how arthropods evolved.

Koala numbers have fallen drastically over the last 100 years due to hunting and habitat loss.

The ‘king’ of the dinosaurs might not be the all-American predator it appears to be.

A new initiative aims to change the fate of seaweeds for the better.

A rare fossil has been identified as an ancient species of internal parasite.

The new species, named Pararhincodon torquis, is a distant relative of the collared carpet sharks.

The insect not only marks a major milestone, but also highlights the power of digitising our collection.

The documents will join other important archives such as the illuminated manuscripts of Charlemagne’s court.

Marmoretta oxoniensis was a climber, not a swimmer.

Butchered remains of great bustards have been found in the graves of people buried 15,000 years ago. 

The fossil expands the Denisovan's known range by thousands of kilometres and provides new insights into how this species looked.

The first samples returned from the far side of the Moon suggest it's 10-100 times drier than the side nearer Earth.

New research is shedding light on the lives ancient humans who lived in a lush and green Sahara Desert.

In order to better target interventions we need to know which causes have the biggest impacts.

Hundreds of species of fungi have now been added to the latest conservation Red List.

New observations have revealed early signs of UV light illuminating the cosmos more than 13 billion years ago.

The impact it has had on the life living down there has been more mixed. 

Rare evidence about the lives of an ancient group of arthropods has been uncovered in the USA.

The earliest example of an important and widespread group of dinosaurs has been found in North Africa.

Dark brown was in fashion for mammals and their relatives over 150 million years ago.

Looking fit is no guarantee of health for one of the world’s most plastic polluted birds.

Understanding one of the largest groups of plants in the world could help tackle world hunger.

A rather uninspiring specimen in the Natural History Museum’s collection has an extraordinary tale to tell.

The UK could have lower bills, cleaner air and better energy security in a net zero future.

Our species has been living in tropical forests for at least 150,000 years.

Finding out exactly when feathers evolved, and which animals had them, could offer important new insights into the distant past.

It’s believed that biofluorescence helps the birds to stand out or hide in their tropical forest habitats.

Just 47 unprovoked shark attacks were recorded in 2024.

Baminornis zhenghensis shows early birds already had some of their key characteristics by the Late Jurassic.

Vegavis iaai might offer new insights into the origins of modern birds.

Ian Wood’s photo No Access fought off competition from 24 other images to emerge victorious.

Samples from the asteroid Bennu contain some of the ingredients needed for life to develop.

The surface of the ocean is warming four times faster than it was 40 years ago.

The remains of the earliest dinosaurs could lie beneath the Amazon rainforest and the Sahara Desert.

Over 15,000 mounds are scattered across Mars’ lowlands – but until recently, no one knew how they got there.

Conch snails make death-defying leaps to evade deadly predators.

New research reveals that damage to these environments is pushing freshwater animals to the edge of extinction.

The UK’s biggest-ever site of dinosaur footprints has been discovered in Oxfordshire.