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Entombed together: Rare fossil flower and parasitic wasp make for amber artwork

July 11, 2022

Oregon State University fossil research has revealed an exquisite merger of art and science: a long-stemmed flower of a newly described plant species encased in a 30-million-year-old tomb together with a parasitic wasp. Oregon State University fossil research has revealed an exquisite merger of art and science: a long-stemmed flower of a newly described plant…

Dominican Republic, Fossils, Palaeontology

Paleobiology: Complex family relationships

July 11, 2022

An international team of researchers led by LMU paleontologist Bettina Reichenbacher has managed to classify fossils of one of the most species-rich fish groups into a family tree for the first time. Rhyacichthys guilberti [Credit: © Philippe Keith] Gobies are one of the most species-rich groups of ocean and freshwater fish. Found throughout the world…

Evolution, Fossils, Genetics, Palaeobiology

500-million-year-old fossilized brains of stanleycaris prompt a rethink of the evolution of insects and spider

July 8, 2022

ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) revealed new research based on a cache of fossils that contains the brain and nervous system of a half-billion-year-old marine predator from the Burgess Shale called Stanleycaris. Stanleycaris belonged to an ancient, extinct offshoot of the arthropod evolutionary tree called Radiodonta, distantly related to modern insects and spiders. These findings shed…

Canada, Fossils, Palaeobiology, Palaeontology

Unlocking the secrets of the ancient coastal Maya

July 7, 2022

Georgia State University anthropologist Dr. Jeffrey Glover grew up in metro Atlanta, but speaking to him, it sounds like his heart is in Quintana Roo. This part of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula has been the home base for an expansive research project spanning more than 10 years. His research there with Dr. Dominique Rissolo, a maritime…

Americas, Archaeology, Central America, Mexico

Early stone tools were not rocket science

July 6, 2022

Archaeologically excavated stone tools – some as much as 2.6 million years old – have been hailed as evidence for an early cultural heritage in human evolution. But are these tools proof that our ancestors were already becoming human, both mentally and culturally? One participant of the study—who was naive to stone tools as well…

Anthropology, Early Humans, Human Evolution

New genetic research on remote Pacific islands yields surprising findings on world’s earliest seafarers

July 6, 2022

New genetic research from remote islands in the Pacific offers fresh insights into the ancestry and culture of the world’s earliest seafarers, including family structure, social customs, and the ancestral populations of the people living there today. Guam (pictured) was one of the Pacific islands that scientists believe maintained a matrilocal population structure some 2,500 to…

Archaeology, Australasia, Genetics, Indigenous Cultures, Micronesia, Oceania

Excavations at ancient Galilean synagogue uncover intricate mosaic floor panels dating back nearly 1,600 years

July 5, 2022

A team of specialists and students led by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Jodi Magness recently returned to Israel’s Lower Galilee to continue unearthing nearly 1,600-year-old mosaics in an ancient Jewish synagogue at Huqoq. Discoveries made this year include the first known depiction of the biblical heroines Deborah and Jael as described…

Archaeology, Israel, Near East

Archaeologists carry out first dig at tomb linked to King Arthur

July 4, 2022

Archaeologists from The University of Manchester have started a dig at a 5,000-year-old tomb linked to King Arthur, hoping to answer some of the mysteries surrounding the enigmatic site in the process. Arthur’s Stone [Credit: University of Manchester] The experts are working in partnership with English Heritage, which looks after Arthur’s Stone in Herefordshire, to…

Archaeology, England, Europe, UK, Western Europe

Human bones used for making pendants in the Stone Age

July 4, 2022

In the Stone Age, pendants with potent symbolism were made from animal teeth and bones, adorning clothes or accessories and serving as rattles. Human bones were also used as a raw material for pendants, as demonstrated by a study where burial finds dating back more than 8,200 years were re-examined after 80 years. Grave 69,…

Archaeology, Eastern Europe, Europe, Russia

2000-year-old human remains and animal sacrifices found in Dorset

July 1, 2022

Archaeology students from Bournemouth University have found the remains of prehistoric people and animal sacrifices in a recently discovered Iron Age settlement in Dorset. The skeletal remains were found in crouched positions in oval shaped pits [Credit: Bournemouth University] The site, which consists of typical Iron Age round houses and storage pits was discovered by…

Archaeology, England, Europe, UK, Western Europe