2023

This year scientists at the Natural History Museum have been busy.

A jawbone fragment overlooked for more than 100 years was once part of a nine-metre-long ancient whale.

It’s said that you are what you eat – and that’s certainly true of toothed whales.

Seabirds in the Pacific Ocean are eating plastic and feeding it to their chicks.

Going back to basics could help to unlock the mysteries of our origins.

Our scientists have contributed papers on everything from deep sea diversity to marsupial evolution. 

The Natural History Museum has teamed up once more with The Royal Mint.

A school science experiment is answering questions that are out of this world.

A case of mistaken fossil identity has been resolved after 20 years.

An extraordinary dinosaur fossil has revealed what young tyrannosaurs were eating over 70 million years ago.

Nations around the world have agreed to protect 30% of the land and sea by the year 2030.

The oldest disease-causing fungus on record has been found in the Natural History Museum’s collection.

The mystery of the whipnose anglerfish’s extraordinarily long lure might have finally been solved.

Discover this year's shortlisted images and don't forget to vote for your favourite. 

Welcome to the next era of natural history collections. 

Almost half of marine mammals around the UK are being poisoned by banned chemicals.

Specimens of the hitchhiking insect have been sitting undescribed in the Museum’s collections since 1886. 

Variations in the skull shape of vultures have been found to coincide with the preferred method each species uses to feed on a carcass.

A new study suggests that levels of ozone have declined by as much as 26% over the south pole.

Their style of mating is more similar to birds than any known mammal.

Crocodiles have a deep and varied evolutionary past.

Jaculinykus yaruui is thought to have dug for food using an enormous thumb on each hand.

Microplastics in the atmosphere might encourage the formation of clouds.

Katydids have been using ultrasounds for millions of years to try and avoid predators hearing them.

The species has only been found once on the side of the inactive volcano. 

The dramatic decline in biodiversity is the result of agricultural change, pollution and habitat loss.

A question that has puzzled scientists for over 150 years may finally have been answered.

Putting Martian meteorites in a nuclear reactor has confirmed their curiously young age.

The Natural History Museum’s collections are helping scientists to get a handle on how evolution works.

Earth’s climate is entering “uncharted territory” – and we have no idea what’s coming next. 

Professor Chris Stringer, our longest-serving researcher, is set to be honoured for his contributions to human evolution.

More surprising is that the vast majority of herpetology records are unsexed.

Your dog could have its day as part of a new scientific study.

The last remaining wildernesses on Earth could be swept away to feed humanity’s growing appetite.

Dental plaque may help to reveal what prehistoric humans ate.

Seaweeds are vital for the health of our planet, but we are unaware of just how threatened they might be. 

The tropical crops may face an uncertain future amid rising temperatures and habitat loss.

The image, titled The Golden Horseshoe, has won Laurent Ballesta his second Wildlife Photographer of the Year Grand Title award.

Investing in natural history collections could offer new scientific and economic opportunities.

African wildlife is more than twice as likely to flee from the sound of humans than lions.

Amphibians are the most threatened group of vertebrates in the world.

Human bones with cutmarks, breaks and human chewing marks are found across northern Europe. 

The National Education Nature Park will create a network of green spaces right across the country.

Researchers are hot on the trail of Morocco’s missing dinosaurs.

Wildlife in the UK has declined on average by 19% since monitoring began in 1970.

For the first time ever, researchers have found a trilobite’s final meal.

Around the world, over 3,600 whales and dolphins are being kept in captivity.

OSIRIS-REx returned to Earth with a record-breaking amount of material from an asteroid dating back to the birth of our solar system.

Though the Portland plesiosaur made headlines in the 1960s, it has never been formally described.

New research on the 450-million-year-old Eriptychius suggests it could be a ‘missing link’ in the evolution of the vertebrate skull.

Rising temperatures and habitat loss could spell an uncertain future for bumblebees in Europe.

Red imported fire ants are one of the world’s most damaging invasive species.

A species of bacteria that lived 407 million years ago would have flourished among early land plants.

Only four confirmed specimens are known to science.

A marine predator living over 500 million years ago might bridge the gap between insects and their ancient relatives.

The group may have evolved tens of millions of years later than originally thought.

Almost 99% of all human ancestors may have been wiped out around 930,000 years ago, a new paper has claimed.

Here’s a glimpse at some mesmerising images from this year's upcoming exhibition.

Sharing the honour with Professor Sir Christopher Whitty the pair were given the award in recognition for their work during the pandemic. 

The breeding failure of four emperor penguin colonies is a sign of things to come, researchers have warned.

A new study demonstrates the extraordinary ability of whales to develop new ways of feeding.

If the worst case predictions of climate change come to pass, rainforests could be at serious risk.

Whiskers may have been crucial to allow seals to adopt a life in water.

The new species, named Venetoraptor gassenae, suggests that the lagerpetids were more diverse than previously realised.

Bivalves have been touted as a food of the future – but wild populations might not last that long.

Scientists are warning that we simply know too little about the deep sea. 

Elephants and their relatives evolved in a previously unappreciated way.

Melting polar ice caps may have pushed some of the first ancient humans out of Europe.

Nile crocodiles may have a limited ability to understand our emotions.

The discovery of a new parasitoid wasp could help to save an Endangered Pacific butterfly.

NASA’s Perseverance rover may have discovered organic molecules on the surface of Mars.

One of the UK’s most famous meteorites is helping scientists learn more about asteroids millions of kilometres away.

Fossils found in Peru are redefining the history of whale evolution.

Artificial reefs attract fish, which can improve the ability of seagrass to lock up more carbon dioxide beneath the waves.

The pattern of diversity in the deep sea is more complex than first thought.

A newly described palm species from Borneo has been discovered with the unusual phenomenon of producing its fruit and flowers below ground.

A 500-million-year-old murder mystery has been solved.

A new statue is joining the world’s oldest display of extinct wildlife in south London.

The asteroids 28994 Helenabates and 31551 Ashleyking are part of the main asteroid belt, a collection of rocky debris left over from the solar system’s beginning.

The quote will form part of the newly developed gardens at the Museum.

A new report offers a path to recover England's woodlands, one that could increase the country's biodiversity from the mid-2040s onwards.

The Victorian grassland earless dragon was last seen in 1969, but recent surveys of its habitat have revealed new populations of the species.

A new climate change report reveals that Europe is heating up fast, but expanded use of renewable energy offers some hope for the future.

Cuckoos are being forced into riskier migrations to get ahead of the competition. 

Neanderthals might have been making some of Europe’s oldest art thousands of years before the arrival of humans.

The remains of the armoured dinosaur were discovered on the Isle of Wight.

Our ancient relatives may have reached southeast Asia over 10,000 years earlier than thought.

The ancient relative of some of the largest ever animals may have been lighter than some humans.

The oldest group of lizards has just gained their newest member.

An ichthyosaur fossil found in Svalbard is finally revealing its secrets 15 years after it was discovered.

An insect that can be hazardous to human health is spreading across southeast England.

A previously unappreciated group of lifeforms are changing what we know about the evolution of life on Earth.

Kangaroos spring up faster when they’re living with their predators.

New claims argue that the ancient human species Homo naledi buried their dead and made engravings.

The bivalves appear to have been left behind in history’s biggest ever burst of evolution.

Five species are set to receive greater legal protection under a new extension to the UK’s ivory ban.

New research reveals that Yersinia pestis was widespread across Europe during the Bronze Age, thousands of years before the Black Death.

A new fossil predator has offered an insight into the chaotic final years of the largest extinction of all time over 250 million years ago.

Many regions of the deep sea are currently being explored for the potential to mine them.

Primate poo is revealing how pollutants are affecting threatened species in the wild.

The Museum is as a finalist for the world's largest museum prize.

Mammal evolution has been flipped on its head, according to new research that suggests marsupials are the more evolved mammals.

Over 85% of methane emissions aren't being regulated by governments around the world.

Protathlitis cinctorrensis is the latest to be discovered in Spain, adding to the evidence that spinosaurs first evolved in Europe.

The world is rapidly running out of time to halt rising temperatures.

Urban soundtracks allow us to listen in to wildlife, from calling birds and shouting foxes to chirping insects and quiet worms.

Most of the declining species are farmland birds.

An unprecedented look at potato genetics could help to tackle world hunger.

Exceptionally well-preserved fossils from the Cambrian period have helped fill a gap in our understanding of the origin and evolution of major animal groups alive today.

While there are currently only two members of the genus Saurona, many more as-yet-undescribed species are thought to exist.

Scientists have developed an ambitious new tool which monitors the monthly changes in Wikipedia pageviews for thousands of species.

A new technique allows researchers to extract the DNA of people who have handled bone artefacts, giving clues about prehistoric cultures.

Digital reconstructions of broken fossils have revealed more about the life of an ancient crocodile-like predator.

Scientists have recorded plants producing airborne sounds in response to lack of water or having their stems damaged.

The bird flu pandemic has reached West Africa after being detected in Senegal and The Gambia.

Traces of ice algae have been found in many animal groups revealing the critical importance of algae and the sea ice on which it grows to the fragile Arctic ecosystem.

While species focusing on bees produce more floral odours, those focusing on fruit flies make fruitier smells. 

New research suggests that ichthyosaurs may have pre-dated the age of the dinosaurs after surviving Earth's largest mass extinction event.

Named after a Hindu god, it is hoped that resurrecting the species will focus conservation attention on at-risk habitats.

The insects were frozen in time after being caught in amber, revealing rare evidence of how dinosaurs and insects interacted.

The isolated teeth were identified using machine learning models, and could represent some of the earliest relatives of birds ever discovered.

On 14 April 2023, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission blasted off to Jupiter. 

Bird populations in the UK continue to freefall as the government moves further away from achieving its own targets to protect nature.

52-million-year-old fossils of Icaronycteris gunnelli offer researchers a deeper look at how bats evolved.

A gradual decline in biodiversity may have led to a more devastating ecosystem collapse during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction.

The dwarf reed snake startles potential threats before using a burst of speed to disappear into the undergrowth.

An expedition to some of the Earth's deepest ocean trenches has broken records for deep-sea fish.

Levels of some ozone-damaging gases are on the rise, despite a global ban on their production.

Whales started becoming big early in their evolution – and kept going for millions of years.

Rather than keeping them permanently exposed, like crocodiles, a new study suggests the teeth of theropods would have been kept behind lips.

Amphibians the size of crocodiles once lurked along the shores of ancient South Africa.

As many as 50 beavers could be living in Somerset and Wiltshire, Natural England has revealed.

Microplastics aren't just affecting large animals, they're also affecting microscopic species too.

The body mass of young shearwaters has deteriorated in just over a decade, with plastic consumption believed to be the most likely cause.

Development in Key Biodiversity Areas poses a risk to the stability and survival of unique ecosystems.

The specimens and objects held in museums around the world represent an astonishing resource. 

22 rewilding schemes will share £850,000 to help bring back nature in the UK's capital city.

The latest climate report reveals that the world is more than capable of tackling climate change, but current action simply isn't enough.

We're the UK's most popular indoor attraction for the second year running.

Bumblebees develop new 'trends' in their behaviour by watching and learning from other members of the group.

Almost a third of Mauritius' native fruits are no longer being dispersed as no animals are big enough to swallow their seeds.

The discovery was made three decades after the species was first uncovered as scientists try to understand more about how sauropods evolved in what is now eastern Asia.

With the number of satellites expected to increase by over six times by 2030, there are calls for a new treaty to curb space pollution.

Climate change is thought to be responsible for bringing more extreme weather to the continent, which is exacerbating a long term decline in nest numbers.

Of the almost 3,500 British plant species, non-native plants now outnumber native species by 51% to 49%.

An outbreak of bird flu has swept the world over the past year, raising fears that humans could become more vulnerable.

The oldest colonial animal might actually be one of the oldest types of seaweed.

Nations have reached a historic agreement to protect the world's oceans from exploitation.

A new disease has been described in seabirds, but it might just be the tip of the iceberg.

The underside of their tails have feathers that are whiter than any others ever measured.

While conservationists have welcomed the announcement, they've also raised concerns that the proposals aren't enough to protect vulnerable marine habitats.

Ancient Norwegian and Greek literature may have described trap feeding as much as 2,000 years before it was first observed in 2011.

While these strandings are thought to be the result of an unseasonably stormy year, climate change could make them more common in future. 

Thérèse Coffey has told farmers that she does not support reintroducing wolves and lynx to the English countryside.

One of the most heavily militarised borders in the world has become a haven for nature.

As light pollution continues to increase around the world, the stars above Ynys Enlli remain much as our ancestors would have seen them.

Able to contract faster than a racing car, Spirostomum's abilities could one day be copied to develop faster machines.

Kumimanu fordycei weighed an estimated 150 kilogrammes, demonstrating that penguins became large early in their evolution.

A fossil found in northern Britain is revealing insights into the behaviour of a 166-million-year-old carnivorous dinosaur.

The race is on to learn more about these fragile forests as human impacts threaten their survival.

While some argue de-extinction could help to restore damaged ecosystems, others believe it is an expensive distraction from the threats facing living species.

It may have been a case of matter over mind for dinosaurs which lived around water.

The ethereal beauty of the snow leopard and its surroundings resonated with voters. 

Early humans, and an ancient relative, may have been using complex stone tools as early as three million years ago. 

A new study reveals that there are many ways these animals bore through solid rock, but a lack of habitat may lock them into an evolutionary dead end.

Museum scientists joined a six-week voyage to understand more about the fragile environments surrounding South Atlantic islands.

The UK government has released plans to restore the natural world. 

The ancient flying reptile would have used its toothed snout with a flared end to filter-feed.

Nights are becoming around 10% lighter each year, which has implications for the health of both humans and wildlife. 

More than 250 titanosaur eggs have been uncovered in India, revealing more about the lives of some of the largest animals which ever lived.

Fighting for mates may be a behaviour that dates back over 400 million years.

The Yangtze finless porpoise has faced habitat loss and a reduced range as a result of sand mining, but a suspension of the practice offers hope that they could recover. 

Katydids are the earliest known animals to evolve complex communication using sound.

Though it may have gone extinct over 600 years ago, understanding more about Astrochelys rogerbouri could help to save its living relatives. 

An orange-sized space rock blazed across the skies on Monday 9 January.

Virgin Orbit is hoping to launch a rocket carrying a payload of satellites into space from Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay Airport.

Invasive rats are devastating tropical islands, with effects reaching far beyond the land. 

The skulls of early herbivores are helping scientists to understand how a diverse group of dinosaurs evolved different ways of eating plants.

Here are just 20 of the ways humanity's efforts to help nature paid dividends in 2022.