Alison Francis

A fossil discovered in 1985 on James Ross Island and stored unnoticed for decades in the British Antarctic Survey collection has been identified as the first dinosaur bone ever found in Antarctica. Paleontologist Paul Barrett confirmed it as a caudal vertebra from a small titanosaurs species that lived about 82 million years ago when the continent was covered by lush forests. The rediscovery highlights the continent’s difficult research conditions and the rarity of dinosaur fossils, offering new insight into ancient Antarctic ecosystems.

Archaeologists uncovered two ancient post holes in Bulford, England, believed to be remnants of a simpler wooden structure aligned with the Sun, predating Stonehenge by about 500 years. Radiocarbon-dated artifacts including pottery fragments, flint tools and animal bones indicate the site was used by prehistoric communities. Analysis of the sun’s position 5,000 years ago confirms the structure’s alignment with solstice sunrise and sunset, mirroring Stonehenge’s later stone arrangement. Researchers suggest the builders of early Stonehenge may have lived or gathered near Bulford, highlighting the importance of solar events to early farming communities.

A fossil stored for decades in the British Antarctic Survey collection has been identified as the first dinosaur bone ever discovered in Antarctica, a Titanosaur tail vertebra originally found on James Ross Island in 1985. Palaeontologists from the Natural History Museum confirmed the bone’s distinctive features, estimating the animal was about seven metres long and lived in a forested Antarctica 82 million years ago. The find adds to the limited Antarctic dinosaur record and offers insight into prehistoric ecosystems at the continent’s southern edge.