Fossil and Archaeology News

California's ancient kelp forest

Saturday, November 14, 2009 00:00 MST

The kelp forests off southern California are considered to be some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, yet a new study indicates that today's kelp beds are less extensive and lush than those in the recent past.

Warm-blooded dinosaurs worked up a sweat

Friday, November 13, 2009 00:00 MST

Were dinosaurs "warm-blooded" like present-day mammals and birds, or "cold-blooded" like present day lizards? The implications of this simple-sounding question go beyond deciding whether or not you'd snuggle up to a dinosaur on a cold winter's evening. In a study published this week in the journal PLoS ONE, a team of researchers, including Herman Pontzer, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology in Arts and Sciences, has found strong evidence that many dinosaur species were probably warm-blooded.

New fossil plant discovery links Patagonia to New Guinea in a warmer past

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 00:00 MST

Fossil plants provide clues as to what our planet looked like millions of years ago. Identifying fossil plants can be tricky, however, when plant organs fail to be preserved. Researchers recently discovered abundant fossilized specimens of a conifer (previously known as "Libocedrus" prechilensis) found in Argentinean Patagonia. Characterstics ofthese fossils match those currently found only in tropical, montane New Guinea and the Moluccas. This discovery helps to explain the remarkable plant and insect diversity found in Eocene Patagonia.

Remains of Minoan-style painting discovered during excavations of Canaanite palace

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 00:00 MST

The remains of a Minoan-style wall painting, recognizable by a blue background, the first of its kind to be found in Israel, was discovered in the course of the recent excavation season at Tel Kabri. This fresco joins others of Aegean style that have been uncovered during earlier seasons at the Canaanite palace in Kabri. "It was, without doubt, a conscious decision made by the city's rulers who wished to associate with Mediterranean culture."

The last European hadrosaurs lived in the Iberian Peninsula

Sunday, November 08, 2009 00:00 MST

Spanish researchers have studied the fossil record of hadrosaurs, the so-called "duck-billed" dinosaurs, in the Iberian Peninsula for the purpose of determining that they were the last of their kind to inhabit the European continent before disappearing during the K/T extinction event that occurred 65.5 million years ago. Most notable among these fossils is the discovery of a new hadrosaur, the Arenysaurus ardevoli, found in Huesca, Spain.

Male sabertoothed cats were pussycats compared to macho lions

Saturday, November 07, 2009 00:00 MST

Despite their fearsome fangs, male sabertoothed cats may have been less aggressive than many of their feline cousins, says a new study of male-female size differences in extinct big cats.

Atlanta's Fernbank Museum tracks infamous conquistador through Southeast

Friday, November 06, 2009 00:00 MST

Atlanta's Fernbank Museum of Natural History has discovered evidence of Hernando de Soto's 1540 journey through the Southeast. No evidence of De Soto's path from Tallahassee to North Carolina has been found until now, and few sites have been located anywhere. Fernbank archaeologist Dennis Blanton has amassed an impressive collection of objects revealing a probable stop in today's Telfair County, Ga. He'll present his findings at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference on Nov. 5 in Mobile.

The humble beginnings of a king

Thursday, November 05, 2009 00:00 MST

A long forgotten fossil skull in the collections of the Natural History Museum in London has now provided crucial clues to the early stages of the lengthy evolutionary history of Tyrannosaurus rex and related large carnivorous dinosaurs.

New analysis of dinosaur growth may wipe out one-third of species

Sunday, November 01, 2009 00:00 MST

Paleontologists Mark Goodwin and Jack Horner have dug for 11 years in Montana's Hell Creek Formation in search of every dinosaur fossil they can find, accumulating specimens of all stages of development. Their new report on the growth stages of dome-headed dinosaurs shows that two named species are really just young pachycephalosaurs. They say that perhaps one-third of all named dinosaurs may not be separate species, but juvenile or subadult stages of other known dinosaurs.

Inequality, 'silver spoon' effect found in ancient societies

Saturday, October 31, 2009 00:00 MST

The so-called "silver spoon" effect -- in which wealth is passed down from one generation to another -- is well established in some of the world's most ancient economies, according to an international study coordinated by a UC Davis anthropologist. The study, to be reported in the Oct. 30 issue of Science, expands economists' conventional focus on material riches, and looks at various kinds of wealth, such as hunting success, food sharing partners, and kinship networks.

The largest bat in Europe inhabited northeastern Spain more than 10,000 years ago

Friday, October 30, 2009 00:00 MST

Spanish researchers have confirmed that the largest bat in Europe, Nyctalus lasiopterus, was present in north-eastern Spain during the Late Pleistocene. The Greater Noctule fossils found in the excavation site at Abric Romani prove that this bat had a greater geographical presence more than 10,000 years ago than it does today, having declined due to the reduction in vegetation cover.

Snail fossils suggest semiarid eastern Canary Islands were wetter 50,000 years ago

Thursday, October 29, 2009 00:00 MST

Isotopic measurements performed on fossil land snail shells found in ancient soils on the subtropical eastern Canary Islands resulted in oxygen isotope ratios that suggest the Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa has become progressively drier over the past 50,000 years, according to research by Yurena Yanes and Crayton Yapp at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

New look for antiques

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 00:00 MST

Italian researchers working with Piero Baglioni at the University of Florence have developed a technique to effectively remove old polymer layers from sensitive historic artworks. As the researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the new cleaning system involves only a tiny proportion of volatile organic compounds.

Ancient 'monster' insect offers Halloween inspiration

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 00:00 MST

Just in time for Halloween, researchers have announced the discovery of a new, real-world "monster" -- what they are calling a "unicorn" fly that lived about 100 million years ago and is being described as a new family, genus and species of fly never before observed.

Geologist analyzes earliest shell-covered fossil animals

Saturday, October 24, 2009 00:00 MST

The fossil remains of some of the first animals with shells, ocean-dwelling creatures that measure a few centimeters in length and date to about 520 million years ago, provide a window on evolution at this time, according to scientists. Their research indicates that these animals were larger than previously thought.