Paleo in the News

Earliest known sex chromosomes evolved in octopuses

New Scientist - Tue, 03/05/2024 - 04:00
Genetic analysis of the California two-spot octopus reveals that the species has sex chromosomes, and they may have originated up to 378 million years ago
Categories: Fossils

Storks refine their migration routes as they learn from experience

New Scientist - Mon, 03/04/2024 - 14:00
Tracking data shows that young white storks spend more time exploring new places, while older ones take a more direct route on their annual migrations
Categories: Fossils

Scientists ID burned bodies using technique used for extracting DNA from woolly mammoths, Neanderthals

Science Daily - Paleontology - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 17:29
A technique originally devised to extract DNA from woolly mammoths and other ancient archaeological specimens can be used to potentially identify badly burned human remains, according to research.
Categories: Fossils

Scientists ID burned bodies using technique used for extracting DNA from woolly mammoths, Neanderthals

Science Daily - Fossils - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 17:29
A technique originally devised to extract DNA from woolly mammoths and other ancient archaeological specimens can be used to potentially identify badly burned human remains, according to research.
Categories: Fossils

Mercury rising: Study sheds new light on ancient volcanoes' environmental impact

Science Daily - Paleontology - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 17:29
Massive volcanic events in Earth's history that released large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere frequently correlate with periods of severe environmental change and mass extinctions. A new method to estimate how much and how rapidly carbon was released by the volcanoes could improve our understanding of the climate response, according to an international team.
Categories: Fossils

Slimming down a colossal fossil whale

Science Daily - Paleontology - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 11:45
A 30 million year-old fossil whale may not be the heaviest animal of all time after all, according to a new analysis by paleontologists. The new analysis puts Perucetus colossus back in the same weight range as modern whales and smaller than the largest blue whales ever recorded.
Categories: Fossils

Slimming down a colossal fossil whale

Science Daily - Fossils - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 11:45
A 30 million year-old fossil whale may not be the heaviest animal of all time after all, according to a new analysis by paleontologists. The new analysis puts Perucetus colossus back in the same weight range as modern whales and smaller than the largest blue whales ever recorded.
Categories: Fossils

Squid-like plant that lives mostly underground is new to science

New Scientist - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 09:00
For the first time in nearly a century, a new genus of plant has been discovered in Japan, but it looks more like a squid or an alien than a plant
Categories: Fossils

A simple trick can make a dog treat a stranger as their friend

New Scientist - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 06:00
If an unfamiliar person spends 15 minutes following a dog, it tends to follow them back in a possible sign of friendship
Categories: Fossils

We now know what makes oranges taste of oranges

New Scientist - Wed, 02/28/2024 - 13:00
Researchers have identified 26 chemical compounds responsible for the flavour of oranges, which could help efforts to develop disease-resistant hybrids
Categories: Fossils

Strange animals called pyrosomes are thriving as the Pacific heats up

New Scientist - Wed, 02/28/2024 - 06:00
Sausage-shaped pyrosomes are blooming in great numbers during marine heatwaves, but their success comes at the cost of other animals, including fish
Categories: Fossils

Thousands of humpback whales starved to death after marine heatwave

New Scientist - Tue, 02/27/2024 - 18:01
A study estimating humpback whale numbers in the North Pacific Ocean from crowdsourced photos reveals a sharp decline from 2012 to 2021 after decades of slow population growth
Categories: Fossils

Jackals may urinate on their favourite fruit to deter thieves

New Scientist - Tue, 02/27/2024 - 04:00
Although they are carnivores, black-backed jackals are partial to the melon-like fruits of the !nara plant and help to disperse its seeds across the desert
Categories: Fossils

Bizarre fish can extend its mouth to make a kind of trunk

New Scientist - Tue, 02/27/2024 - 00:00
The hingemouth, an African freshwater fish, can stick out a proboscis for feeding or breathing thanks to the unique arrangement of its jaw anatomy
Categories: Fossils

How one of the smallest fish makes a sound as loud as a firecracker

New Scientist - Mon, 02/26/2024 - 14:00
The drumming sound of the 12-millimetre-long fish Danionella cerebrum can hit 140 decibels – now scientists have figured out how they do it
Categories: Fossils

Wasabi could help preserve ancient Egyptian papyrus artefacts

New Scientist - Mon, 02/26/2024 - 13:00
Ancient and fragile papyrus samples are at risk of being damaged by fungi, but a wasabi-based treatment can disinfect them without damage
Categories: Fossils

Does trophy hunting actually help animal conservation?

New Scientist - Fri, 02/23/2024 - 02:00
It may seem counterintuitive, but trophy hunting leads to a lot of land being protected instead of being used for agriculture or logging – which can ultimately benefit animals
Categories: Fossils

First gene-edited meat will come from disease-proof CRISPR pigs

New Scientist - Fri, 02/23/2024 - 02:00
Pigs that have been given genetically engineered immunity to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, a major and costly disease, could be on the market within two years
Categories: Fossils

High resolution techniques reveal clues in 3.5 billion-year-old biomass

Science Daily - Fossils - Wed, 02/21/2024 - 20:38
To learn about the first organisms on our planet, researchers have to analyze the rocks of the early Earth. These can only be found in a few places on the surface of the Earth. The Pilbara Craton in Western Australia is one of these rare sites: there are rocks there that are around 3.5 billion years old containing traces of the microorganisms that lived at that time. A research team has now found new clues about the formation and composition of this ancient biomass, providing insights into the earliest ecosystems on Earth.
Categories: Fossils

Painting a tree's pruning wounds may be useful after all

New Scientist - Wed, 02/21/2024 - 12:00
Since the 1970s, gardening wisdom has written off as useless the old practice of painting a tree’s pruning wounds. James Wong isn’t so sure
Categories: Fossils

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