A duck-like dinosaur with killer claws ran, swam and tore prey to shreds

It had a graceful, swan-like neck but bizarre "killer claws" that could tear prey to shreds: The fossil of a new, 75-million-year-old species of "duck dinosaur" has been discovered in Mongolia.  The fossil represents a new species of amphibious dinosaur, one that walked on two legs on land like ducks, but also used its flipper-like forelimbs to manœuver in water like penguins. It also relied on its long neck for foraging and ambush hunting.  The scientific name of the creature is Halszkaraptor escuillie.

Dark matter space probe detects tantalising signal

Results reported today by a space science mission provide a tantalising hint—but not firm evidence—for dark matter.

Sponges declared to be sister of all other animals

Longstanding question of whether sponges or comb jellies were first to branch off the evolutionary tree from the common ancestor of all animals may be settled.

Hundreds Of Eggs From Ancient Flying Reptile Found In China

A cache of hundreds of eggs discovered in China sheds new light on the development and nesting behaviour of prehistoric, winged reptiles called pterosaurs.  A single sandstone block held at least 215 well-preserved eggs that have mostly kept their shape. Sixteen of those eggs have embryonic remains of the pterosaur species Hamipterus tianshanensis.