Discovery & Weird News

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Giant wombat-like creatures, the size of black bears, once walked the earth

Scientists from the University of Salford discovered the new family of marsupial after studying the partial skull and most of a skeleton collected on an expedition during the 1970s.

London (CNN) - A wombat like a creature the size of a black bear and weighing 330 pounds, roamed the earth some 25 million years ago, scientists have discovered.

A team led by researchers from the University of Salford in the UK discovered the new family of marsupial after studying the partial skull and most of a skeleton that had been collected from Lake Pinpa, in northeastern South Australia, on an expedition during the 1970s.

'Crazy beast' fossil discovery shows the evolutionary weirdness of early mammals

Researchers named the animal "Mukupirna," meaning "big bones" in Dieri and Malyangapa, the indigenous languages spoken in the region of South Australia where the fossil was first discovered.

A team led by researchers from the University of Salford in the UK discovered the new family of marsupial after studying the partial skull and most of a skeleton that had been collected from Lake Pinpa, in northeastern South Australia, on an expedition during the 1970s.

Researchers named the animal "Mukupirna," meaning "big bones" in Dieri and Malyangapa, the indigenous languages spoken in the region of South Australia where the fossil was first discovered.

In a paper published in Scientific Reports on Thursday, researchers confirmed that the mammal belonged to a new family of marsupials -- mammals characterized by premature birth and the continued development of the newborn while latched to the nipples on the mother's lower belly.

From studying the creature's fossilized teeth, bones and cranium, experts concluded that the animal, which would have weighed up to 330 pounds, would have engaged in "scratch-digging" but was unlikely to have burrowed.

From studying the creature's fossilized teeth, bones and cranium, experts concluded that the animal, which would have weighed up to 330 pounds, would have engaged in "scratch-digging" but was unlikely to have burrowed.

"It is surprisingly large, particularity for that time period," lead author Robin Beck, from the University of Salford, told CNN. "It was one of the largest animals in Australia at that time."

Beck said that while the creatures most closely resemble wombats, they were about five times the size.

Scientists studied how body size has evolved in vombatiforms -- the group that includes Mukupirna, wombats, koalas and their fossil relatives -- and found that body weights of 220 pounds or more evolved at least six times over the past 25 million years.

The largest known vombatifom, named "Diprotodon," weighed more than 2 tonnes and survived until approximately 50,000 years ago.

"About 23 million years ago, the environment changed to become more like a rainforest in Australia, and so there were environmental changes that possibly may have driven it extinct," he suggested.

"Mukupirna reveals a fascinating mix of characteristics and provides evidence of a close link between wombats and an extinct group of marsupials called wynyardiids," report co-author Pip Brewer, of London's Natural History Museum, added in a statement.

"It suggests that adaptations for digging for food may have existed in the very earliest members of the wombat family and likely led to their eventual survival to the present day. Although suggested previously, it had not been possible to test this, as the oldest fossil wombats discovered are only known from teeth and a few skull fragments," Brewer said.

"About 23 million years ago, the environment changed to become more like a rainforest in Australia, and so there were environmental changes that possibly may have driven it extinct," he suggested.

"Mukupirna reveals a fascinating mix of characteristics and provides evidence of a close link between wombats and an extinct group of marsupials called wynyardiids," report co-author Pip Brewer, of London's Natural History Museum, added in a statement.

"It suggests that adaptations for digging for food may have existed in the very earliest members of the wombat family and likely led to their eventual survival to the present day. Although suggested previously, it had not been possible to test this, as the oldest fossil wombats discovered are only known from teeth and a few skull fragments," Brewer said.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/25/australia/giant-wombat-intl-scli-scn/index.html

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Dromaeosaurid dinosaurs ‘not only lived in the Arctic but thrived there’

The findings are based on a ‘rare’ piece of dinosaur jawbone thought to a juvenile dromaeosaurid dinosaur.

Scientists believe they may have stumbled on new species of dinosaur that lived in the Arctic 70 million years ago when the region was warmer than it is now.

The findings are based on a “rare” piece of dinosaur jawbone thought to belong to a juvenile dromaeosaurid dinosaur, predatory animals closely related to birds.

Dromaeosaurids, whose members include the velociraptor, lived during the Cretaceous period, between 145-66 million years ago.

• 200 million-year-old fossil shows dinosaur ‘walked like a guineafowl’
• Asteroid impact ‘only plausible explanation’ for dinosaur extinction
• Revealed: the last supper of an armoured dinosaur

Teeth remains of these creatures have previously been found in North America, South America, and Asia but lack of bone fossil records have made it hard for palaeontologists to trace the paths the dromaeosaurids took as they dispersed between continents.

Many scientists believe the Arctic was a “migratory pathway” for many dinosaurs when they crossed between Asia and North America.

An artist’s impression of dromaeosaurid dinosaurs © Andrey Atuchin/Plos One

But researchers now say the discovery of the jawbone fossil of a juvenile appears to contradict these suggestions and believe the animals lived there all year round.

The palaentologists say that the early developmental stage of the bone suggests the young dromaeosaurid was born nearby, strong evidence that some of the dinosaurs were nesting there.

Fossil jawbone from Alaska is a rare case of a juvenile Arctic dromaeosaurid dinosaur © A. Chiarenza

Anthony R Fiorillo, of Southern Methodist University, and one of the authors of the study published in the journal Plos One, said: “Years ago when dinosaurs were first found in the far north, the idea challenged what we think we know about dinosaurs.

“For some time afterwards, there was a great debate as to whether or not those Arctic dinosaurs migrated or lived in the north year-round.

“All of those arguments were somewhat speculative in nature.

“This study of a predatory dinosaur jaw from a baby provides the first physical proof that at least some dinosaurs not only lived in the far north, but they thrived there.

“One might even say, our study shows that the ancient north was a great place to raise a family and now we have to figure out why.”

The location of Prince Creek Formation, where the dromaeosaurid jawbone fossil was found © SMU

The 14mm long fossil, which was found near the Arctic Ocean, is preserved at the Prince Creek Formation of northern Alaska, which hosts the world’s largest collection of polar dinosaur fossils.

It is the first known non-dental dromaeosaurid fossil from the Arctic.

Scientists say bones belonging to these dinosaurs are fragile and do not preserve well in the fossil record.

Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza, of Imperial College London, and lead author on the study: “Even with such an incomplete jaw fragment, our team was not only able to work out the evolutionary relationships of this dinosaur, but also to picture something more on the biology of these animals, ultimately gaining more information on this Ancient Arctic ecosystem.”

Science Focus

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Aztec palace's remains uncovered off Mexico City's main Zócalo plaza

The remains of an ancient Aztec palace have been discovered under a stately building in Mexico City.

During renovations at the building off the capital's central Zócalo plaza, workers found basalt slab floors.

The floors were part of an open space in the palace of Aztec ruler Axayácatl, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said.

The palace was also used as the home of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés after the fall of the Aztec empire.

Excavators have found evidence of the home Cortés had at the palace site.

Archaeologists say it is likely to have reused materials from Axayácatl's palace - which, like other sacred Aztec buildings, was razed by the Spanish conquistadors.

Axayácatl reigned between 1469 and 1481 and was the father of Montezuma, one of the empire's last rulers.

"Below the subflooring of the house of Cortés, more than three metres deep, the remains of another floor of basalt slabs, but from pre-Hispanic times, were detected," INAH said.

"Given its characteristics, the specialists deduced that it was part of an open space in the former palace of Axayácatl, probably a courtyard."

Cortés arrived in what is now Mexico in 1518 as commander of a mission to explore the region - rumoured among Europeans to hold great wealth - for Spanish colonisation.

He and his men laid siege to the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán in 1521. When the city surrendered, the Spanish colonisers destroyed it.

The building which stands on the site now - the Nacional Monte de Piedad - is a historic pawnshop that was built in 1755.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-53397164

 

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New dinosaur related to T. rex discovered on the Isle of Wight

A new species of dinosaur has been discovered on the Isle of Wight.

Palaeontologists at the University of Southampton believe four bones found at Shanklin last year belong to a new species of theropod dinosaur.

It lived in the Cretaceous period, 115 million years ago, and is estimated to have been up to 4m (13ft) long.

It has been named Vectaerovenator inopinatus and belongs to the group of dinosaurs that includes Tyrannosaurus rex and modern-day birds.

The name refers to the large air spaces found in some of the bones - from the neck, back and tail of the creature - which is one of the traits that helped the scientists identify its theropod origins.

These air sacs, also seen in modern birds, were extensions of the lung, and it is likely they "helped fuel an efficient breathing system while also making the skeleton lighter", the University of Southampton said.

The fossils were found in three separate discoveries in 2019 and handed into the nearby Dinosaur Isle Museum at Sandown, where they are being displayed.

Robin Ward, a regular fossil hunter from Stratford-upon-Avon, was visiting the Isle of Wight with his family when they made their discovery.

"The joy of finding the bones we discovered was absolutely fantastic," he said.

James Lockyer, from Spalding, Lincolnshire, was also visiting the island when he found another of the bones.

"It looked different from marine reptile vertebrae I have come across in the past," he said.

"I was searching a spot at Shanklin and had been told, and read, that I wouldn't find much there.

"However, I always make sure I search the areas others do not, and on this occasion, it paid off."

Paul Farrell, from Ryde, added: "I was walking along the beach, kicking stones and came across what looked like a bone from a dinosaur.

"I was really shocked to find out it could be a new species."

'Delicate skeleton'

Chris Barker, who led the University of Southampton study, said: "We were struck by just how hollow this animal was - it's riddled with air spaces.

"Parts of its skeleton must have been rather delicate.

"The record of theropod dinosaurs from the 'mid' Cretaceous period in Europe isn't that great, so it's been really exciting to be able to increase our understanding of the diversity of dinosaur species from this time.

"You don't usually find dinosaurs in the deposits at Shanklin as they were laid down in a marine habitat. You're much more likely to find fossil oysters or driftwood, so this is a rare find indeed."

It is likely that the Vectaerovenator lived in an area just north of where its remains were found, with the carcass having washed out into the shallow sea nearby.

The university findings are due to be published in the journal Papers in Palaeontology and co-authored by those who discovered the fossils.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-53738762

 

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Tiny elephant shrew species, missing for 50 years, rediscovered

The speedy Somali sengi had been lost to science until an expedition to Djibouti

A mouse-sized elephant shrew that had been lost to science for 50 years has been discovered alive and well in the Horn of Africa.

The Somali sengi mates for life, can race around at 30km/h and sucks up ants with its trunk-like nose. But it had not been documented by researchers since 1968.

In 2019 scientists set out to search for the animal following tips from the region, but not in Somalia, from where the only past reports had come, but in neighbouring Djibouti. Locals were able to identify the creature from old photographs with Houssein Rayaleh, of Association Djibouti Nature, saying he had seen the animal before.

FULL REPORT

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Fossilised dinosaur skull reveals the adorable appearance of baby sauropods

The skull reveals surprising differences to adult sauropods.

The first 3D scan of a sauropod embryo’s skull has revealed what these gigantic dinosaurs looked like as tiny hatchlings.

Sauropods are a family of dinosaurs that are instantly recognisable from their small heads and their long, sweeping necks and tails – Diplodocus and Brontosaurus are two of the best-known examples.

The first sauropod embryos were discovered around 25 years ago in an 80-million-year-old nesting ground of titanosaurs (a group of especially large sauropods) at a site called Auca Mahuevo in the Patagonian region of Argentina.

The newly-analysed skull also belongs to a titanosaur from Patagonia, although the researchers don’t know exactly where, as the fossilised egg that it was found in was originally smuggled out of the country, and only came to the researchers’ attention later on.

The team used an X-ray imaging technology called synchrotron microtomography to analyse the inner structure of the skull’s bones, teeth and soft tissue. This uncovered hidden details such as tiny teeth preserved deeply in the jaw sockets, and what appear to be the remains of chewing muscles.

The Titanosaurian embryo skull along with a skull and head reconstruction © Kundrat et al. /Current Biology

The position of the embryo’s eye sockets also suggests that, unlike adults, the freshly hatched sauropods may have had a form of binocular vision, in which the slightly different images from each eye give an improved depth perception – perhaps helping it to better detect predators. The embryo also has an unusual horn at the tip of its face, which isn’t present in adults.

“Our study revealed several new aspects about the embryonic life of the largest herbivorous dinosaurs that lived on our planet,” said study leader Dr Martin Kundrát, a palaeobiologist at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Slovakia. “A horned faced and binocular vision are features quite different from what we expected in titanosaurian dinosaurs.”

https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/fossilised-dinosaur-skull-reveals-adorable-appearance-of-baby-sauropods/

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Bear from Ice Age found 'completely preserved' in the Russian Arctic

The immaculately preserved remains of an Ice Age-era bear have been unearthed by reindeer herders in the Russian Arctic, researchers have said.

The bear was revealed by the melting permafrost on the Lyakhovsky Islands in north-eastern Russia.

With its teeth and nose intact, the bear is thought to be a species of brown bear that lived 22,000 to 39,500 years ago.

It will be studied at the North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in the city of Yakutsk.

FULL REPORT

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Mastodon fossil discovered in Colombian gold mine

Fossil remains of a mastodon found by miners inside a gold mine in Risaralda, Colombia.

Bogota (Reuters) - Fossils of a mastodon, a giant prehistoric relative of today's elephants, have been discovered at an artisanal gold mine in central Colombia in a find which researchers say could herald a trove of similar specimens.

Gold miners working a tunnel near the town of Quinchia, in Risaralda province, came across what they soon realized were bones on Tuesday.

The discovery is the first of its kind in the province but mastodon remains have also been found in Cundinamarca and Valle del Cauca provinces, as well as along Colombia's Atlantic coast, said Carlos Lopez, an anthropologist at a university in Risaralda's capital Pereira.

"These animals attract attention due to their large size - a giant bone doesn't go unnoticed," Lopez said. "It really takes us in a time machine ... to think about what they were like and how they lived, and if humans lived alongside them."

Experts study the mastodon remains and remove those still inside the mine, where a complete tusk measuring 1 meter 10 centimetres (3.5 feet) long can still be seen.

"They sent us some photos, which we sent to expert anthropologists in the area and they determined they belonged to megafauna ... that died out between 2 million and 10,000 years ago," said Julio Gomez, director of the regional environmental authority for Risaralda.

The discovery could herald similar finds in the region.

"More (remains) could be found," Lopez said. "These animals lived in herds, they didn't live alone, a little like the herds of elephants we see in Africa today."

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/24/americas/colombia-mastadon-gold-mine-scn-intl/index.html

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Toothless dinosaur with just two fingers discovered

A new species of toothless dinosaur that had just two fingers on each arm has been discovered in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh found multiple skeletons of the species, named Oksoko avarsan.

The feathered creature, which dates from about one hundred million years ago, also had a large, toothless beak.

The team said the discovery could help explain how animals lose fingers and toes through evolution.

They said the species had one fewer finger on each forearm compared with its close relatives, suggesting adaptability that enabled the animals to spread during the Late Cretaceous Period.

Several complete skeletons of the feathered, omnivorous creatures were unearthed.

The animals, which grew to two meters long, had a large, toothless beak similar to the type seen in parrots.

It is the first evidence of digit loss in the three-fingered family of dinosaurs, known as oviraptors.

The team said the discovery that the dinosaurs could evolve forelimb adaptations suggested they could alter their diets and lifestyles, and potentially diversify and multiply.

The team also discovered that Oksoko avarsan, like many other prehistoric species, were social as juveniles.

The fossil remains of four young dinosaurs were preserved resting together.

Dr Gregory Funston, of the University of Edinburgh's school of geosciences, said the discovery shed light on how a group of parrot-like animals thrived more than 68 million years ago.

"Oksoko avarsan is interesting because the skeletons are very complete and the way they were preserved resting together shows that juveniles roamed together in groups.

"But more importantly, its two-fingered hand prompted us to look at the way the hand and forelimb changed throughout the evolution of oviraptors, which hadn't been studied before.

"This revealed some unexpected trends that are a key piece in the puzzle of why oviraptors were so diverse before the extinction that killed the dinosaurs."

The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, was funded by The Royal Society and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada.

It also involved researchers from the University of Alberta and Philip J Currie Dinosaur Museum in Canada, Hokkaido University in Japan, and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-54448253

 

 

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'Rare' Sir Isaac Newton work found on bookshelf sells for £22k

A first edition copy of Sir Isaac Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy in English has sold at auction for £22,000.

The "rare" volumes were found on a bookshelf in a house in South Wales during a lockdown clear out.

Auctioneer, Chris Albury said he "almost fell off" his chair when he realised it was "the greatest work of science in the English language".

He said: "It wasn't the best copy in the world but it was complete."

The book was sold to a buyer in New York and exceeded the £15,000 to £20,000 guide price.

Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy is generally described as the greatest work in the history of science.

In it, the physicist explains how objects move and lay the foundations of his theory of gravity.

Mr Albury, from Dominic Winter Auctioneers in Cirencester, said it was "very hard to say" how many of the 1729 first edition in English were in existence but it was "rare".

"The print run must have been in the mid to high hundreds," he said.

"Obviously a lot are in institutions now so they don't turn up for auction anywhere in the world very often."

He said the "lucky seller" was "jumping around and punching the air" when they found out they had hit the "jackpot".

"It was on their shelves and they were looking for things to sell while they were in lockdown," he said.

"It's two volumes and if there's one page missing, it all goes out the window so they came and watched me collate it and spent 40 nervous minutes until I closed the second volume and said it's complete and worth £15k."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-54452971

 

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12-year-old boy makes 'significant' dinosaur discovery

Discovery was made at Horseshoe Canyon in the Alberta Prairies

A 12-year-old boy in Canada has found fossils that palaeontologists have hailed as a “significant” dinosaur discovery.

The discovery was made at Horseshoe Canyon in the Alberta Prairies, according to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

“In July, 12-year-old aspiring palaeontologist Nathan Hrushkin and his father, Dion, discovered the partially exposed bones while hiking on the conservation site,” said the Nature Conservancy, in a statement last week. “They sent photos of their find to the Royal Tyrrell Museum, who identified that the bones belonged to a young hadrosaur, commonly known as a duck-billed dinosaur.”

The Royal Tyrrell Museum sent a team of experts to the conservation site, who uncovered between 30 and 50 bones from the canyon’s wall.

“All of the bones collected belong to a single specimen, a juvenile hadrosaur approximately three or four years old,” the Nature Conservancy said, in the statement. “While hadrosaurs are the most common fossils found in Alberta’s Badlands, this particular specimen is noteworthy because few juvenile skeletons have been recovered and also because of its location in the strata, or the rock formation.”

INCREDIBLE DINOSAUR DISCOVERY: HERD OF OPAL-ENCRUSTED DINOS UNCOVERED

The fossils are believed to be 69 million years old.

12-year-old Nathan Hrushkin discovered the fossils. (Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology and NatureConservancy.ca)

“My dad and I have been visiting this property for a couple of years, hoping to find a dinosaur fossil, and we’ve seen lots of little bone fragments,” said aspiring palaeontologist Nathan Hrushkin, in the statement. “This year I was exploring higher up the canyon and found about four bones. We sent pictures and to the Royal Tyrrell Museum and François, the palaeontologist who replied, was able to identify one of the bones as a humerus from the photos so we knew we’d found something this time.”

 

https://www.foxnews.com/science/12-year-old-boy-makes-significant-dinosaur-discovery

 

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Ancrum Old Bridge rediscovered beneath the River Teviot

One of the "most important structures of medieval Scotland" has been rediscovered after being hidden beneath a Borders river for centuries.

Two years of work have led to the discovery of the "lost" medieval bridge in the River Teviot near Ancrum.

Experts, using radiocarbon dating, have confirmed it is from the mid-1300s.

They said that makes them the oldest scientifically-dated bridge remains found in their original position across one of Scotland's rivers.

FULL REPORT

 

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Study puts Denisovans on roof of the world

Findings expand understanding of humans in eastern Asia.

Excavation in Baishiya Karst Cave. Credit: All photos Yuanyuan Han, Dongju Zhang, Lanzhou University

DNA evidence has confirmed that a cave on the Tibetan Plateau was once home to Denisovans, an ancient species of humans whose remains had previously only been found in Siberia.

The research, led by China’s Lanzhou University and published in the journal Science, shows that these close cousins of Neanderthals occupied the cave from at least 100,000 years ago – possibly as far back as 190,000 years ago – and used it until at least 60,000 years ago.

This has interesting implications for the timing and movement of hominins through Asia.

“We have known that some modern human genomes contain fragments of DNA from Denisovans, suggesting that this species of human must have been widespread in Asia,” says Bo Li, co-author and dating specialist from the University of Wollongong in Australia.

Denisovan DNA is found in a higher percentage in Austronesian populations, including Melanesians, Aboriginal Australians, and Papuans.

Actual physical remains of Denisovans are exceedingly rare, however: limited to teeth and some bone fragments in a single cave in Siberia.

Dry sieving in the excavation

Recently, a mandible (lower jawbone) was recovered from the Baishiya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Plateau, 2800 kilometres away. A 2019 study tenuously identified the mandible as Denisovan based on a single amino acid position, but researchers wanted harder evidence and so embarked upon deeper studies of the cave site.

The international team, including archaeologists, geologists and geneticists from China, Germany, the US and Australia, did not find further hominin bones but did find Denisovan DNA within the soil of the cave. They also discovered a rich deposit of charcoal from fires, animal bones including from rhinos and hyenas, and 1310 simple stone tools.

The stone tool artefacts can be dated to more than 190,000 years ago and as recently as 45,000 years ago.

Li, who led the dating process with colleagues from the University of Wollongong, explains how the team was able to extract genetic information not from fossils, but from the cave’s soil.

“We detected ancient human fragments that matched mitochondrial DNA associated with Denisovans in four different layers of sediment deposited around 100,000 and 60,000 years ago,” he says.

“Interestingly, we found that the hominin DNA from 60,000 years ago share the closest genetic relationship to the Denisova 3 and 4 specimens sampled from Denisova Cave [in Siberia]. In contrast, the DNA dating to 100,000 years ago shows evidence that those Denisovans separated earlier from the lineage leading to Denisova 3 and 4.”

Together, the DNA and artefacts constitute firm evidence for the long-term habitation of Denisovans on the Tibetan Plateau.

Since this new site is not only geographically distant from the Siberian cave but also at a much higher altitude – 3280 metres above sea level – these ancient hominins likely lived across a range of environments and were far more widespread than current physical evidence represents.

This also indicates that the mixture of Denisovan genes into other hominin populations may have contributed to the high-altitude adaptations seen in modern Tibetan people.

According to Li, there is a lot more to learn from the site. “Our next target is to date more samples from the cave and try to answer when Denisovans started to occupy the cave and when they ‘disappear’ from the cave.”

Flakes found in Baishiya Karst Cave

https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/archaeology/study-puts-denisovans-on-roof-of-the-world/

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by CaaC (John)

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Two-million-year-old skull of human 'cousin' unearthed

Australian researchers say the discovery of a two-million-year-old skull in South Africa throws more light on human evolution.

The skull was a male Paranthropus robustus, a "cousin species" to Homo erectus - a species thought to be direct ancestors of modern humans.

The two species lived around the same time, but Paranthropus robustus died out earlier.

The research team described the find as exciting.

"Most of the fossil record is just a single tooth here and there so to have something like this is very rare, very lucky," Dr Angeline Leece told the BBC.

The researchers, from Melbourne's La Trobe University, found the skull's fragments in 2018 at the Drimolen archaeological site north of Johannesburg.

It was uncovered just metres away from a spot where a similarly aged Homo erectus skull of a child was discovered in 2015.

Archaeologists then spent the past few years piecing together and analysing the fossil. Their findings were published in the Nature, Ecology and Evolution journal on Tuesday.

Co-researcher Jesse Martin told the BBC that handling the fossil pieces was like working with "wet cardboard", adding he had used plastic straws to suck the last traces of dirt off them.

'Competing species'

It is thought that three hominins (human-like creatures) species lived in South Africa at the same time in competition with each other.

As such the skull discovery presented a rare example of "microevolution" within human lineage, Mr Martin said.

Paranthropus robustus had large teeth and small brains, differing from Homo erectus which had large brains and small teeth. It is believed the former's diet involved eating mainly tough plants, like tubers and bark.

"Through time, Paranthropus robustus likely evolved to generate and withstand higher forces produced during biting and chewing food that was hard or mechanically challenging to process with their jaws and teeth," said Dr Leece.

The scientists said it was possible that a wetter environment caused by climate change may have reduced the food available to them.

Meanwhile, Homo erectus, with their smaller teeth, was more likely to have eaten both plants and meat.

"These two vastly different species... represent divergent evolutionary experiments," Dr Leece said.

"While we were the lineage that won out in the end, two million years ago the fossil record suggests that Paranthropus robustus was much more common than Homo erectus on the landscape."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-54882214

 

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Great Pyramid: Lost Egyptian artefact found in Aberdeen cigar box

A long-lost Egyptian artefact has been found in a cigar box in Aberdeen - and it is hoped it could shed new light on the Great Pyramid.

The chance discovery was made by a member of staff at the University of Aberdeen during a collection review.

The small fragment of 5,000-year-old wood - which is now in several pieces - is said to be "hugely significant".

The engineer Waynman Dixon originally discovered it among items inside the pyramid's Queen's Chamber in 1872.

The piece of cedar - which it is believed may have been used during the pyramid's construction - was donated to the university in 1946 but then could not be located.

Curatorial assistant Abeer Eladany found it while conducting a review of items housed in the university's Asia collection.

FULL REPORT

 

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A Romanian and Italian climber will be attempting to summit K2 in the winter season this time. No one has done so far

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Ancient mummified wolf cub in Canada 'lived 56,000 years ago'

A wolf cub that was found mummified in northern Canada lived at least 56,000 years ago, scientists say.

Hidden in permafrost for tens of thousands of years, the female cub was discovered by a gold miner near Dawson city in Yukon territory in 2016.

She has since been named Zhur, meaning wolf, by the local Tr'ondek Hwech'in people.

Scientists now say the cub, of which the hide, hair and teeth are intact, is "the most complete wolf mummy known".

"She's basically 100% intact - all that's missing are her eyes," lead author Professor Julie Meachen, a paleontologist and professor of anatomy at Des Moines University in Iowa, told the EurekAlert! science news website.

Using a variety of techniques, the team was able to determine many aspects of the cub's life, from her age and diet to a probable cause of death.

The findings, published in the Current Biology journal on Monday, show the cub and her mother had eaten "aquatic resources", including fish such as salmon.

By comparing data from the wolf's DNA and an analysis of her tooth enamel, they found she was likely to have lived and died between 56,000 and 57,000 years ago.

X-rays of the body, meanwhile, found she was around six to eight weeks old when she died.

The study noted that while ancient wolf fossils are relatively common in the Yukon or neighbouring Alaska, mummies of larger mammals are rare.

"We think she was in her den and died instantaneously by den collapse," Professor Meachen was quoted as saying.

"Our data showed that she didn't starve and was about 7 weeks old when she died, so we feel a bit better knowing the poor little girl didn't suffer for too long"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-55409689

 

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Woolly rhino from Ice Age unearthed in the Russian Arctic

The remarkably preserved carcass of an Ice Age-era woolly rhino has been unearthed by locals in eastern Siberia, researchers have said.

The rhino was revealed by the melting permafrost in the Abyisky region of Yakutia in north-eastern Russia.

With most of its internal organs intact, the rhino is among the best-preserved animals ever found in the region.

Experts will deliver the rhino to a lab for further studies next month.

They are waiting for ice roads to form so they can take the remains to the city of Yakutsk, where scientists will take samples and carry out radiocarbon analyses.

FULL REPORT

 

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Indonesia: Archaeologists find world's oldest animal cave painting

Archaeologists have discovered the world's oldest known animal cave painting in Indonesia - a wild pig - believed to be drawn 45,500 years ago.

Painted using dark red ochre pigment, the life-sized picture of the Sulawesi warty pig appears to be part of a narrative scene.

The picture was found in the Leang Tedongnge cave in a remote valley on the island of Sulawesi.

It provides the earliest evidence of human settlement of the region.

"The people who made it were fully modern, they were just like us, they had all of the capacity and the tools to do any painting that they liked," said Maxime Aubert, the co-author of the report published in Science Advances journal.

A dating specialist, Aubert had identified a calcite deposit that had formed on top of the painting and used Uranium-series isotope dating to determine that the deposit was 45,500 years old.

This makes the artwork at least that old. "But it could be much older because the dating that we're using only dates the calcite on top of it," he added.

The report says that the painting, which measures 136cm by 54cm (53in by 21in), depicts a pig with horn-like facial warts characteristic of adult males of the species.

There are two handprints above the back of the pig, which also appears to be facing two other pigs that are only partially preserved.

Co-author Adam Brumm said: "The pig appears to be observing a fight or social interaction between two other warty pigs."

To make the handprints, the artists would have had to place their hands on a surface before spitting pigment over it, the researchers said. The team hopes to try and extract DNA samples from the residual saliva as well.

The painting maybe the world's oldest art depicting a figure, but it is not the oldest manmade art.

In South Africa, a hashtag-like doodle created 73,000 years ago is believed to be the oldest known drawing.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-55657257

 

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On 22/12/2020 at 11:01, McAzeem said:

A Romanian and Italian climber will be attempting to summit K2 in the winter season this time. No one has done so far

Update an expedition from Nepal has successfully climbed the summit in the winter season for the first time

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Ancient mummies with golden tongues unearthed in Egypt

Archaeologists have unearthed 2,000-year-old mummies with golden tongues placed inside their mouths in northern Egypt, the antiquities ministry says.

An Egyptian-Dominican team working at Alexandria's Taposiris Magna temple discovered 16 burials in rock-cut tombs popular in the Greek and Roman eras.

Inside were poorly-preserved mummies.

It is thought the dead were given gold foil amulets shaped like tongues so that they could speak before the court of the god Osiris in the afterlife.

Ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris was lord of the underworld and judge of the dead.

• Lost Egyptian artefact found in a cigar box
• Egyptian mummified animals 'digitally unwrapped'
• Egyptian mummification 'recipe' revealed

The god was also pictured in gilded decorations on the cartonnage - a material made of layers of plaster, linen and glue - that was partially encasing one of the mummies, lead archaeologist Kathleen Martinez of the University of Santo Domingo was cited by the antiquities ministry as saying.

The gilded decorations on the cartonnage around a second mummy's head depicted a crown, horns and a cobra snake, she added. On the chest, the decorations depicted a necklace from which hung the head of a falcon - the symbol of the god Horus.

Khaled Abo El Hamd, director-general of the antiquities authority in Alexandria, said the archaeological mission at Taposiris Magna had also discovered the funeral mask of a woman, eight golden flakes of a golden wreath, and eight marble masks dating back to the Greek and Roman eras.

The antiquities ministry said a number of coins bearing the name and portrait of Queen Cleopatra VII had previously been found inside the temple.

Cleopatra VII was the last queen of the Greek-speaking Ptolemaic dynasty, ruling Egypt from 51-30 BC. After her death, Egypt fell under Roman domination.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-55902631

 

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Conch shell tones

Ancient conch makes music for the first time in 17,000 years.

How old-fashioned is your taste in music? Researchers have recreated notes from a 17,000-year-old conch shell, found in a cave in southern France.

Discovered in the Marsoulas Cave, just north of the Pyrenees mountains, in 1931, the shell was initially thought to be a drinking cup. But a more detailed analysis, published today in the journal Science Advances, showed that the shell had been subtly modified by humans to attach a mouthpiece and use as a musical instrument.

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Marsoulas Cave: fast facts

• Excavations first bagan in 1983 by Henri Breuil and André Leroi-Gourhan
• The cave is filled with images of humans, horses, and bison painted by prehistoric artists
• These paintings are thought to be 17,000 years old
• Marsoulas cave was closed in 1996 due to vandalism and graffiti

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The researchers enlisted the help of a musicologist specialising in wind instruments, who played the instrument in a recording studio. With the mouthpiece of the shell protected to avoid damage to the artefact, the musicologist blew air through the shell in a similar manner to playing trumpet or trombone, which allowed the shell to vibrate at its natural resonance and produce notes. Three distinct tones were recorded, which were similar to the modern notes C, D and C sharp.

The researchers used photogrammetry and x-ray fluorescence spectrometry to examine the outside of the shell, and CT scanning to inspect its interior.

They found that the outer lip of the shell (the labrum) had been removed, and two holes had been chipped away inside it – these might have been to hold a tube that was used as a mouthpiece, so players could protect their lips. The conch had also been painted with pigments similar to those used for the wall art found inside Marsoulas Cave.

There are many examples of wind instruments made from bone, but a musical conch shell is an unusual find from this time period.

“Around the world, conch shells have served as musical instruments, calling or signalling devices, and sacred or magic objects depending on the cultures,” the study authors write. “To our knowledge, the Marsoulas shell is unique in the prehistoric context, however, not only in France but at the scale of Paleolithic Europe and perhaps the world.”

A 3D interactive model of the conch shell can be found here

https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/civillisations/conch-shell-tones/

 

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Builders uncover '12th Century bathhouse' in bar

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Workers renovating a bar in Seville, Spain, have uncovered a well-preserved hammam, or a bathhouse, believed to date back to the 12th Century.

The discovery was "completely unexpected" inside the Giralda Bar in the city centre, archaeologist Alvaro Jimenez told AFP news agency.

A star-shaped skylight emerged immediately after the workers began hammering the walls of the building.

They then uncovered nearly 90 skylights in the roof of the Moorish-style bar.

Beautiful Islamic artwork was found on the walls of the room.

Experts are crediting an early 20th Century architect Vicente Traver, saying that it was him who decided to hide the room during the installation of two additional floors.

The bar takes its name from the minaret of the Great Mosque that now serves as the bell tower of Seville's Cathedral.

Seville was conquered by the Moors in the 8th Century, later becoming one of the two capitals of the Almohad Caliphate.

• 'Moorish revival' in southern Spain

The city was taken by the Christian King Ferdinand III of Castille in the 13th Century.

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/builders-uncover-12th-century-bathhouse-in-bar/ar-BB1dYRmG#image=1

 

Edited February 24, 2021 by CaaC (John)

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Archaeologists uncover ancient ceremonial chariot near Pompeii

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A ceremonial chariot has been discovered during excavations of a Roman villa just outside the walls of ancient Pompeii.

The four-wheeled vehicle made of wood and iron with decorations in bronze and tin was almost perfectly preserved when the city was buried by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79.

It was unearthed in the portico opposite the stable where archaeologists found the remains of three horses, including one still in its harness, in 2018.

Italy's culture ministry described the carriage as "a unique find, without any precedent in Italy".

Massimo Osanna, the outgoing director of the Pompeii archaeological site, said the carriage would have "accompanied festive moments for the community - parades and processions".

"This is an extraordinary discovery that advances our understanding of the ancient world," she added.

Other carriages have been found in Pompeii but they have been functional vehicles used for transport and work rather than ceremonies.

Excavations began at the suburban villa of Civita Giuliana, around 700 metres north of the walls of ancient Pompeii, in 2017.

One aim of the project was to protect the villa from treasure hunters who had dug several tunnels in the area. Two bodies were recovered from the villa at Civita Guiliana in November 2020.

After discovering the chariot, archaeologists seven days a week from mid-January to try to preserve the fragile remains of wood and metal, pouring plaster into voids left by organic matter as it decayed.

The rear of the carriage is embellished with medallions depicting Cupid, the Roman god of love, and erotic scenes involving male and female figures.

"One cannot exclude the possibility that this could have been a chariot used for rituals relating to marriage, for leading the bride to her new household," said Ms Osanna.

About two-thirds of Pompeii have been uncovered since the ruins were discovered in the 16th century. The city was home to around 13,000 people when it was buried under ash, pumice and dust.

"Pompeii continues to amaze us with its discoveries and it will do so for many years, with 20 hectares still to be dug up," said culture minister Dario Franceschini.

Read More
Pompeii excavation reveals the fast-food diet of ancient Romans
Bodies of man and slave unearthed from ashes at Pompeii
Priceless frescoes were stolen from the ruins of Pompeii

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/archaeologists-uncover-ancient-ceremonial-chariot-near-pompeii/ar-BB1e4DBE

 

 

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Haunting video shows perfectly preserved wreck of classic steamship Gunilda

A fascinating video by a team of Florida-based divers shows one of the best-preserved historic wrecks in the world, 59.43-metre Gunilda.

The Gunilda

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by CaaC (John)