John Pickrell

John Pickrell is a freelance writer based in Sydney and the author of Flames of Extinction: The Race to Save Australia’s Threatened Wildlife. He was a science writing intern at Science News in 2002.

All Stories by John Pickrell

  1. Animals

    A year after Australia’s wildfires, extinction threatens hundreds of species

    As experts piece together a fuller picture of the scale of damage to wildlife, more than 500 species may need to be listed as endangered.

  2. Life

    A newfound feathered dinosaur sported fuzz and weird rods on its shoulders

    A Brazilian dinosaur with stiffened pairs of ribbonlike feathers emerging from the shoulders is unlike any found before.

  3. Paleontology

    Deep caves are a rich source of dinosaur prints for this paleontologist

    Several deep caves in France are proving to be a surprising source of dinosaur tracks.

  4. Animals

    Dancing peacock spiders turned an arachnophobe into an arachnologist

    Just 22, Joseph Schubert has described 12 of 86 peacock spider species. One with a blue and yellow abdomen is named after Van Gogh’s Starry Night.

  5. Life

    The Great Barrier Reef is suffering its most widespread bleaching ever recorded

    Major bleaching events are recurring with increasing frequency on the Great Barrier Reef, hindering its recovery.

  6. Ecosystems

    Will Australia’s forests bounce back after devastating fires?

    Intense bushfires that have blazed down Australia’s eastern coast could have long-lasting effects on the continent’s unique plants and animals.

  7. Paleontology

    A squid fossil offers a rare record of pterosaur feeding behavior

    150 million years ago, a pterosaur attempted to snatch a squid from the ocean surface and lost a tooth in the process.

  8. Animals

    Australian fires have incinerated the habitats of up to 100 threatened species

    Hundreds of fires that are blazing across the continent’s southeast have created an unprecedented ecological disaster, scientists say.

  9. Life

    Remarkable fossils capture mammals’ recovery after the dino-killing asteroid

    A fossil-rich site in Colorado is revealing how mammals rebounded and flourished after an asteroid strike 66 million years ago.

  10. Paleontology

    Fossils reveal saber-toothed cats may have pierced rivals’ skulls

    Two Smilodon fossil skulls from Argentina have puncture holes likely left by the teeth of rival cats.

  11. Paleontology

    This early sauropod went from walking on four legs to two as it grew

    A new computer analysis shows how Mussaurus patagonicus' center of gravity changed as the dinosaur grew.

  12. Paleontology

    Saber-toothed cats were fierce and family-oriented

    New details shift the debate on whether Smilodon lived and hunted in packs, and answer questions about other behaviors and abilities.