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Categories: Anthropology: General
Published Holy bat skull! Fossil adds vital piece to bat evolution puzzle
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Bats may have lived in caves and used soundwaves to navigate much earlier than first thought.
Published Researchers identify the oldest pieces of Baltic amber found on the Iberian Peninsula: imports began over 5,000 years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Baltic amber is a luxury material used in jewellery and handicrafts all over the world. Researchers have shown that Baltic amber arrived on the Iberian Peninsula at least in the 4th millennium BC, more than a millennium earlier than previously thought.
Published The encounter between Neanderthals and Sapiens as told by their genomes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source About 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals, who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years in the western part of the Eurasian continent, gave way to Homo sapiens, who had arrived from Africa. This replacement was not sudden, and the two species coexisted for a few millennia, resulting in the integration of Neanderthal DNA into the genome of Sapiens. Researchers have analyzed the distribution of the portion of DNA inherited from Neanderthals in the genomes of humans (Homo sapiens) over the last 40,000 years. These statistical analyses revealed subtle variations in time and geographical space.
Published Extinct ape gets a facelift, 12 million years later
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has reconstructed the well-preserved but damaged skull of a great ape species that lived about 12 million years ago. The species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, may be crucial to understanding great ape and human evolution.
Published Evolutionary secrets of 'Old Tom' and the killer whales of Eden revealed by genetic study
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Evolutionary biologists have for the first time decoded the genetic lineage of a famous killer whale and a pod that once worked alongside whale hunters off the coast of Australia. In the Australian tradition of claiming New Zealand's celebrities as its own, Old Tom, the leader of a pod of killer whales that famously helped whalers hunt baleen whales in the 20th century, has ancestral links to modern-day killer whales in New Zealand, according to new DNA research. Old Tom also shared a common ancestor with killer whales from Australasia, the North Pacific, and North Atlantic Oceans, but is most similar to modern New Zealand killer whales. However, most of Tom's DNA code is not found in other killer whales globally suggesting that the killer whales of Eden may have become extinct locally.
Published Neanderthal gene variants associated with greater pain sensitivity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source People who carry three gene variants that have been inherited from Neanderthals are more sensitive to some types of pain, according to a new study.
Published Evidence from the remains of 1918 flu pandemic victims contradicts long-held belief that healthy young adults were particularly vulnerable
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New analysis of the remains of victims of the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide, contradicts the widespread belief the flu disproportionately impacted healthy young adults.
Published Early human migrants followed lush corridor-route out of Africa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have found early human migrants left Africa for Eurasia, across the Sinai peninsula and on through Jordan, over 80-thousand years ago. Researchers have proved there was a 'well-watered corridor' which funneled hunter-gatherers through The Levant towards western Asia and northern Arabia via Jordan.
Published DNA from discarded whale bones suggests loss of genetic diversity due to commercial whaling
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Commercial whaling in the 20th century decimated populations of large whales but also appears to have had a lasting impact on the genetic diversity of today’s surviving whales, new research shows.
Published Climate and human land use both play roles in Pacific island wildfires past and present
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source It’s long been understood that human settlement contributes to conditions that make Pacific Islands more susceptible to wildfires, such as the devastating Aug. 8 event that destroyed the Maui community of Lahaina. But a new study from fire scientist shows that climate is an undervalued part of the equation.
Published Insights into early snake evolution through brain analysis
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Recent study sheds new light on the enigmatic early evolution of snakes by examining an unexpected source: their brains. The results emphasize the significance of studying both the soft parts of animals’ bodies and their bones for understanding how animals evolved.
Published A turtle time capsule: DNA found in ancient shell
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Paleontologists discover possible DNA remains in fossil turtle that lived 6 million years ago in Panama, where continents collide.
Published Modelling of adhesive technology sheds new light on prehistoric cognition
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Studying prehistoric production processes of birch bark tar using computational modelling reveals what kinds of cognition were required for the materials produced by Neanderthal and early modern humans.
Published Pollen analysis suggests peopling of Siberia and Europe by modern humans occurred during a major Pleistocene warming spell
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study appearing in Science Advances compares Pleistocene vegetation communities around Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia, to the oldest archeological traces of Homo sapiens in the region. The researchers use the 'remarkable evidence' to tell a compelling story from 45,000-50,000 years ago with new detail: how the first humans migrated across Europe and Asia.
Published Probing the deep genetic structure of Africa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using ancestry decomposition techniques an international research team has revealed a deeply divergent ancestry among admixed populations from the Angolan Namib desert. This unique genetic heritage brings the researchers closer to understanding the distribution of genetic variation in the broader region of southern Africa before the spread of food production.
Published New study reveals a long history of violence in ancient hunter-gatherer societies
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Violence was a consistent part of life among ancient communities of hunter-gatherers, according to a new study that looked for signs of trauma on 10,000-year-old skeletal remains from burial sites in northern Chile.
Published Ritual use of human remains dating from the Neolithic
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international study has documented post-mortem bone modifications not linked to consumption.
Published Ancient Amazonians intentionally created fertile 'dark earth'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study suggests patches of fertile soil in the Amazon, known as dark earth, were intentionally produced by ancient Amazonians as a way to improve the soil and sustain large and complex societies.
Published Archaeologists discover world's oldest wooden structure
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Half a million years ago, earlier than was previously thought possible, humans were building structures made of wood, according to new research.
Published Slow growth in crocodile ancestors pre-dated their semi-aquatic lifestyle
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A groundbreaking study is reshaping our understanding of crocodile evolution by pinpointing the onset of slow growth rates to the Late Triassic period, much earlier than the previously assumed Early Jurassic timeline. The research highlights newly discovered fossil crocodile ancestors (known as crocodylomorphs) that exhibited slow growth rates, similar to modern-day crocodilians. Intriguingly, these early crocodylomorphs were not the lethargic, semi-aquatic creatures we are familiar with today; they were small, active, and fully terrestrial. The study also suggests that this slow-growth strategy was not a mere evolutionary quirk but a survival mechanism, as only the slow-growing crocodylomorphs managed to survive the End-Triassic mass extinction. This stands in stark contrast to the fast-growing dinosaurs of the same era, setting the stage for the divergent evolutionary paths that would later define their modern descendants.