Willo Stear – The Conversation

Photogrammetry image of dinosaur track. Charles Helm

January 30, 2026

Fossil hunters find a new dinosaur track site on South Africa’s coast – the youngest so far

Charles Helm, Nelson Mandela University and Willo Stear, Nelson Mandela University

Dinosaur tracks from the Cretaceous period have been found in South Africa for only the second time.

Coastal food resources gave some groups of people an advantage over others. Illustration by Maggie Lambert-Newman, courtesy of Grootbos Private Nature Reserve

October 30, 2025

Where did the first people come from? The case for a coastal migration from southern Africa

Alan Whitfield, National Research Foundation; Charles Helm, Nelson Mandela University; Francis Thackeray, University of the Witwatersrand; Renee Rust, Nelson Mandela University, and Willo Stear, Nelson Mandela University

A coastal migration up and out of Africa was more likely to succeed than an overland journey.

Contact Willo for