Paleo in the News

Prehistoric person with Turner syndrome identified from ancient DNA

Science Daily - Fossils - Thu, 01/11/2024 - 10:31
Researchers have developed a new technique to measure the number of chromosomes in ancient genomes more precisely, using it to identify the first prehistoric person with mosaic Turner syndrome (characterized by one X chromosome instead of two [XX]), who lived about 2500 years ago.
Categories: Fossils

Oldest known skin fossil is from 300-million-year-old reptile

New Scientist - Thu, 01/11/2024 - 10:00
Ancient fragments of fossilised skin may help us understand how skin evolved as vertebrate animals moved from the seas onto dry land
Categories: Fossils

Early fossil identified as new species of Tyrannosaurus

New Scientist - Thu, 01/11/2024 - 10:00
A dinosaur known only from a partial skull has been dubbed Tyrannosaurus mcraensis, adding a new twist to long-running debates about putative relatives of Tyrannosaurus rex
Categories: Fossils

California frog reintroduction is rare victory against fungal pandemic

New Scientist - Wed, 01/10/2024 - 14:00
The success of a 15-year project to help frogs in California’s Sierra Nevada suggests some amphibian species could be rescued from a devastating fungal disease by evolution – and a little human help
Categories: Fossils

Some corals change sex each year so they can find mates

New Scientist - Wed, 01/10/2024 - 12:00
Nearly three-quarters of hammer coral colonies annually alternate between male and female. They are the only animal species known to undergo this change on such a regular schedule
Categories: Fossils

See these exquisite images of starling murmurations around Europe

New Scientist - Wed, 01/10/2024 - 12:00
Søren Solkær's new collection of photographs shows starlings swooping as one in dramatic, cloud-like flocks
Categories: Fossils

New research sheds light on an old fossil solving an evolutionary mystery

Science Daily - Paleontology - Wed, 01/10/2024 - 11:03
Picrodontids -- an extinct family of placental mammals that lived several million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs -- are not primates as previously believed.
Categories: Fossils

New research sheds light on an old fossil solving an evolutionary mystery

Science Daily - Dinosaurs - Wed, 01/10/2024 - 11:03
Picrodontids -- an extinct family of placental mammals that lived several million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs -- are not primates as previously believed.
Categories: Fossils

New research sheds light on an old fossil solving an evolutionary mystery

Science Daily - Fossils - Wed, 01/10/2024 - 11:03
Picrodontids -- an extinct family of placental mammals that lived several million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs -- are not primates as previously believed.
Categories: Fossils

The extinction of the giant ape: Long-standing mystery solved

Science Daily - Paleontology - Wed, 01/10/2024 - 11:02
The largest ever primate Gigantopithecus blacki went extinct when other Asian great apes were thriving, and its demise has long been a mystery. A massive regional study of 22 caves in southern China explores a species on the brink of extinction between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago. As the environment became more seasonal, forest plant communities changed Primates such as orangutans adapted their eating habits and behaviors in response but G. blacki showed signs of stress, struggled to adapt and their numbers dwindled.
Categories: Fossils

The extinction of the giant ape: Long-standing mystery solved

Science Daily - Fossils - Wed, 01/10/2024 - 11:02
The largest ever primate Gigantopithecus blacki went extinct when other Asian great apes were thriving, and its demise has long been a mystery. A massive regional study of 22 caves in southern China explores a species on the brink of extinction between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago. As the environment became more seasonal, forest plant communities changed Primates such as orangutans adapted their eating habits and behaviors in response but G. blacki showed signs of stress, struggled to adapt and their numbers dwindled.
Categories: Fossils

Why huge ape Gigantopithecus went extinct up to 295,000 years ago

New Scientist - Wed, 01/10/2024 - 10:00
The mysterious giant ape Gigantopithecus blacki died out up to 295,000 years ago, after failing to adapt to a changing climate and the food variability that went with it
Categories: Fossils

Are there really freshwater manatees thriving deep within West Africa?

New Scientist - Wed, 01/10/2024 - 10:00
Manatees or sea cows usually inhabit coastal waters, but rumour has it that some are hiding out in Upper Guinea. A scientific expedition goes in search of them
Categories: Fossils

Largest diversity study of 'magic mushrooms' investigates the evolution of psychoactive psilocybin production

Science Daily - Paleontology - Tue, 01/09/2024 - 17:35
The genomic analysis of 52 Psilocybe specimens includes 39 species that have never been sequenced. Psilocybe arose much earlier than previously thought -- about 65 million years ago -- and the authors found that psilocybin was first synthesized in mushrooms in the genus Psilocybe. Their analysis revealed two distinct gene orders within the gene cluster that produces psilocybin. The two gene patterns correspond to an ancient split in the genus, suggesting two independent acquisitions of psilocybin in its evolutionary history. The study is the first to reveal such a strong evolutionary pattern within the gene sequences underpinning the psychoactive proteins synthesis.
Categories: Fossils

Fire ants form rafts that have weird properties when stretched

New Scientist - Tue, 01/09/2024 - 12:00
Fire ants link together to form rafts when their nests are flooded, and unlike most materials the rafts don’t become thinner when they are stretched
Categories: Fossils

6 exquisite images from Close-up Photographer of the Year

New Scientist - Tue, 01/09/2024 - 10:00
A moray eel, a robber fly and an ice-topped slime mould appear in winning images from the Close-Up Photographer of the Year competition
Categories: Fossils

The evolution of photosynthesis better documented thanks to the discovery of the oldest thylakoids in fossil cyanobacteria

Science Daily - Paleontology - Fri, 01/05/2024 - 13:50
Researchers have identified microstructures in fossil cells that are 1.75 billion years old. These structures, called thylakoid membranes, are the oldest ever discovered. They push back the fossil record of thylakoids by 1.2 billion years and provide new information on the evolution of cyanobacteria which played a crucial role in the accumulation of oxygen on the early Earth.
Categories: Fossils

The evolution of photosynthesis better documented thanks to the discovery of the oldest thylakoids in fossil cyanobacteria

Science Daily - Fossils - Fri, 01/05/2024 - 13:50
Researchers have identified microstructures in fossil cells that are 1.75 billion years old. These structures, called thylakoid membranes, are the oldest ever discovered. They push back the fossil record of thylakoids by 1.2 billion years and provide new information on the evolution of cyanobacteria which played a crucial role in the accumulation of oxygen on the early Earth.
Categories: Fossils

Sharp decline of African birds of prey puts them at risk of extinction

New Scientist - Thu, 01/04/2024 - 04:00
The populations of species including bateleurs and secretary birds have fallen precipitously within the past 50 years, putting these birds at risk of extinction
Categories: Fossils

'Giant' predator worms more than half a billion years old discovered in North Greenland

Science Daily - Paleontology - Wed, 01/03/2024 - 14:42
Fossils of a new group of animal predators have been located in the Early Cambrian Sirius Passet fossil locality in North Greenland. These large worms may be some of the earliest carnivorous animals to have colonized the water column more than 518 million years ago, revealing a past dynasty of predators that scientists didn't know existed.
Categories: Fossils

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