James Ashway

A hand holding a chunk of clear ice with many tiny gas bubbles trapped inside.

Lots of other things on the go as well, and even got to hold some Antarctic ice on an excursion to the British Antarctic Survey!

Extinctions and invasions are threatening rare island plants | Natural History Museum As the animals which spread their seeds go extinct, island plants are at risk of disappearing forever.

And last but not least, the seeds from island plants are finding it harder to be spread by wildlife:
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Road to COP30: Brazil shows how protecting nature can protect ourselves | Natural History Museum New analysis shows that the vast majority of the areas we depend on for our survival aren’t being well looked after.

A new analysis recommends reinventing how protected areas are decided:
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Hybrid mammoths roamed North America following interspecies breeding | Natural History Museum Columbian and woolly mammoths were breeding together for thousands of years.

Columbian and woolly mammoths weren't quite as separate as we first thought...
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Ancient insects trapped in amber discovered in South America for the first time | Natural History Museum Insects that lived alongside the dinosaurs have been discovered in Ecuador.

Have gotten a bit behind on posting my articles, but here's what I've been working on recently!

First up, Mesozoic South American insects stuck in amber have been found for the first time ever!
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

New dome-headed dinosaur species is the most complete pachycephalosaur ever found | Natural History Museum Zavacephale rinpoche is the oldest and most complete pachycephalosaur ever found.

Forgot to post about this last week, but an amazing new pachycephalosaur has been found!
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Seaweed cells could give solar panels a boost | Natural History Museum Seaweed growing along the world’s coastlines could help to inspire new materials.

They're everywhere when you go to the beach, but there's a lot we don't know about seaweeds!

A new review suggests that their structure, which results in their sometimes colourful patterns, could be useful for all kinds of things:
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Newly found fossils of lizard-like animal are the oldest ever discovered | Natural History Museum An extinct species known as Agriodontosaurus helsbypetrae has revealed new twists in the tale of lizards and their relatives.

Its name may be a bit of a mouthful, but this new species is a landmark in our understanding of how lizards, snakes and rhyncocephalians evolved!
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Climate change threatens major oxygen-producing bacteria | Natural History Museum One of the world's most common microbes isn’t immune to the effect of climate change.

Prochlorococcus is a fundamental part of life in the ocean - but it's not as heat-resistant as first thought...
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

How thumbnails helped rodents to spread all over the world | Natural History Museum The overlooked thumbs of rodents are key to understanding the lives of mice, rats and more.

Thumbnails might seem common to us, but they're not that common in mammals as a whole!

New research delved into what rodents are using theirs for 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

The Moroccan lake on the front line of the climate crisis | Natural History Museum Lake Aoua dried up after the source of its water dwindled, but there are plans to restore the lake to its former glory.

Last but not least from the NHM field trip to Morocco - we visited a lake which had dried up after its water dwindled away.

It's a sight that could become more common around the world as a result of climate change, but there are ways to turn things around 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/mor...

Dinosaur auctions: Is it right to have fossils for sale? | Natural History Museum Discover why the commercial fossil trade isn’t simply black and white.

Is the commercial fossil trade a help or hindrance for palaeontologists?

It's a tricky issue, and every scientist has a different answer. I spoke to some of them about their views, which you can delve into here 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/din...

Discovering mysterious Middle Jurassic dinosaurs in Morocco | Natural History Museum Discover how new fossils of the unusual dinosaur Spicomellus were found in Morocco.

Find out the full story behind the dig 👇 (4/4)
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dis...

A group of people are gathered at the bottom of a mountain channel. One man in a wide-brimmed hat prepares to life a plaster-coated fossil out of the ground while another man points a video camera on a tripod towards him.

It's hoped that discoveries like Spicomellus, and the associated publicity, can help to build up a new generation of Moroccan palaeontologists.

It's hoped this will create new scientific, economic and tourism opportunities for the north African nation. (3/4)

Professor Driss Ouarhache and Professor Susannah Maidment hold a Spicomellus rib in a palaeontology lab.

It's a journey that wouldn't have been possible without help of many people in Morocco, not least Professor Driss Ouarhache.

His knowledge of the region's geology helped to track down the bones to the mudstone slopes of the Middle Atlas, revealing a dinosaur hotspot in the process. (2/4)

Scrub grows across the sides of rocky mountain slopes which stretch up towards a blue, cloudless sky.

Want to find out how everyone's new favourite dinosaur #Spicomellus went from fossil to famous?

My new article focuses on how @tweetisaurus.bsky.social tracked its bones down from a fossil dealer in Cambridge to Morocco's Middle Atlas mountains... 🧵(1/4)

Ancient human skeleton reveals 12,000-year-old conflict in southeast Asia | Natural History Museum Some of the world’s oldest evidence of human violence has been discovered in Vietnam.

Not quite as cheery as yesterday's fossil news, but a good story for anyone fond of an ancient mystery:
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

“Bizarre” armoured dinosaur Spicomellus afer rewrites ankylosaur evolution | Natural History Museum The world’s most unusual dinosaur is even stranger than first realised.

More than two years after getting involved in this project, it's great to see it out in the open! It was a privilege to be involved!

We've got a mini documentary, a dino directory entry and plenty of articles coming out as part of a suite of content.

Check it out 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

A diagram showing a reconstruction of Spicomellus seen from above, with lines connecting parts of its body to different fossils from the dinosaur.

We then rejoined the dig in time to help tidy up the site and take the fossils to the USMBA in Fes.

Over the next couple of years, Susie, @richardjbutler.bsky.social, Driss and the rest of the team had their work cut out figuring out what exactly Spicomellus looked like, but they managed it!

A Barbary macaque sits in the shadow of a table on a rocky floor.

We went off to see first-hand how Morocco is changing as temperatures rise.

While the UK might be suffering from droughts at the moment, it's nothing compared to the dried-up lakes and forests under pressure we saw on the trip.

It wasn't all bad though - the macaques helped keep things light!

A group of people kneel down on a carpet. In front of them, a variety of spikes and spiked bone fossils lie on the patterned fabric.

It was already obvious that the fossils coming out of the ground were really unusual - blade-like spikes, spiked armour and a bizarre structure that turned out to be Spicomellus's collar!

As the scientists continued to dig, the content team went off on a side quest...

In the foreground, three men with pickaxes hack away at the hillside on the edge of a gully. In the distance, other figures sift through loose rock.

The team made short work of the mountainside, digging down to where the first Spicomellus fossils had been found.

While I was mainly interviewing and writing, I got the opportunity to get my hands dirty with a bit of shovelling and, later, plastering of fossils!

A group of people in hot weather gear and backpacks walk towards an arid hillside covered in rocks and scrub. A flat building sits at the base of the hill.

We may have already been high above sea level when we arrived at the site, near the Moroccan town of Boulemane, but there was still a fair walk ahead of us.

While the scientists carried their excavation equipment, we lugged cameras and tripods so that we could document the dig!

A reconstruction of Spicomellus, a four-legged armoured dinosaur with large spikes running along its back and sides. It has a spiked end to its tail and a large collar of spikes around its neck.

It's finally here!

Meet Spicomellus - one of the world's strangest dinosaurs! After being named in 2021, many questions remained about what this ankylosaur looked like.

So, in 2023, I was part of an NHM content contingent who followed @tweetisaurus.bsky.social up into the Atlas Mountains...

Near-Earth asteroid Bennu contains a unique array of materials from the early solar system | Natural History Museum Some of the most basic building blocks of the solar system are missing from one of its most dangerous asteroids.

What's inside Bennu? Not exactly what we expected!
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

New sail-backed dinosaur species unearthed on the Isle of Wight | Natural History Museum The name of Istiorachis macarthurae honours the sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur.

New dinosaur day! Everyone welcome Istiorachis macarthurae!
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Apollo Moon sample opened after 50 years contains evidence of extraterrestrial landslide | Natural History Museum Moon rock collected on the last Apollo mission is revealing more about one of the Moon’s most unusual structures, the Light Mantle.

It turns out samples from Apollo are still being opened - and they're changing what we know about the Moon!
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Lynx UK reintroduction: The benefits and challenges of returning carnivores to the British Isles | Natural History Museum The return of the lynx could help to restore the UK’s countryside, but not everyone is convinced.

Is the lynx due a comeback in the UK? I took a deep dive into the possibility of a reintroduction
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/lyn...

Sailing in the wake of Scott and Shackleton to protect the warming Antarctic | Natural History Museum Scientists are retracing the journeys of century-old Antarctic expeditions to discover how the Earth has changed.

Historic journeys, cutting-edge science and fish-kissing ceremonies - my latest article has it all!
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Starfish-killing bacteria revealed as cause of biggest undersea disease outbreak | Natural History Museum The cause of sea star wasting disease has been identified, offering hope that the epidemic might be overcome.

There's a glimmer of hope for these threatened starfish
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...