Archive by category | Paleontology

Pre-Columbian fossil collectors unearthed

Pre-Columbian fossil collectors unearthed

Native Americans that lived in the Mimbres Valley of southwestern New Mexico more than a millennium ago are well-known for their distinctive pottery but now may have a new claim to fame: They collected fossils — apparently for ritual use within their homes, and probably from a site dozens of kilometres from their village.  Read more

The tale of the tail: measuring dinosaurs is tough when bones are missing

The tale of the tail: measuring dinosaurs is tough when bones are missing

Travel down the body of a dinosaur, and our knowledge of its anatomy tails away past its hips. As Dave Hone from University College Dublin has discovered, the vast majority of dinosaur skeletons, even many that are deemed to be “complete”, are missing parts of their tails.  Read more

Neanderthal sex debate highlights benefits of pre-publication — UPDATED

Neanderthal sex debate highlights benefits of pre-publication — UPDATED

An argument over sex that has been going on for more than a year is finally seeing the light of day. Today, scientists at the University of Cambridge and Harvard Medical School let the world in on a long-running discussion over whether or not humans and Neanderthals really interbred – and how you go about proving it.  Read more

Updated: US Justice Department calls for return of tarbosaur fossil

Updated: US Justice Department calls for return of tarbosaur fossil

A nearly complete tarbosaur fossil that sold for more than US$1 million was illegally smuggled out of Mongolia, claims a US Department of Justice civil complaint seeking the fossil’s return. The complaint was filed 18 June in Manhattan federal court.  Read more

The sweet song of a Jurassic cricket

The fossilised remains of long-extinct animals provide clear evidence of their size, stature and gait, but can we ever know what they sounded like? A reconstruction of the song sung by a fossilised katydid that lived 165 million years ago shows how it can be done. The results are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Like other crickets, male katydids (also known as bush crickets) sing to females through a technique called stridulation, in which noise is generated by rubbing a thick, ridged vein (called a file) on one wing against a ‘scraper’ on another. The length of the file, and the speed with which it is dragged over the scraper, determines the frequency of the noise it generates.  Read more

The shrinking effects of climate change

The shrinking effects of climate change

Despite the claims of a few grandstanders, it’s clear that our planet’s thermostat is dialing up. Some plants and animals have already responded to this change by modifying their distributions away from the Equator, toward the cooler poles, and by shifting the timing of their breeding or flowering cycles. But beyond their location and behaviours, the physical stature of some organisms is also affected by climate change — which could play havoc with ecosystems and even global food security.

Stunningly intact dinosaur fossil found in Germany

Stunningly intact dinosaur fossil found in Germany

The almost perfectly complete fossil of a young theropod dinosaur – including some preserved hair and skin – was unveiled yesterday by scientists from the Bavarian paleontological and geological collections (BSPG) in Munich, Germany. BSPG conservator Oliver Rauhut described it as the best preserved dinosaur skeleton to have ever been found in Europe.