Bizarre prehistoric creatures—sea monsters, gargantuan rodents, a redheaded Neanderthal—are among the stars of the most read stories on dinosaurs and fossils covered by National Geographic News in 2008.

10. "Amazing" Dinosaur Trove Discovered in Utah Two meat-eating dinosaurs, a probable Stegosaurus, and four sauropods quickly emerged at a dig that found a "logjam" of fossils, scientists announced in June.

9. Odd Fish Find Contradicts Intelligent-Design Argument Flatfishes' lopsided eye arrangement evolved gradually, a July fossil study suggested—perhaps solving "a major, major puzzle to evolutionary biologists."

8. PHOTO IN THE NEWS: DNA-Based Neanderthal Face Unveiled Redheaded like her Flintstones namesake, Wilma—the first recreation of a Neanderthal based on DNA evidence—made her debut in September.

7. "Bizarre" New Dinosaur: Giant Raptor Found in Argentina An "unexpected," 20-foot-long new dinosaur was discovered in South America, rewriting the evolutionary history of raptors, a December study said.

6. PHOTO IN THE NEWS: New "Sea Monster" Species Identified The new genus of dinosaur-era, carnivorous reptile, found deep in a Canadian mine, is also one of the most complete fossils of its kind ever unearthed.

5. Giant "Sea Monster" Fossil Discovered in Arctic Described as "the T. rex of the ocean," the dinosaur-era predator is one of the largest marine reptiles ever found, scientists announced in February. ALSO SEE: pictures of the sea monster.

4. PHOTOS: Bizarre New Dinosaurs Found in Sahara Two new species of two-legged carnivores were unveiled in February: one that hunted like a shark and another that may have eaten like a hyena, researchers said. ALSO SEE: full story of the Sahara dinosaurs.

3. Bull-Size Rodent Discovered—Biggest Yet The prehistoric "rat" had huge teeth, a January study said. The animal likely competed with saber-toothed cats and giant, flightless, meat-eating birds. ALSO SEE: pictures of the giant rodent.

2. Giant "Frog From Hell" Fossil Found in Madagascar Scientists working in Madagascar found in February what may be the largest frog that ever lived—and it had an attitude to match.

1. Ancient Praying Mantis Found in Amber An 87-million-year-old insect from Japan could be a "missing link" between mantises from dinosaur times and the modern-day bugs, researchers said in April.

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