MillionYearOld

A groundbreaking study reveals that East Asia was inhabited by hominins with advanced tool-making skills equivalent to Mode 2 technology over 1.1 million years ago, challenging previous timelines and perceptions of early technological development in the region. This discovery, highlighting sophisticated techniques and planning, suggests a reevaluation of early human culture and connections across Eurasia. (A-E) Slender flakes are intentionally broken and used as blanks for retouching tipped tools. (G-I) Unifacially…

A new study of the extinct fossil ape Lufengpithecus from China offers groundbreaking insights into human bipedalism’s evolutionary origins. By analyzing the semicircular canals of the inner ear, researchers from the IVPP, YICRA, and NYU found evidence of locomotor patterns ancestral to bipedalism. The study highlights the significant role of environmental changes in the evolution of ape and human locomotion, contributing to our understanding of how human bipedalism evolved from a diverse ancestral locomotor repertoire.…

The discovery of a new fossil shark species, Palaeohypotodus bizzocoi, in Alabama, marks a significant contribution to paleontology, providing insights into marine life recovery post-dinosaur extinction and enhancing understanding of Alabama’s rich fossil fish diversity. Palaeohypotodus bizzocoi teeth. Credit: Ebersole et al.Following the extinction of the dinosaurs, this shark emerged as one of the top predators of the ocean.A team of scientists recently announced the discovery of a new fossil shark species from Alabama,…

Life reconstruction of Harajicadectes zhumini, a 40 cm long lobe-finned fish that is not too distantly related to the fishes that gave rise to the earliest limbed tetrapods. Credit: Brian Choo, Flinders UniversityThe rivers of Australia, which once flowed across its now dry interior, used to host a range of bizarre animals – including a sleek predatory lobe-finned fish with large fangs and bony scales.The newly described fossil fish discovered in remote fossil fields west of Alice Springs has been named Harajicadectes…

The Wakayama Soryu, a mosasaur discovered in Japan and comparable in size to a great white shark, lived 72 million years ago with unique features like elongated rear flippers and a shark-like dorsal fin. This significant find, named Megapterygius wakayamaensis, challenges previous assumptions about mosasaur swimming and hunting behaviors (Artist’s concept). Credit: SciTechDaily.comThe Wakayama Soryu, a newly described mosasaur known as the “blue dragon,” possessed a shark-like dorsal fin.Researchers have detailed a…

A shark sheds up to 40,000 teeth in its lifetime – and megalodon, the greatest predator of them all, was no different.As this fearsome beast roamed the world's oceans between 4 and 20 million years ago, it dropped teeth that are still washing up on beaches, found sticking out of whale bones, or rising out of once-submerged landscapes.But until now, none have been discovered in much the same position that they fell into all those millions of years ago.A team of intrepid researchers has just described one such find: a…

A groundbreaking study links a 12-million-year-old genetic event to the proliferation of invasive mussels and inspires new sustainable material development based on mussel fibers. (Zebra Mussels.) Credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service Recent research has identified a key evolutionary event that has enabled the widespread impact of invasive mussels in North America. This discovery also paves the way for the development of sustainable materials inspired by mussel fibers. A recent study from researchers in Canada and Germany…

A recent study revealed that the…

Modelling of mean surface temperature, precipitation and precipitation-evaporation budgets according to pre-Industrial levels through to worse-case scenarios of carbon dioxide levels nine times that of pre-Industrial conditions. Credit: Cramwinckel et al. 2023 Modeling of Earth's response to global warming has suggested dry regions will become more arid and wet regions will experience more precipitation, with an uneven…

Researchers and volunteers with the Florida Museum of Natural History have discovered the ancient remains of several gomphotheres at a fossil site in North Florida. Credit: Florida Museum photo by Kristen GraceApproximately five and a half million years ago, a number of gomphotheres, now-extinct relatives of elephants, met their end in or near a river in Northern Florida. Even though their demise probably transpired centuries apart, their remains were all deposited in a single location, entombed alongside other animals…