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Subcategory: Paleontology
Sea Gives Up Neanderthal Fossil
Jun 15 2009 - BBC News
Part of a Neanderthal man's skull has been dredged up from the North Sea, in the first confirmed find of its kind.
Prints Are Evidence of Modern Foot in Prehumans
Feb 26 2009 - The New York Times (requires free registration)
Footprints uncovered in Kenya show that as early as 1.5 million years ago an ancestral species, almost certainly Homo erectus, had already evolved the feet and walking gait of modern humans.
Neanderthal Genome "First Draft" Unveiled
Feb 17 2009 - National Geographic News
A "first draft" of the Neanderthal genome announced last week adds to evidence that the extinct human species was lactose intolerant and could have shared some basic language capabilities with modern humans.
Once Humans Crossed the Bering Land Bridge to America, Where Did They Go?
Jan 12 2009 - Discover Magazine
When the first bands of early humans made their intrepid journey into the Americas, they found plenty of room to spread out, according to a new study. Researchers say one group moved down the Pacific coastline all the way to the tip of South America, and the other crossed into North America and settled near the Great Lakes.
Ancestor of T-Rex Dinosaur Unearthed in Poland
Aug 4 2008 - Reuters
Palaeontologists digging in a brickyard in southern Poland have discovered the fossilized remains of a dinosaur that they say is a previously unknown ancestor of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Scientists Recover Complete Dinosaur Skeleton
Jul 24 2008 - Yahoo! News
Japanese and Mongolian scientists have successfully recovered the complete skeleton of a 70-million-year-old young Tarbosaurus dinosaur, according to a spokesman for the Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences.
Did Comets Cause Ancient American Extinctions?
May 8 2008 - National Geographic
Debate has heated up over a controversial theory that suggests huge comet impacts wiped out North America's large mammals nearly 13,000 years ago.
Ancient "Nutcracker Man" Challenges Ideas on Evolution of Human Diet
May 1 2008 - National Science Foundation
Tiny marks on the teeth of an ancient human ancestor known as the "Nutcracker Man" may upset current evolutionary understanding of early hominid diet.
Study: Humans Neared Extinction
Apr 25 2008 - Time Magazine
Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests. The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought, according to an analysis released Thursday.
Ancient Bones of Small Humans Discovered in Palau
Mar 11 2008 - National Geographic
Scientists have discovered thousands of bones of small-bodied humans in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Palau. Analysis of the bones suggests they align with those of modern humans but exhibit similarities to those in Homo floresiensis, the so-called hobbit found on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003.
Running Dialog: New Languages Rapidly Spring from Old Ones
Feb 5 2008 - Scientific American
Researchers find that when a language splits off from another, its vocabulary undergoes immediate changes, rather than a slow and steady evolution. Scientists for decades have clashed over whether evolution takes place gradually or is driven by short spurts of intense change. In the latest chapter in this debate, researchers report that it appears that when new languages spin-off from older ones, there is an initial introductory burst of alterations to vocabulary. Then, the language tends to settle and accumulate gradual changes over a long period of time. The team believes this discrete evolutionary pattern occurs when a social group tries to forge a separate identity.
Dinosaur Mummy Dazzles Paleontologists
Dec 3 2007 - CBS News
Scientists have discovered a preserved dinosaur mummy. The fossilized duckbilled hadrosaur is so well preserved that scientists have been able to calculate its muscle mass and study its skin, ligaments, and tendons. “It’s unbelievable when you look at it for the first time,” observed Phillip Manning, a paleontologist at Manchester University in England. “There is depth and structure to the skin. The level of detail expressed in the skin is just breathtaking.” The fossil was found in 1999 in North Dakota. Researchers continue to investigate the fossil and are preparing scientific articles for publication on the find.
Scientists Find Fossil of Enormous Scorpion
Nov 21 2007 - ABC News
The discovery of a fossilized claw by British scientists has provided valuable new information about the "last of the giant scorpions." Found in 390 million-year-old rocks, the finding suggests that spiders, insects, crabs, and similar creatures were far larger in the past than previously thought, explained Simon Braddy, a University of Bristol paleontologist who served as one of three authors of the research. More information about the research can be found online in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters.
Dinosaur Found With Vacuum-Cleaner Mouth
Nov 15 2007 - MSNBC.com
The National Geographic Society is today unveiling a new dinosaur. Discoverer Paul Sereno has named the elephant-sized animal Nigersaurus taqueti, an acknowledgment of the African country Niger and a French paleontologist, Philippe Taquet. Sereno noted the first evidence of Nigersaurus was found in the 1990s. But researchers have now been able to reconstruct its skull and skeleton.
Dinosaur Footprints Found in Victoria
Oct 26 2007 - Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
After uncovering three separate fossil footprints, scientists have learned that large carnivorous dinosaurs roamed southern Australia 115 million years ago when the continent was joined to the Antarctic. “(They are) the biggest carnivores we have from polar southeastern Australia…in other words (large) dinosaurs could live in these unusual environments,” explained Thomas Rich, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Museum of Victoria. Scientists found the footprints near the shoreline in Victoria in February 2006 and February 2007.
Fossils Show Penguins Roamed Peru Desert
Jun 26 2007 - National Geographic News
A new study shows penguins about the size of humans roamed South America 35 million years ago and did not need ice to survive. Ewan Fordyce, head of the geology department at the University of Otago, New Zealand, said the new results shed light on penguin "structure, history, and lifestyles during an interval that is not well sampled." The study appears in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Gigantoraptor: It's a Bird, It's a Dinosaur, It's a Mystery
Jun 13 2007 - Scientific American
Gigantoraptor erlianensis stood more than 16 feet (five meters) tall and weighed a ton and a half, or roughly 1,400 kilograms. Featuring a toothless beak on its head and a short tail for balance, the enormous birdlike dinosaur measured more than 26 feet (eight meters) in length. Living more than 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period, this big bird precursor has complicated the seemingly shrinking descent from Archaeopteryx to the modern sparrow.
Bald Dino Casts Doubt on Feather Theory
May 23 2007 - Nature News
Feathery dinosaurs might not have been as common as experts thought, according to researchers who analyzed a fossil of a creature previously thought to have feathers, and found instead that it was bald. The discovery calls into question the theory that the first feathers evolved not for flight, but for insulation, and that they made their first appearance in relatively early dinosaur lineages that later evolved into modern birds. If these dinosaurs did not have feathers, or feather-like structures, then feathers may have evolved at a later time, and been used for flight right from the start.
Scientists Unveil Biggest Dinosaur Bones
May 4 2007 - CBS News
Scientists have unveiled bones from two 82–foot behemoths they said were the largest dinosaurs ever found in Australia. Ranchers near the town of Eromanga found fossilized bones from the two titanosaurs in 2005 and 2006, 600 miles west of the Queensland state capital, Brisbane.
Newfound Fossils Reveal Secrets of World's Oldest Forest
Apr 19 2007 - National Geographic News
The world’s earliest forest may have been filled with slender trees that were three stories tall and capped with branches that resembled bottlebrushes. That’s the picture painted by two, newfound fossils that are providing unprecedented insight into the appearance and ecology of the first known forest, according to a new study.
In Startling Advance, Study Identifies Dinosaur Protein
Apr 13 2007 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
In a retrieval once thought unattainable, scientists have recovered and identified proteins in a bone of a well-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex that lived and died, and was fossilized 68 million years ago. The scientists say the success, with advanced research techniques, opens the door for the first time to the exploration of molecular-level relationships of ancient, extinct animals, instead of just relying on their skeletal remains.
Burrowing Dinosaur Unearthed
Mar 21 2007 - Nature News
The discovery of a dinosaur family fossilized in its burrow could make us reconsider where the animals lived, how they behaved, and even what wiped them out, according to researchers. David Varricchio of Montana State University in Bozeman and his colleagues found the jumbled remains of two juveniles and an adult together in what looks like the remains of a custom-built hole in southern Montana. The discovery provides the first evidence that dinosaurs could burrow, and the best evidence yet for long-term parental care in dinosaurs, says team leader Anthony Martin, an expert in animal traces at Emory University in Georgia.
Fossil Meat Found in 380-Million-Year-Old Fish
Feb 13 2007 - National Geographic News
Australian scientists say they have found morsels of fossilized muscle, the oldest vertebrate tissue ever known, in the remains of two fish that lived 380 to 384 million years ago. Unearthed in western Australia 20 years ago, the specimens belong to two species of an extinct group of primitive, armored fish known as placoderms.
Treasure Trove of Fossils Found Down Under
Jan 24 2007 - Nature News
The skeletons of eight new species of extinct kangaroo have been found among a bounty of fossils beneath the Nullarbor plain in south central Australia. In three caves, researchers unearthed the remains of 69 vertebrates species, plus a mollusk, that lived between 800,000 and 200,000 years ago. The rare find sheds light on an intensely debated topic: what wiped out the large prehistoric animals, or mega fauna, that roamed ancient Australia?
New Squirrel-like Rodent Discovered in Peru
Jan 24 2007 - NewScientist.com
A “strikingly unusual” new mammal has been discovered in the tree forests of Peru. The large rodent, which has been described by its finders as a “handsome novelty,” looks similar to a squirrel and yet is most closely related to spiny rats.
Giant Dinosaur Bones Found in Spain
Jan 3 2007 - Yahoo
The fossil bones of what may have been Europe's largest animal ever, a new type of dinosaur, have been discovered in Spain. Discovery of the sauropod, estimated to have weighed between 40 and 48 tons, is reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Named Turiasaurus riodevensis, the animal lived in the Teruel area of what is now Spain in the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago.
Giant Sauropod Dinosaur Found in Spain
Dec 22 2006 - Science Daily
Fossils of a giant Sauropod, found in Teruel, Spain, reveal that Europe was home to giant dinosaurs in the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago. Giant dinosaurs have previously been found mainly in the New World and Africa.
Scientists Confirm Existence of Romer's Gap
Nov 1 2006 - NSTA News
Vertebrate creatures first began moving from the world’s oceans to land about 415 million years ago, then all but disappeared by 360 million years ago. The fossil record contains few examples of animals with backbones for the next 15 million years, and then suddenly vertebrates show up again, this time for good.
This mysterious lull in vertebrate colonization of land is known as Romer’s Gap, named for the Yale University paleontologist, Alfred Romer, who first recognized it. But the term has typically been applied only to pre-dinosaur amphibians, and there has been little understanding of why the gap occurred.
Now a team of scientists has found a similar gap during the same period among nonmarine arthropods.
Big Bird Had Swift Legs
Oct 25 2006 - Nature News
An ancient meat–eating “terror bird” discovered in northern Patagonia has a record–breaking large head, but the big beast could still sprint for its prey. The fossil discovery is the largest documented example of a group of fearsome birds called phorusrhacids, flightless carnivores that roamed South America millions of years ago.
World's Oldest Child Found by Fossil Hunters
Sep 21 2006 - National Geographic News
Scientists digging in the badlands of Ethiopia have discovered 3.3–million–year–old fossils that represent the world’s oldest known child. The child was probably female and about three years old when she died, according to researchers who made the discovery. Scientists note that the age of death makes the find especially useful because it provides insights into the growth and development of human ancestors.
Happy Hunting Predicted for Dinosaur Seekers
Sep 4 2006 - Nature News
New research estimates that more than 1,300 new groups of dinosaur species remain to be discovered. The estimate is higher than researchers previously thought. In 1990, when 285 genera were known, scientists estimated that about 900 to 1,200 new genera could still be discovered. The study’s authors note the increase is partially due to new scientists entering the field and unearthing fossils from unexplored parts of the world like China, Mongolia, and South America.
New Dinosaur Type Unearthed in Brazil
Aug 30 2006 - MSNBC.com
Brazilian paleontologists have discovered a new giant dinosaur species based on fossilized fragments of the herbivorous reptile that lived 80 million years ago. The Maxakalisaurus topai, of the Titanosauria group, had a large body, and a long tail and neck with a small head. Scientists note the find is significant because the Maxakalisaurus topai is closely related to a highly evolved group of dinosaurs known as the Saltasaurinae.
Paleontologists X-Ray Fossil Embryos
Aug 10 2006 - ABC News
A group of Chinese, Swedish, Swiss, and British scientists have developed three-dimensional images of evolution’s first multi-cellular creatures in their embryonic stages. Some of the fossil embryos show unknown mechanisms of embryonic development that have since gone extinct, while others have combinations of traits that put them near the lowest branches of the animal kingdom’s evolutionary tree. The images can be viewed in the August 10 issue of the journal Nature.
Scientists Identify 2 Ancient Reptiles
Jul 28 2006 - ABC News
Scientists have identified two ancient reptiles that swam in ice-cold waters off Australia 115 million years ago and are among the first of their kind to be found from the period soon after the Jurassic era. Researchers, led by paleontologist Benjamin Kear and a team from the University of Australia and South Australian Museum, identified the new species after piecing together fossils from 30 individuals collected from an opal mine during the past 30 years.
Baked Scorpions Solve Fossil Puzzle
Jul 26 2006 - Nature News
Scientists have solved a mystery over the chemical make-up of fossilized insects. Neal Gupta of Yale University and his colleagues froze live emperor scorpions, shrimps, and cockroaches to figure out the enigma. The researchers then baked the anthropods’ skeletons at 350 degrees and found new aliphatic compounds that had not existed in the past. Gupta’s team report the waxy lipid layer on the outside of the skeletons and in some of the anthropods' internal tissues is responsible for the chemical make-up of fossilized insects. The researchers hope to apply their technique to fossilized plants in the future.
Sea Monster Dates Back to Dinosaur Era
Jul 7 2006 - MSNBC.com
Scientists have identified a new species of ancient aquatic reptile that swam the seas when dinosaurs still ruled the earth. Dubbed Umoonasaurus, the creature lived in waters off the coast of what is now Australia. Fossils of Umoonasaurus have been found in Australian opal mines since the late 1960s. However, it was only last year after a new analysis of the reptile that scientists started to realize that Umoonasaurus was a unique species.
Duck Look-Alike Reveals Birds' Evolution
Jun 16 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
Filling a gap in the evolution of birds, scientists have found fossils of a bird that lived 110 million years ago and resembled a small modern-day waterfowl. One of the new fossils, from northwest China, even preserves the webbing between the toes. Scientists note that the finding supports the notion that all living birds, from ostriches to ducks to hummingbirds, descended from an ancestor that lived by the shore. More information about the finding can be found in the journal Science.
Tiny Dino Discovered
Jun 7 2006 - Nature News
German paleontologists have discovered a new but smaller form of sauropod dinosaurs. The new species, Europasaurus holgeri, grew to 20 feet compared to the larger sauropods, which measured 85-feet. The scientists unearthed the remains of at least 10 dinosaurs at a quarry near Hannover in northern Germany. Scientists note that food might have been scarce on the islands the dinosaurs lived on, favoring the evolution of smaller reptiles.
'Harry Potter' Dinosaur Finds a Home
May 22 2006 - MSNBC/Associated Press
The 66 million-year-old skull of a dinosaur whose name was inspired by the Harry Potter series has found a new home. Dracorex hogwartsia will be permanently housed at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. “This is the first new dinosaur found, restored, and named by a children’s museum,” explains paleontologist Robert Bakker. The dinosaur’s name was taken from the Latin words for dragon and king, and the fictional Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry in J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter novels.
The Fish that Crawled out of the Water
Apr 6 2006 - Nature
A crucial fossil that shows how animals crawled out from the water, evolving from fish into land-roving animals, has been found in Canada. The creature lived some 375 million years ago. Palaeontologists are calling the specimen from the Devonian a true "missing link," as it helps to fill in a gap in our understanding of how fish developed legs for land mobility, before eventually evolving into modern animals including mankind.
Scientists Find Skull of Human Ancestor
Mar 27 2006 - ABC News
Ethiopian scientists have discovered the skull of a small human ancestor that could be a missing link between the extinct Homo erectus and modern man. The hominid cranium found in two pieces and believed to be between 500,000 and 250,000 years old “comes from a very significant period and is very close to the appearance of the anatomically modern human,” said Sileshi Semaw, director of the Gona Paleoanthropological Research Project in Ethiopia.
Fossil Overturns Ideas of Jurassic Mammals
Feb 24 2006 - CBS News
The discovery of a fury, beaver-like animal that lived at the time of dinosaurs has overturned more than a century of scientific thinking about Jurassic mammals. Scientists found the animal’s remains in the Mongolia region of China. The find shows that the ecological role of mammals in the time of dinosaurs was far greater than previously thought, according to Zhe-Xi Luo, a member of the research team who made the discovery and curator of vertebrate paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The find is also the first evidence that some ancient mammals were semi-aquatic, researchers said.
Controversial Fossil Fuels Evolution Talk
Jan 20 2006 - Washington Post (Requires free registration)
A pair of researchers from Uppsala University, Sweden, has concluded that they have a fossil "snapshot" of the ear partway through its evolution to its current form. "Their conclusion is controversial, as it amounts to a radical reinterpretation of how the ear developed in land-based animals. If it withstands scientific scrutiny, the fossil will be a rare example of an organ glimpsed partway along its evolutionary path, at a point when its function was very different from that of its final form," writes David Brown. Michael LaBarbera, a professor of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago, is an expert in the functional anatomy of extinct animals, and he remains skeptical of the findings. He says that their theory is "based on the interpretation of a structure that would be completely novel and unprecedented in this lineage."
More Bones Support Mini Human Case
Oct 12 2005 - Scientific American
The discovery of additional bones in an Indonesian cave support a stunning claim made last year that a new species of a very small hominid existed at the same time as modern humans. Although H. floresiensis appears to be a new species, scientists admit that its genealogy remains a mystery. However, only a small portion of the site has been excavated. The researchers hope that further digging will reveal more answers.
NASA Scientists Confirm Toxic Seas During Earth's Evolution
Oct 10 2005 - Science Daily
NASA exobiology researchers confirmed Earth's oceans were once rich in sulfides that would prevent advanced life forms, such as fish and mammals, from thriving. A team of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, working with colleagues from Australia and the United Kingdom, analyzed the fossilized remains of photosynthetic pigments preserved in 1.6 billion-year-old rocks from the McArthur Basin in Northern Australia. They found evidence of photosynthetic bacteria that require sulfides and sunlight to live.
Ancient Life in China Limestone
Jul 12 2005 - BBC News
Researchers have found well-preserved fossils of organisms that lived on the ocean bed about 550 million years ago. The fossils, unearthed in southern China, are of some of the earliest complex life forms known to science. Frondose vendobionts died out before the Cambrian explosion about 540 million years ago, when animals with bones and shells appeared. They are not closely related to any modern species but share similarities with fungi, lichen, and algae. Evidence of complex life older than 540 million years is hard to study. Many of the organisms that appeared in the Ediacaran Period (the time period between about 600 and 542 million years ago) had soft body parts that do not make an impression in rock.
More Evidence of Skull's Link to Humans
Apr 7 2005 - Washington Post (Requires free registration)
Scientists who three years ago discovered a nearly complete 7 million-year-old skull in central Africa have found additional evidence supporting the conclusion that the skull belonged to the earliest known human ancestor. The new findings—two jaw bones and an upper premolar tooth—lend credence to the proposition that the creature was probably among the first hominid, or human-like, primates to live after humans and chimpanzees diverged from each other a little more than 7 million years ago.
Scientists Recover Tissue From T. Rex
Mar 25 2005 - ABC News
The study of dinosaurs has been limited to fossilized bones for more than a century. Researchers, however, have now recovered 70 million year-old soft tissues from a Tyrannosaurus rex. Soft tissues are rare in older finds, according to experts. But lead researcher Mary Higby Schweitzer explains that if scientists can isolate proteins from the soft tissues, they might be able to learn new details of how dinosaurs lived.
"Hobbit" Brain Supports Species Theory
Mar 3 2005 - Yahoo News-AP
Scientists working with powerful imaging computers say the spectacular "Hobbit" fossil recently discovered in Indonesia had distinctive brain features that could justify its classification as a separate - and tiny - human ancestor. The new report seems to support the idea of a sophisticated human dwarf species marooned for eons while modern man proliferated.
Oldest Humans Now Seen Even Older
Feb 16 2005 - MSNBC
A new analysis of bones unearthed in 1967 has pushed the fossil record of modern humans back nearly 200,000 years ago. The fossils, dubbed Omo I and Omo II, were found near the Omo River in Ethiopia. Both specimens are 195,000 years old. To find the age of the skulls, researchers determined that volcanic rock lying just below the sediment that contained the fossils was about 196,000 years old. The scientists then found evidence that the fossil-bearing sediment was deposited soon after that time. Experts not associated with this find claim the researchers have made a strong argument to support their discovery.
Dinosaur Eater is a Lot to Digest
Jan 13 2005 - The Washington Post (Requires free registration)
A discovery by scientists has rewritten the history of mammals. Scientists at the American Museum of Natural History in New York have found a 130 million-year-old mammal fossil that contains the bones of a tiny dinosaur inside its stomach. “This is the first direct evidence that mammals fed on dinosaurs. Now we can say that dinosaurs could be very tasty, which is good news,” observed Jin Meng, a museum paleontologist and co-author of the study published about the discovery.
"Original" Great Ape Discovered
Nov 19 2004 - BBC News
Paleontologists working at a site in Spain have unearthed remains of a primate that could have been ancestral not only to humans but to all great apes, including chimps and gorillas. According to one of the finders of this "missing link," Salvador Moyà-Solà of the Miquel Crusafont Institute of Paleontology in Barcelona, the partial skeleton of this 13-million-year-old primate "probably is, or is very close to, the last common ancestor of great apes and humans."
Student Fossil Find is New Species
Nov 9 2004 - CBS News
Scientists have found a new species within the classification of plants and animals, thanks to a university student's discovery while on a field trip near the Pittsburgh International Airport. Adam Striegel, a University of Pittsburgh geology student, found a fossil of an oversized, salamander-like creature with teeth similar to a crocodiles that lived 300 million years ago. Discussions are taking place on what to call the new species, starting with "Striegeli," which comes from Adam's last name.
Mini Human Species Unearthed
Oct 27 2004 - Scientific American
In what’s being called as one of the most spectacular paleoanthropological finds of the past century, researchers have unearthed the remains of a dwarf human species that survived on the Indonesian island of Flores until about 13,000 years ago. The discovery significantly extends the known range of physical variation in our genus, Homo, and reveals that H. sapiens shared the planet with other humans more recently than previously thought.
Another Branch of Human Ancestors Reported By Scientists
Mar 5 2004 - The New York Times (Requires free registration)
Scientists have discovered a new species that can be added to the family tree of early human ancestors. Researchers say the Ardipithecus kadabba, a primitive hominid species, lived in what is now Ethiopia about 5.5 million to 5.8 million years ago. Scientists who did participate in the study have voiced mixed reaction to the discovery. Further information about the new hominid species can be found in today’s issue of the journal Science.
Asteroid Theory of Dinosaur Extinction Questioned
Mar 2 2004 - Yahoo/Reuters
Scientists probing a vast crater off Mexico's Yucatan peninsula have questioned a popular theory about dinosaurs, saying an asteroid collision that formed the crater happened too far back in time to have caused their extinction by itself. A core drilled out of the middle of the crater suggests it dates back more than 300,000 years before the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary and "thus did not cause the end-Cretaceous mass extinction as commonly believed."
US Fossil Spins Web of Intrigue
Nov 13 2003 - BBC News
What appear to be silk-spinning organs have been found on the body of an extinct cousin of the modern spider. The evidence, though, is not conclusive; they could be cleaning structures or specialized hairs that trigger fight-or-flight responses. If the "microtubercles" on this newly discovered trigonotarbid fossil were indeed used to spin silk, it would suggest that silk-spinning could have evolved independently in many arachnid lines and may one day be found in other extinct arthropods. [Click here for another ancient spider story.]
Dawn of Human Race Uncovered
Jun 11 2003 - New Scientist.com
An international team of scientists has unearthed 160,000-year-old fossils in Ethiopia. The scientists claim the fossils—the skulls of two adults and a child—are the oldest known remains of early modern humans ever found. “Now we have a great sequence of fossils showing that we evolved in Africa, and not all over the globe,” noted Tim White, a paleoanthropologist from the University of California at Berkeley, who headed the team.
Fossil Key to Human Origins
Feb 26 2003 - BBC News
Scientists have discovered a new fossil that could help simply the understanding of the origin of humans. The fossil, identified as OH 65, contains a portion of the lower face and upper jaw with all teeth present. Robert Blumenschine, a Rutgers University anthropology professor, described the fossil find as “an important ancestor that comes from a crucial time in prehistory.”
New Species of Flying Dinosaur Found
Jan 23 2003 - The Washington Post
Chinese scientists have discovered the fossils of a four-winged dinosaur that could refuel the debate on the origin of flight. The Microraptor gui is believed to have glided from tree to tree before flying. Some scientists have praised this discovery as the “most exciting find on the question of the origin of flight.” Critics, however, argue the finding could be a “quirky side branch.”
Biologist Finds Clues to Birds' Flying Start
Jan 17 2003 - The Washington Post
A biologist from the University of Montana has discovered that early birds may have used their wings for running instead of flying. Kenneth P. Dial describes in this article and the journal Science how some poor-flying modern birds use their wings to help them gain traction as they run up steep inclines. Dial notes that same strategy is what might have allowed feathered dinosaurs to evolve into flying birds.
Small Molecule 2002's Major Find
Dec 27 2002 - BBC News
Catch up on the top science news stories of 2002! Every December, Science magazine's editors pick the highlights of the year, and it has been a vintage year for research, in their view. They say the most significant advance concerned molecules called small RNAs that control much of a gene's behavior. Other big stories involved neutrinos, the Cosmic Microwave Background, circadian retinal cells, and a very old hominid.
Two New Neanderthals Turn Up
Sep 10 2002 - Nature
It was a good week for paleontologists: first the skeleton of a baby Neanderthal was rediscovered in a Paris museum (see previous story); then another jumble of Neanderthal bones was found in the valley that gave them their name. Best of all, the site also included stone tools and animal remains. The first Neanderthal "had always been a floating fossil - it lacked a context," said one paleontologist. The week's discoveries will add some depth to our understanding of these Ice Age hominids.
Skulls Found in Africa and in Europe Challenge Theories of Human Origins
Aug 6 2002 - New York Times (requires free registration)
Two recent skull discoveries, both reported last month, are forcing scientists to make major revisions to their favorite theories on human evolution, the above article reports. One of the skulls, found in Africa, dates from nearly 7 million years ago, close to the moment when the human lineage diverged from the chimpanzee branch. The other specimen, found in the republic of Georgia, dates back about 1.75 million years and is raising new questions about the ancestry of modern humans. "I can't think of another month...in which two such finds of importance were published," one paleontologist said. "This really exposes how little we know of human evolution and the origin our own genus."
Fossils of "Weird" Flying Reptile Found
Jul 18 2002 - Yahoo -- Reuters
Scientists writing in this week's Science say they have found the fossils of a previously unknown type of pterosaur, winged reptiles that were cousins of the dinosaurs. The creature sported a huge, bony crest, they say, and probably fed by skimming the surface of a lagoon to snatch fish in its scissors-like beak. "This is pretty close to the far end of weird," one pterosaur expert noted. "But pterosaurs are really weird animals."
Scientists Find Skull of Oldest Known Human Ancestor
Jul 11 2002 - Washington Post
In what is being called a major breakthrough in the study of human prehistory, scientists report in today's Nature that they have unearthed the 7 million-year-old skull of the oldest human ancestor yet found. The discovery, experts say, provides a glimpse into a dimly understood slice of time 5 million to 10 million years ago when humans and chimpanzees diverged from a common ancestor. "It takes us into another world, of creatures that include the common ancestor, the ancestral human and the ancestral chimp," one paleobiologist said. "It is a world of creatures we are unfamiliar with."
New Fossil: Link Between Fish and Land Animals?
Jul 8 2002 - National Geographic News
What four-legged creature first emerged from the seas to conquer the land? This question has baffled scientists for years. But now a British researcher has found a very rare fossil -- one dating back almost 350 million years -- that might bridge the gap between our aquatic ancestors and modern tetrapods.
Ancient Bird-Like Footprints Found
Jun 27 2002 - NewScientist.com
Paleontologists working in Argentina have discovered dozens of three-toed footprints in rocks older than 212 million years. Do the footprints belong to birds? If so, the find would be startling, since the footprints are some 55 million years older than the oldest known bird skeleton, Archaeopteryx. But if birds didn't make the prints, what did? Click above to read more about this intriguing mystery...
Tracks From a Primordial Sea Are Found in Canada
Jun 4 2002 - New York Times (requires free registration)
In the past decade or so, specialists studying old rocks have steadily pushed back the time when sea animals are believed to have first come ashore. Now, a new discovery of terrestrial footprints in an abandoned Canadian quarry may push back that date even further -- to as long ago as the Cambrian period (which started 544 million years ago). What kind of creatures made the marks, and what led them out of the sea in the first place? Click above to learn more...
Scientist and Author Stephen Jay Gould Dies at 60
May 21 2002 - Washington Post
Stephen Jay Gould, a world-renowned scientist and prolific writer who helped bring evolutionary theory and paleontology to a broad public audience, died yesterday of cancer. In his field, Gould was also known for his theory of "punctuated equilibria," which maintains that evolution occurs in relatively rapid spurts after long stretches of little or no change in an organism. Click above to read more about Gould's remarkable and varied lifetime achievements, which even included a starring role in an episode of "The Simpsons."
Comets May Have Led to Birth and Death of Dinosaur Era
May 17 2002 - National Geographic
Live by the comet, die by the comet. Many scientists believe that a comet or asteroid collision with Earth triggered the end of the dinosaur era 65 million years ago. But now, a study in the May 17 issue of Science suggests that it was another such collision -- one that occurred 200 million years ago -- that may have enabled dinosaurs' rise to power in the first place. "It may well be that catastrophic events have a far more profound effect in the shaping of life than people had previously thought," a co-author of the report said. Learn more...
Fossil Whale Ears Indicate Swift Transition from Land to Sea
May 9 2002 - Scientific American
How long did it take for whales, dolphins, and other cetaceans to evolve the features necessary to make the transition from land to sea? Perhaps not very long at all, a new study in today's Nature suggests. The fossil study contends that whales acquired a key trait -- small semicircular canals -- a mere five million years after first walking the earth. According to researchers, this change marked a "key 'point of no return' event in early cetacean evolution, leading to full independence from life on land." Find out more...
Fossil Suggests Aquatic Origin for Flowering Plants
May 3 2002 - Washington Post
Scientists have discovered in China the fossil remains of what appears to be the oldest, most primitive flowering plant yet. Their work, published today in the journal Science, suggests that angiosperms (modern flowering plants) may have evolved from aquatic, weedy herbs. "I really think this is the most significant fossil angiosperm ever discovered," one plant biologist said of the specimen, which is thought to be at least 125 million years old. Click above to learn more...
Earliest Known Ancestor of Placental Mammals Discovered
Apr 25 2002 - National Geographic News
Researchers announced in this week's Nature that they have discovered the earliest known ancestor of placental mammals -- i.e., mammals such as cows, lions, whales, and humans that give birth to young that are nourished in the mother's womb. According to the report, this "ancient mother" was a tiny, shrew-like creature that scurried among trees and bushes some 125 million years ago. "[The find] tells us that the placental lineage has a much earlier origin than previously thought," said the co-author. Learn more...
Ice Age Skull Shows Evidence of Neanderthal Violence, Caring
Apr 23 2002 - Washington Post
In a new analysis released yesterday, anthropologists suggested that the hole in the head of a young adult Neanderthal was probably made by a fellow Neanderthal who sliced open the skull with a machete-like weapon. On a more uplifting note, scarring of the bone indicates that the victim survived the attack, most likely with the aid of family and friends. Scientists say the incident shows that early humans, like modern humans, possessed both violent and nurturing tendencies. "Aggression just forms part of human behavior," the lead researcher said. At the same time, humans "need reconciliation and affection as well, and the experience here suggests a broad spectrum of behaviors."
Study Pushes Back Primates to Time of Dinosaurs
Apr 18 2002 - Washington Post
Primates, the order of mammals to which humans belong, emerged on Earth much earlier than previously thought, a new study in this week's Nature suggests. According to the analysis, the first primates may have dwelled among the trees some 85 million years ago, meaning they would have shared the world with dinosaurs. "I've been arguing for years that there's so many gaps in the fossil record that [primates are] probably much older than we thought," the lead researcher said. The study, however, is not without its critics. Read more...
On the Trail of Earth's First Predator
Apr 11 2002 - National Geographic News
What animal was the very first hunter? According to marine paleontologist James Whitey Hagadorn, one can reasonably deduce that Earth's first predator was some sort of simple sea organism. But as for tracking down a single culprit beyond a reasonable doubt...well, that's a job for scientific sleuths. Click above to learn more about how paleontologists such as Hagadorn use fossils to piece together the distant past...
Amateurs Learn to Dig up Dinos
Apr 4 2002 - MSNBC -- AP
The above article profiles the amateur paleontologist program at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Created in 1990, the program offers hands-on training at fossil excavation sites and classes that include research methods, report writing, geology, and vertebrate paleontology. So far, the program has graduated about 160 amateurs, many of whom have gone on to pursue careers in paleontology. "The best part about the program is you don't need any experience," the program's creator said. Find out more...
Dog-Sized Dinosaur Unearthed in China
Mar 22 2002 - Nature
As you probably know, the famed Triceratops was a huge rhinoceros-like dinosaur with horns, fierce enough at one point to take on the mighty Tyrannosaurus. A new fossil find, however, reveals that its predecessor was not quite as intimidating: It was a dog-sized creature with a blunt beak and a dainty neck frill. The find is also helping to shed light on the evolutionary history of the horned dinosaurs. Read more...
One Human Ancestor, Indivisible?
Mar 21 2002 - Washington Post
Scientists have unearthed a million-year-old skull in Ethiopia that they say offers new evidence that modern humans evolved from a single human ancestor (Homo erectus) that developed in Africa and spread across the continents. They say the skull refutes the theory that a much earlier split caused humans to evolve from separate lineages in Africa and Eurasia, with Africa eventually producing modern humans while the Asian populations went extinct. But many anthropologists view the team's interpretation of the skull as an oversimplification. "It's unfathomable to say you have a single lineage that leads to modern humans when there's so much stuff out there," one critic said. Read more...
Did Mammals Spread Out from an Asian Eden?
Mar 15 2002 - MSNBC -- Science
According to the fossil record, several modern groups of mammals began to suddenly appear in the Northern Hemisphere around 55 million years ago. But paleontologists have long wondered: Where exactly did these creatures, which differed considerably from the animals they replaced, come from? New findings published in today's issue of the journal Science suggest that at least one key group, and probably others, originated in a single spot: Asia. Find out more...
"Microfossils" Spark Controversy
Mar 12 2002 - MSNBC -- AP
Researchers using a highly sensitive laser say they have detected fossilized traces of bacteria in 3.5-billion-year-old rocks from western Australia. "This pushes back by a billion years the prior definitive evidence of the earliest life on Earth," one of the researchers said. But another team of scientists is casting serious doubt on the claim, saying that their tests show no evidence that the microscopic formations were once ancient life. Rather, they might just be traces of the mineral graphite. Who's right? Click above to read more...
Fossil Adds to Feathered Dino Debate
Mar 8 2002 - MSNBC -- AP
A dinosaur with feathers? It sounds crazy, but it may be true. Paleontologists working in China have unearthed the first fossil of a dinosaur -- a small, fleet-footed theropod -- that appears to have had mature feathers identical to those of modern birds. (The dino could not fly, however.) The researchers argue that the discovery provides yet more evidence that dinosaurs and birds were closely related. Still, critics of that theory remain skeptical. Find out more...
T. Rex Probably Was No Sprinter
Mar 4 2002 - MSNBC -- AP
Was the hulking Tyrannosaurus rex a speedy predator that chased down its prey or a sluggish scavenger that fed on carcasses? A new study seems to support the latter view. Using a computer model, two researchers have estimated that T. rex was capable of moving only in the range of 11 mph to 25 mph, far less than the 45 mph some scientists have suggested. Still, other researchers remain skeptical, arguing that a computer model cannot reproduce such complexities.
Researchers Melt Polar Dinosaur Mysteries
Feb 26 2002 - National Geographic
Polar dinosaurs? The notion may defy conventional thinking, but the fossil record clearly shows that dinosaurs thrived all over the planet, including at the top and bottom of the world. But while the study of polar dinosaurs is slowly gaining momentum, many questions abound: How cold was it? Did the animals migrate to warmer climes during the worst of winter? Did they hibernate, or did they remain active year-round? The above article examines these questions and others...
Dino Fever Grips Chicago
Feb 19 2002 - BBC News
A dinosaur named Sue made her debut at the Field Museum, and you'd think she was a rock star: smoke, music, lights, and a cheering crowd. The most complete and best preserved T. rex in the world, Sue (named after her discoverer, Sue Hendrickson) offered some surprises; among them, the presence of a wishbone, which strengthens the theoretical connection between dinosaurs and birds.
Newly Discovered Fossil Strengthens Dinosaur-Bird Link
Feb 15 2002 - MSNBC--Reuters
A 130-million-year-old fossil of a chicken-sized dinosaur adds further weight to the theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs, scientists say. Possessing a number of bird-like body traits, "the animal is not a direct ancestor to birds but it is a very close cousin," said Peter Makovicky, who reported his team's findings in the Feb. 14 issue of Nature. The fossil also "demonstrates that major structural modification toward birds occurred much earlier in the evolutionary process than previously thought," he asserted. Find out more...
Fossilized Vomit Offers Clues to Dinos' Diet
Feb 12 2002 - Nature
Who ever said that paleontology was a glamorous profession? British scientists have found what they believe are the fossilized remains of 160-million-year-old dinosaur vomit. They speculate that the vomit was heaved up by an ichthyosaur, a porpoise-like reptile that grew up to 15 meters long. What did this giant eat, and why was supper rejected? Click above to find out...
Dinosaurs Born To Run, Scientists Say
Jan 31 2002 - MSNBC--Reuters
It may not have been pretty, scientists say, but using prints from a fossilized dinosaur track, researchers in England have calculated that big, meat-eating dinosaurs could run at speeds of up to 19 mph. "Dinosaurs could run for short bursts," said Julia Day, a paleontologist at the University of Cambridge. Still, she and her colleagues aren't sure how long the lumbering beasts could have sustained the speed. Click above to read the full article, or click here
for a list of dinosaur-related websites approved by NSTA's sciLINKS program.
Discovery of Petrified Jellyfish Wows Paleontologists
Jan 30 2002 - Nature
A flotilla of "hulking huge" jellyfish marooned on a beach 500 million years ago has been unearthed in what is now central Wisconsin. The discovery surprised scientists, because jellyfish usually fossilize poorly. It also delighted them, providing a "unique window" into life on Earth before animals came to land. Click above to learn more about this spectacular find...
Opinion: How Do You Miss a Whole Elephant Species?
Dec 18 2001 - National Geographic
As reported in a previous news item, geneticists who conducted a comprehensive DNA sampling of elephants from across Africa recently found that there are in fact two species of African elephants: the savanna (Loxodonta Africana) and the forest (Loxodonta africana cyclotis). But how did scientists overlook an entire elephant species for so long, especially when the new genetic evidence shows that the two species are more distant from each other than a tiger is from a lion? Noted paleontologist Lee R. Berger sheds some light on the mysterious ancestry of the African elephant.
Climate Change Caused Extinction of Big Ice Age Mammals, Scientists Say
Nov 15 2001 - National Geographic
What caused the mass extinction of more than 30 large mammals in North America some 10,000 years ago? For years, the so-called "overkill hypothesis," which blames the extinction on excessive hunting by humans, has reigned supreme. But now, some scientists are leading a renewed assault against that theory, arguing instead that climate shifts and related changes in weather and vegetation patterns were the true culprits. Who's right? And why does it matter?
Whales' Ancestors Once Walked the Land, Scientists Say
Sep 20 2001 - MSNBC, Reuters, and Nature
Hailed as one of the most important findings in the past century of paleontology, fossils recently unearthed in Pakistan show that whales evolved from land animals related to pigs, cows, and sheep. "The [new] fossils show the first whales were fully terrestrial, and were even efficient runners," one expert said.
Dinosaurs With a Delicate Diet
Sep 4 2001 - ABC News
Ornithomimid dinosaurs were hulking, 1,000-pound creatures who could stride at speeds of more than 40 miles per hour. Chances are they were fierce predators, right? Not likely, say scientists, who recently discovered a 70-million-year-old fossil that suggests these dinosaurs probably ate much the same way as ducks and flamingos.
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