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ScienceDaily: Fossils & Ruins News |
| Footprints from site a at Laetoli, Tanzania, are from early humans, not bears Posted: 01 Dec 2021 08:19 AM PST The oldest unequivocal evidence of upright walking in the human lineage are footprints discovered at Laetoli, Tanzania in 1978, by paleontologist Mary Leakey and her team. The bipedal trackways date to 3.7 million years ago. Another set of mysterious footprints was partially excavated at nearby Site A in 1976 but dismissed as possibly being made by a bear. A recent re-excavation of the Site A footprints at Laetoli and a detailed comparative analysis reveal that the footprints were made by an early human -- a bipedal hominin. |
| When variations in Earth's orbit drive biological evolution Posted: 01 Dec 2021 08:19 AM PST Coccolithophores are microscopic algae that form tiny limestone plates, called coccoliths, around their single cells. They are responsible for half of the limestone produced in the oceans and therefore play a major role in the carbon cycle and in determining ocean chemistry. A team of scientists show that certain variations in Earth's orbit have influenced the evolution of coccolithophores. |
| CT uncovers bone disease in Tyrannosaurus rex jaw Posted: 01 Dec 2021 05:51 AM PST Researchers have identified bone disease in the fossilized jaw of a Tyrannosaurus rex using a CT-based, nondestructive imaging approach. The imaging method could have significant applications in paleontology, researchers said, as an alternative to fossil assessment methods that involve the destruction of samples. |
| Bringing 400-million-year-old fossilized armored worms to ‘virtual’ life Posted: 30 Nov 2021 02:39 PM PST Scientists have documented the discovery of two new species of fossilized armored worms in Australia -- Lepidocoleus caliburnus and Lepidocoleus shurikenus -- dating from about 400 million years ago. Then, using the micro-CT imaging capabilities of the MU X-ray Microanalysis Core facility, the researchers were able to develop first-of-its-kind digital 3D-models of the species' individual armor plates by virtually examining the armored skeletons of these ancient worms, called machaeridians. |
| Extraordinary Roman mosaic and villa discovered beneath farmer's field in Rutland, UK Posted: 30 Nov 2021 09:16 AM PST Archaeologists have unearthed the first Roman mosaic of its kind in the UK. |
| Ancient lineage of algae found to include five 'cryptic' species Posted: 30 Nov 2021 07:14 AM PST All land plants originated from a single evolutionary event when freshwater algae got a foothold on land. The group of algae that would later give rise to land plants had already been living in freshwater and terrestrial habitats for over one billion years. A tiny group of these algae, most distantly related to land plants, still lives. A team homed in on one species, Chlorokybus, which lives in wet soil and rock cracks, to find that it contains not one, but at least five different species. |
| Extinct swordfish-shaped marine reptile discovered Posted: 29 Nov 2021 12:50 PM PST Researchers have discovered a new marine reptile. The specimen, a stunningly preserved meter-long skull, is one of the last surviving ichthyosaurs -- ancient animals that look eerily like living swordfish. |
| Recycling of tectonic plates a key driver of Earth’s oxygen budget Posted: 29 Nov 2021 09:27 AM PST A new study has identified serpentinite -- a green rock that looks a bit like snakeskin and holds fluids in its mineral structures -- as a key driver of the oxygen recycling process, which helped create and maintain the sustaining atmosphere for life on Earth. |
| Tectonic shift in Southern Ocean caused dramatic ancient cooling event Posted: 23 Nov 2021 01:27 PM PST New research has shed light on a sudden cooling event 34 million years ago, which contributed to formation of the Antarctic ice sheets. |
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