Fossil feathers are usually preserved as carbonaceous films and impressions in lacustrine and marine sediments, or embedded in amber, but rarely mineralized. In a new study, paleontologists examined mineralized plumage of a 30,000-year-old…
Category: Paleontology
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Wind Turbine Blades May Be among Most Surprising Technofossils for Future Paleontologists
University of Leicester paleontologists Sarah Gabbott and Jan Zalasiewicz have published a new book on how all the different kinds of so-called technofossils — such as plastic bottles, patios, mobile phones, old socks, ballpoint pens and a…
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New ‘shy’ fungus found in old-growth forest
Although fungi of the genus Piloderma are common, scientists have now discovered five previously unknown species. One of these is one of the most widely distributed species in Northern Europe, while another is found only in old-growth forests….
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Genetic study reveals hidden chapter in human evolution
Modern humans descended from not one, but at least two ancestral populations that drifted apart and later reconnected, long before modern humans spread across the globe.
Using advanced analysis based on full genome sequences, researchers from the…
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When did human language emerge?
It is a deep question, from deep in our history: When did human language as we know it emerge? A new survey of genomic evidence suggests our unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago. Subsequently, language might have…
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Miocene-Period Freshwater Fish Had Opportunistic Benthopelagic Diet
Paleontologists from the Australian Museum Research Institute, the University of New South Wales, the University of Canberra and CSIRO have described a new species of osmeriform fish from the fossilized remains found in New South Wales,…
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The differentiated impacts and constraints of allometry, phylogeny, and environment on the ruminants’ ankle bone
Polly, P. D. Adaptive Zones and the Pinniped Ankle: A 3D Quantitative Analysis of Carnivoran Tarsal Evolution. 165-194 in (E. Sargis and M. Dagosto, Eds.) Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology: A Tribute to Frederick S. Szalay. Springer: Dordrecht,…
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New Species of Azhdarchid Pterosaur Unearthed in Montana
A new genus and species of azhdarchid pterosaur being named Infernodrakon hastacollis has been discovered by a team of paleontologists from Idaho State University, Queen Mary University of London, and the University of Wisconsin.
Speculative…
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Researchers propose new hypothesis for the origin of stone tools
Sharp stone technology chipped over three million years allowed early humans to exploit animal and plant food resources, which in turn played a large role in increasing human brain size and kick-starting a technological trajectory that continues…
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The ‘frontiers’ of Southeast Iberian Bronze Age communities identified
Researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology have identified the economic and political borders separating El Argar, considered to be the first state-society in the Iberian…
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