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Categories: Anthropology: General, Paleontology: Fossils
Published Nanoscopic imaging aids in understanding protein, tissue preservation in ancient bones
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A pilot study shows that nanoscopic 3-D imaging of ancient bone not only provides further insight into the changes soft tissues undergo during fossilization, it also has potential as a fast, practical way to determine which specimens are likely candidates for ancient DNA and protein sequence preservation.
Published Ore-some: New date for Earth's largest iron deposits offers clues for future exploration
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Research reveals that Earth's largest iron ore deposits -- in the Hamersley Province of Western Australia -- are about one billion years younger than previously believed, a discovery which could greatly boost the search for more of the resource.
Published New snake discovery rewrites history, points to North America's role in snake evolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new species of fossil snake unearthed in Wyoming is rewriting our understanding of snake evolution. The discovery, based on four remarkably well-preserved specimens found curled together in a burrow, reveals a new species named Hibernophis breithaupti. This snake lived in North America 34 million years ago and sheds light on the origin and diversification of boas and pythons.
Published Human occupation in southeast Indonesia dating back 42,000 years
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Evidence of human occupation in southeast Indonesia dating back 42,000 years offers fresh clues on the route taken by some of the first humans to arrive in our region, according to a new study.
Published Evidence for butchery of giant armadillo-like mammals in Argentina 21,000 years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Cut marks on fossils could be evidence of humans exploiting large mammals in Argentina more than 20,000 years ago, according to a new study.
Published Ancient microbes offer clues to how complex life evolved
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered that a single-celled organism, a close relative of animals, harbors the remnants of ancient giant viruses woven into its own genetic code. This finding sheds light on how complex organisms may have acquired some of their genes and highlights the dynamic interplay between viruses and their hosts.
Published Insight into one of life's earliest ancestors revealed in new study
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have shed light on Earth's earliest ecosystem, showing that within a few hundred million years of planetary formation, life on Earth was already flourishing.
Published 'A history of contact': Geneticists are rewriting the narrative of Neanderthals and other ancient humans
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using genomes from 2,000 living humans as well as three Neanderthals and one Denisovan, an international team mapped the gene flow between the hominin groups over the past quarter-million years.
Published Unveiling 1,200 years of human occupation in Canada's Arctic
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A recent study provides new insights into ancient cultures in Canada's Arctic, focusing on Paleo-Inuit and Thule-Inuit peoples over thousands of years. Researchers detected human presence and settlements on Somerset Island, Nunavut, by analyzing sediment samples.
Published First ever 3D reconstruction of 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth chromosomes thanks to serendipitously freeze-dried skin
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international research team has assembled the genome and 3D chromosomal structures of a 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth -- the first time such a feat has been achieved for any ancient DNA sample. The fossilized chromosomes, which are around a million times longer than most ancient DNA fragments, provide insight into how the mammoth's genome was organized within its living cells and which genes were active within the skin tissue from which the DNA was extracted. This unprecedented level of structural detail was retained because the mammoth underwent freeze-drying shortly after it died, which meant that its DNA was preserved in a glass-like state.
Published A new species of extinct crocodile relative rewrites life on the Triassic coastline
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The surprising discovery of a new species of extinct crocodile relative from the Triassic Favret Formation of Nevada, USA, rewrites the story of life along the coasts during the first act of the Age of Dinosaurs. The new species Benggwigwishingasuchus eremicarminis reveals that while giant ichthyosaurs ruled the oceans, the ancient crocodile kin known as pseudosuchian archosaurs ruled the shores across the Middle Triassic globe between 247.2 and 237 million years ago.
Published Research reveals the most complete dinosaur discovered in the UK in a century
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The most complete dinosaur discovered in the UK in the last 100 years, with a pubic hip bone the size of a 'dinner plate', has been described in a new article.
Published The plague may have caused the downfall of the Stone Age farmers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ancient DNA from bones and teeth hints at a role of the plague in Stone Age population collapse. Contrary to previous beliefs, the plague may have diminished Europe's populations long before the major plague outbreaks of the Middle Ages, new research shows.
Published Archaeologists report earliest evidence for plant farming in east Africa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A trove of ancient plant remains excavated in Kenya helps explain the history of plant farming in equatorial eastern Africa, a region long thought to be important for early farming but where scant evidence from actual physical crops has been previously uncovered.
Published Ancient large kangaroo moved mainly on four legs, according to new research
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A type of extinct kangaroo that lived during the Pleistocene around two and a half million to ten thousand years ago, known as the 'giant wallaby', was a poor hopper, a study has found.
Published Ancient dingo DNA shows modern dingoes share little ancestry with modern dog breeds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study of ancient dingo DNA revealed that the distribution of modern dingoes across Australia, including those on K'gari (formerly Fraser Island), pre-dates European colonization and interventions like the dingo-proof fence.
Published Giant salamander-like creature was a top predator in the ice age before the dinosaurs
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Meet Gaiasia jennyae, the swamp creature with a toilet seat-shaped head. It lived 40 million years before the first dinosaurs, and it was the top predator in its ecosystem.
Published Extinct humans survived on the Tibetan plateau for 160,000 years
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Bone remains found in a Tibetan cave 3,280 m above sea level indicate an ancient group of humans survived here for many millennia.
Published The evidence is mounting: humans were responsible for the extinction of large mammals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Human hunting, not climate change, played a decisive role in the extinction of large mammals over the last 50,000 years. This conclusion comes from researchers who reviewed over 300 scientific articles from many different fields of research.
Published Sixty-million-year-old grape seeds reveal how the death of the dinosaurs may have paved the way for grapes to spread
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists discovered the oldest fossil grapes in the Western Hemisphere, which help show how after the death of the dinosaurs, grapes spread across the world.