entire Web this site Home > current paleo news paleo news archive Paleo news: Latest from the world of fossils Dinosaur mummy gives up organic material (Jul 2, 2009) A mummified dinosaur unearthed in North Dakota may contain traces of 66-million-year old organic material, which could provide vital information about its evolution. The well-preserved fossil of a plant-eating hadrosaur, complete with skin and tendons, was discovered in 1999. Read more. Source: New Scientist New dinosaur gives bird wing clue (Jun 18, 2009) A new dinosaur unearthed in western China has shed light on the evolution from dinosaur hands to the wing bones in today's birds. The fossil, from about 160 million years ago, has been named Limusaurus inextricabilis. The find contributes to a debate over how an ancestral hand with five digits evolved to one with three in birds. Read more. Source: BBC Giant dinosaurs 'held heads high' (May 27, 2009) Diplodocus's impressive neck sweeps along the main hall of London's Natural History museum, welcoming its visitors. Now, findings suggest that 150 million years ago the giant may have held its head higher for much of the time. By studying the skeletons of living vertebrates, Mike Taylor, from the University of Portsmouth, and his team, reshaped the dinosaur's resting pose. Read more. Source: BBC Scientists hail stunning fossil (May 20, 2009) The beautifully preserved remains of a 47-million-year-old, lemur-like creature have been unveiled in the US. The preservation is so good, it is possible to see the outline of its fur and even traces of its last meal. The fossil, nicknamed Ida, is claimed to be a "missing link" between today's higher primates – monkeys, apes and humans – and more distant relatives. Read more. Source: BBC Hobbits 'are a separate species' (May 6, 2009) Scientists have found more evidence that the Indonesian "Hobbit" skeletons belong to a new species of human – and not modern pygmies. The 3ft (one meter) tall, 30kg (65lbs) humans roamed the Indonesian island of Flores, perhaps up to 8,000 years ago. Since the discovery, researchers have argued vehemently as to the identity of these diminutive people. Read more. Source: BBC Ancestor of T rex found in China (Apr 22, 2009) Fossils found in China may give clues to the evolution of Tyrannosaurus rex. Uncovered near the city of Jiayuguan, the fossil finds come from a novel tyrannosaur dubbed Xiongguanlong baimoensis. The fossils date from the middle of the Cretaceous period, and may be a "missing link", tying the familiar big T rex to its much smaller ancestors. Read more. Source: BBC Canadian dig yields tiny dinosaur (Mar 17, 2009) The smallest meat-eating dinosaur yet to be found in North America has been identified from six tiny pelvic bones. Hesperonychus was the size of a small-chicken, and used its rows of serrated teeth to feed on insects, experts say. The bird-like creature is closely related to Microraptor – a tiny feathered dinosaur discovered in China. Read more. Source: BBC Norwegian fossil hunters unearth a Jurassic sea monster (Mar 16, 2009) The remains of a giant meat-eating sea monster that patrolled the oceans during the reign of the dinosaurs have been unearthed on an island in the remote Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Norwegian fossil hunters recovered the rear half of the formidable reptile's skull in south-west Spitsbergen in what has been described as one of the most significant Jurassic discoveries ever made. Read more. Source: The Guardian Earliest 'human footprints' found (Feb 27, 2009) The earliest footprints showing evidence of modern human foot anatomy and gait have been unearthed in Kenya. The 1.5-million-year-old footprints display signs of a pronounced arch and short, aligned toes, in contrast to older footprints. The size and spacing of the Kenyan markings – attributed to Homo erectus – reflect the height, weight, and walking style of modern humans. Read more. Source: BBC Fish fossil clue to origin of sex (Feb 26, 2009) A fossil fish from Australia was one of the earliest known vertebrates to reproduce by fertilising eggs inside the female, a study suggests. Nature journal says the ancient fish was carrying a 5cm-long embryo. The fertilisation of eggs by sperm outside the mother's body – external fertilisation – is thought to have evolved before copulation. Read more. Source: BBC First draft of Neanderthal genome (Feb 12, 2009) The "first draft" of a complete Neanderthal genome has been sequenced from fossils found in Croatia. The DNA shows no signs that humans and Neanderthals interbred, say researchers from Germany's Max Planck Institute. Our closest ancestors may have been able to speak as well as us, said the project director, Prof Svante Paabo, at a science meeting in Chicago. Read more. Source: BBC Ancient sponges leave their mark (Feb 5, 2009) Traces of animal life have been found in rocks dating back 635 million years. The evidence takes the form of chemical markers that are highly distinctive of sponges when they die and their bodies break down in rock-forming sediments. The discovery in Oman pushes back the earliest accepted date for animal life on Earth by tens of millions of years. Read more. Source: BBC The snake that was so big it ate crocodiles (Feb 4, 2009) It grew up to 45 feet long, weighed more than a ton and dined on giant turtles and fearsome crocodiles. It was also the biggest known snake to have ever lived – even dwarfing the Hollywood snake that tried to eat Jennifer Lopez in the film Anaconda. Scientists discovered the fossilised backbones of the super-sized snake in a giant open-cast coal mine at Cerrejon in northern Colombia. Read more. Source: The Independent Fossil illuminates jaw evolution (Jan 19, 2009) A fossil fish is shedding light on the evolution of jawed vertebrates. It is one of the earliest known jawed fish in the fossil record, a scientist from Uppsala University, Sweden, reports in the journal Nature. The specimen is the first example of a well-preserved braincase of a group of extinct fish called acanthodians from the Paleozoic era. Read more. Source: BBC Genetic secrets from Tamanian tiger (Jan 13, 2009) Scientists have detailed a significant proportion of the genes found in the extinct Tasmanian "tiger". The international team extracted the hereditary information from the hair of preserved animal remains held in Swedish and US museums. The information has allowed scientists to confirm the tiger's evolutionary relationship to other marsupials. Read more. Source: BBC Dino feathers 'were for display' (Jan 13, 2009) The earliest dinosaur feathers were probably used for visual display, according to a new study. The evidence comes from two 125-million-year-old dinosaur fossils unearthed in north-east China. Writing in PNAS journal, the team says its findings may shed light on the origin of feathers. Read more. Source: BBC China finds major dinosaur site (Dec 31, 2008) Scientists in China say they believe a group of dinosaur fossils discovered in the east of the country could be the largest collection ever found. The researchers, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, say they have unearthed 7600 dinosaur bones since March in Shandong province. Most of the bones date back to the late Cretaceous period which is around the time when dinosaurs became extinct. Read more. Source: BBC New flying reptile species found (Dec 4, 2008) A new fossil species of flying reptile with a wingspan the size of a family car has been uncovered by scientists. A researcher at the University of Portsmouth has identified the new type of pterosaur, the largest of its kind ever to have been discovered. It would have flown in the skies above Brazil 115 million years ago. Read more. Source: BBC Did Neanderthal cells cook as the climate warmed? (Nov 28, 2008) Neanderthals may have gone extinct because their cells couldn't cope with climate change, according to a new hypothesis presented at a genetics conference this month. Metabolic adaptations to Ice Age Europe may have proved costly to Neanderthals after the continent's climate started to change, says Patrick Chinnery, a molecular biologist at Newcastle University, UK. Read more. Source: New Scientist 'Grape' is key to fossil puzzle (Nov 21, 2008) A single-celled ball about the size of a grape may provide an explanation for one of the mysteries of fossil history. Writing in Current Biology, researchers say the creature leaves tracks on the seabed which mirror fossilised tracks left up to 1.8 billion years ago. Many palaeontologists believe only multi-celled organisms could have made these tracks. Read more. Source: BBC Frozen hair gives up first mammoth genome (Nov 19, 2008) Tufts of frozen woolly mammoth hair have yielded a rough draft of its genome. It's the most successful attempt to sequence the DNA of an extinct ancient animal to date, and although we won't see resurrected mammoths grazing the tundra anytime soon, it could give us a peek into the reasons for their extinction. Read more. Source: New Scientist Woolly rhino's ancient migration (Nov 18, 2008) The 460,000-year-old skull of a woolly rhino, reconstructed from 53 fragments, is the oldest example of these mighty, ice age beasts ever found in Europe. The extinct mammals reached a length of three-and-a-half metres in adulthood and, unlike their modern relatives, were covered in shaggy hair. Details of the work appear in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews. Read more. Source: BBC Sabretooth tigers hunted in packs (Nov 4, 2008) Forget their ferocious fangs – sabretooth "tigers" were social animals who lived in family prides, like lions today, according to UK and US experts. The abundance of S.fatalis fossils in Californian tar seeps suggests they were packs of scavengers, lured in by the distress calls of trapped prey. Research in Africa found that audio playbacks of prey sounds attract social carnivores, but not solitary hunters. Read more. Source: BBC New feathered dinosaur discovered (Oct 24, 2008) The fossil of a "bizarre" feathered dinosaur from the era before birds evolved has been discovered in China. Epidexipteryx was very bird-like, with four long ribbon-like tail feathers – probably used in display. But the pigeon-sized creature shows no sign of the flight feathers seen in other bird-like dinosaurs, according to a report in the journal Nature. Read more. Source: BBC Rock records dino 'dance floor' (Oct 20, 2008) Scientists have identified an amazing collection of dinosaur footprints on the Arizona-Utah border in the US. There are so many prints – more than 1,000 – that geologists have dubbed the site "a dinosaur dance floor". Located within the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, the marks were long thought simply to be potholes gouged out of the rock by years of erosion. Read more. Source: BBC paleo news archive BACK TO TOP

You are here: Home    > current paleo news    > paleo news archive Other news sections Latest science news Archeo news Eco news Health news Living world Robot diaries Strange news Tech news Also on this site: Encyclopedia of Science Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy and Sustainable Living News archive Bookshop Contact Partner site: Transport Concepts & Designs