Paleontologists have excavated and described one of the oldest fossil sperm whales. The new species from Peru is approximately 18 million years old. Rhaphicetus valenciae was about 5 metres long and had an extremely long snout and slender, pointed teeth.

Palaeontologists have described a new species of burrowing dinosaur from China. Two intact fossils of Changmiania liaoningensis suggest that the animals were trapped by a volcanic eruption while resting at the bottom of their burrows.