Showing 20 articles starting at article 1
Categories: Paleontology: Climate, Paleontology: General
Published To kill mammoths in the Ice Age, people used planted pikes, not throwing spears, researchers say
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Archeologists say new findings might help resolve the debate about Clovis points and reshape how we think about what life was like roughly 13,000 years ago. After an extensive review of writings and artwork -- and an experiment with replica Clovis point spears -- a team of archaeologists says humans may have braced the butt of their weapons against the ground in a way that would impale a charging animal. The force would have driven the spear deeper into the predator's body, unleashing a more damaging blow than even the strongest prehistoric hunters would have been capable of by throwing or jabbing megafauna.
Published Fossil hotspots in Africa obscure a more complete picture of human evolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows how the mismatch between where fossils are preserved and where humans likely lived may influence our understanding of early human evolution.
Published Tracking down the asteroid that sealed the fate of the dinosaurs
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The asteroid that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago probably came from the outer solar system.
Published Scottish and Irish rocks confirmed as rare record of 'snowball Earth'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The study found that the Port Askaig Formation, composed of layers of rock up to 1.1 km thick, was likely laid down between 662 to 720 million years ago during the Sturtian glaciation -- the first of two global freezes thought to have triggered the development of complex, multicellular life.
Published Giant fossil seeds from Borneo record ancient plant migration
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ancient fossil beans about the size of modern limes, and among the largest seeds in the fossil record, may provide new insight into the evolution of today's diverse Southeast Asian and Australian rainforests, according to researchers who identified the plants.
Published New study unveils 16,000 years of climate history in the tropical Andes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers highlight the roles of carbon dioxide and ocean currents as key drivers of temperature fluctuations in the tropical Andes over a 16,000 year period.
Published Millions of years for plants to recover from global warming
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Catastrophic volcanic eruptions that warmed the planet millions of years ago shed new light on how plants evolve and regulate climate. Researchers reveal the long-term effects of disturbed natural ecosystems on climate in geological history and its implications for today.
Published Record-breaking recovery of rocks that originated in Earth's mantle could reveal secrets of planet's history
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have recovered the first long section of rocks that originated in the Earth's mantle, the layer below the crust and the planet's largest component. The rocks will help unravel the mantle's role in the origins of life on Earth, the volcanic activity generated when it melts, and how it drives the global cycles of important elements such as carbon and hydrogen.
Published Early mammals lived longer
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source What distinguishes the growth and development patterns of early mammals of the Jurassic period? Paleontologists have been able to gauge the lifespan and growth rates of these ancient animals, and even when they reached maturity, by studying growth rings in fossilized tooth roots.
Published When mammoths roamed Vancouver Island
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Mammoths, the massive pre-historic ice age cousins of the modern-day elephant, have always been understood to have inhabited parts of British Columbia, but the question of when has always been a bit woolly. Now, a new study has given scientists the clearest picture yet when the giant mammals roamed Vancouver Island.
Published Carvings at ancient monument may be world's oldest calendars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Markings on a stone pillar at a 12,000 year-old archaeological site in Turkey likely represent the world's oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet strike, experts suggest.
Published Antarctic-wide survey of plant life to aid conservation efforts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The first continent-wide mapping study of plant life across Antarctica reveals growth in previously uncharted areas and is set to inform conservation measures across the region. The satellite survey of mosses, lichens and algae across the continent will form a baseline for monitoring how Antarctica's vegetation responds to climate change.
Published Smallest arm bone in human fossil record sheds light on the dawn of Homo floresiensis
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study reports the discovery of extremely rare early human fossils from the Indonesian island of Flores, including an astonishingly small adult limb bone. Dated to about 700,000 years old, the new findings shed light on the evolution of Homo floresiensis, the so-called 'Hobbits' of Flores whose remains were uncovered in 2003 at Liang Bua cave in the island's west.
Published Greenland fossil discovery reveals increased risk of sea-level catastrophe
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Seeds, twigs, and insect parts found under two miles of ice confirm Greenland's ice sheet melted in the recent past, the first direct evidence that the center -- not just the edges -- of the two-mile-deep ice melted away in the recent geological past. The new research indicates that the giant ice sheet is more fragile than scientists had realized until the last few years -- and reveals increased risk of sea-level catastrophe in a warmer future.
Published How the rising earth in Antarctica will impact future sea level rise
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The rising earth beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet will likely become a major factor in future sea level rise, a new study suggests.
Published Fossil shows how penguins' wings evolved
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A tiny fossil penguin plays a huge role in the evolutionary history of the bird, an international study shows.
Published Sea level changes shaped early life on Earth, fossil study reveals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Shifts in the Earth's continental plates that drove long-term changes in sea level set the stage for the evolution of the earliest animals on Earth, a study suggests.
Published Half a billion-year-old spiny slug reveals the origins of mollusks
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Exceptional fossils with preserved soft parts reveal that the earliest mollusks were flat, armored slugs without shells. The new species, Shishania aculeata, was covered with hollow, organic, cone-shaped spines. The fossils preserve exceptionally rare detailed features which reveal that these spines were produced using a sophisticated secretion system that is shared with annelids (earthworms and relatives).
Published Underwater mapping reveals new insights into melting of Antarctica's ice shelves
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Clues to future sea level rise have been revealed by the first detailed maps of the underside of a floating ice shelf in Antarctica. An international research team deployed an unmanned submersible beneath the Dotson Ice Shelf in West Antarctica.
Published Scientists untangle interactions between the Earth's early life forms and the environment over 500 million years
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The atmosphere, the ocean and life on Earth interacted over the past 500-plus million years in ways that improved conditions for early organisms to thrive. Now, an interdisciplinary team of scientists has produced a perspective article of this co-evolutionary history.