Sweden’s Viking Age population appears to have suffered from severe oral and maxillofacial disease, sinus and ear infections, osteoarthritis, and much more. This is shown in a study from the University of Gothenburg in which Viking skulls were…
Category: Paleontology
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Iberian nailed head ritual was more complex than expected
The nailed heads ritual did not correspond to the same symbolic expression among the Iberian communities of the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, but rather a practice that differed in each settlement. In some, external individuals were used as…
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Coastal erosion threatens ancient city, and many others
A new USC study reveals a dramatic surge in building collapses in the ancient Egyptian port city of Alexandria, directly linked to rising sea levels and seawater intrusion.
Once a rare occurrence, building collapses in Alexandria — one of the…
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A global dataset of fossil fungi records from the Cenozoic
Data acquisition
Records of Cenozoic fossil fungi were acquired from both online peer-reviewed literature and literature from the John Williams Index of Palaeopalynology (JWIP) in the Natural History Museum, London. Miocene-dated fossil records…
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Big birds like emus are technical innovators, according to University of Bristol researchers
BYLINE: Laura Thomas
Large birds – our closest relations to dinosaurs – are capable of technical innovation, by solving a physical task to gain access to food.
This is the first…
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Semicircular canals shed light on bottleneck events in the evolution of the Neanderthal clade
Hublin, J.-J. The origin of Neandertals. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106, 16022–16027 (2009).
Google Scholar
Hajdinjak, M. et…
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Animals as architects of Earth: First global study reveals their surprising impact
Animals are not just inhabitants of the natural world — they are its architects. A new study led by Professor Gemma Harvey from Queen Mary University of London has revealed how hundreds of species shape the landscapes we depend on, from vast…
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Near-complete skull discovery reveals ‘top apex’, leopard-sized ‘fearsome’ carnivore
A rare discovery of a nearly complete skull in the Egyptian desert has led scientists to the “dream” revelation of a new 30-million-year-old species of the ancient apex predatory carnivore, Hyaenodonta.
Bearing sharp teeth and powerful jaw…
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Giant camel-like creatures lived thousands of years longer than once thought
Some species of megafauna might have existed for much longer than the paleontological canon suggests.
Current thinking says that ancient, large animals such as ground sloths went extinct about 11,000 years ago — at the beginning of…
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How Dinosaur Extinctions Created an Environment That Contributed to Our Fruit-Eating Primate Ancestors
Newswise — The extinction of the largest dinosaurs to walk the Earth may have played a critical role in creating an environment that helped fruits evolve, thereby indirectly shaping the evolution of our own…
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