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archive: Jul-Sep 2007
Paleo-news archive: July-September 2007
Velociraptor dino 'had feathers'
(Sep 21, 2007)
The ferocious Velociraptor, made famous in the movie Jurassic Park,
was probably covered in feathers. A re-assessment of a fossil forearm
unearthed in Mongolia in 1998 has revealed an array of small bumps.
In modern birds, such "quill knobs" are the locations where secondary
feathers, the flight or wing feathers, are anchored to the bone with
ligaments.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
'Hobbit' wrists 'were primitive'
(Sep 21, 2007)
Careful study of the "Hobbit" fossil's wrist bones supports the idea
that the creature was a distinct species and not a diseased modern
human, it is claimed. Matthew Tocheri and colleagues tell Science
magazine that the bones look nothing like those of Homo sapiens; they
look ape-like. The announcement in 2004 detailing the discovery of
Homo floresiensis caused a sensation.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Georgia clues to human origins
(Sep 20, 2007)
A team of scientists working in Georgia has unearthed the remains
of four human-like creatures dating to 1.8 million years ago. In the
journal Nature, the researchers outline details of the partial skeletons
uncovered in a Medieval town. The bones reveal a mixture of primitive
and advanced features, team leader David Lordkipanidze explained.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Neanderthal climate link debated
(Sep 14, 2007)
The theory that an abrupt, catastrophic change in the climate extinguished
the last Neanderthals is challenged in the journal Nature. Our evolutionary
cousins went extinct in most of Europe about 35,000 years ago, but
small pockets survived much later than this in southern Iberia. The
cause of these ancient humans' demise is hotly debated and a variety
of theories have been put forward.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Orchids date to time of the dinos
(Aug 30, 2007)
Ancient orchid pollen found attached to a bee trapped in amber suggests
the "supermodels of the plant world" were blooming at the time of
the dinosaurs. The discovery indicates that orchids arose between
76 and 84 million years ago, making them far older than experts had
previously thought.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Fossils belong to new great ape
(Aug 23, 2007)
Nine fossilised teeth found in Ethiopia are from a previously unknown
species of great ape, Nature journal reports. The 10 million-year-old
fossils belong to an animal that has been named Cororapithecus abyssinicus
by the Ethiopian-Japanese team. This new species could be a direct
ancestor of living African great apes, say the researchers.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
T. rex 'would outrun footballer'
(Aug 22, 2007)
Tyrannosaurus rex would have been able to outrun a footballer, according
to computer models used to estimate running speeds of dinosaurs. The
work used data taken directly from dinosaur fossils, rather than referring
to previous work on modern animals. The study published in the Proceedings
of the Royal Society B, shows that T. rex had a top running speed
of 8m/s (18mph).
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Ancient forest found in Hungary
(Aug 13, 2007)
An ancient forest of cypress trees, estimated to be eight million
years old, has been discovered in Hungary. Archaeologists found the
16 preserved trunks in an open cast coal mine in the north-eastern
city of Bukkabrany. The specimens were preserved intact while most
of the forest turned to coal thanks to a casing of sand, which was
perhaps the result of a sandstorm.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Finds test human origins theory
(Aug 9, 2007)
Two hominid fossils discovered in Kenya are challenging a long-held
view of human evolution. The broken upper jaw-bone and intact skull
from humanlike creatures, or hominids, are described in Nature.
Previously, the hominid Homo habilis was thought to have evolved into
the more advanced Homo erectus, which evolved into us. Now, habilis
and erectus are thought to be sister species that overlapped in time.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Greek mastodon find 'spectacular'
(Jul 30, 2007)
The remains of a prehistoric mastodon – a mammoth-like animal
– have been found in northern Greece, including intact long
tusks. A Dutch scientist at the site, Dick Mol, says the find near
Grevena should help explain why mastodons died out in Europe two to
three million years ago.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Dinosaurs' slow rise to dominance
(Jul 20, 2007)
The dinosaurs might have gone out with a sudden bang, but their rise
to dominance was a gradual ascent, not a sudden takeover, a study
suggests. It shows that dinosaurs co-existed with a more primitive
group of reptiles for millions of years before becoming the most common
land animals on Earth. Experts had thought that once dinosaurs emerged,
they swiftly replaced their relatives the dinosauromorphs.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Baby mammoth discovery unveiled
(Jul 10, 2007)
A baby mammoth unearthed in the permafrost of north-west Siberia could
be the best preserved specimen of its type, scientists have said.
The frozen carcass is to be sent to Japan for detailed study. The
six-month-old female calf was discovered on the Yamal peninsula of
Russia and is thought to have died 10,000 years ago.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
DNA reveals Greenland's lush past
(Jul 6, 2007)
Armies of insects once crawled through lush forests in a region of
Greenland now covered by more than 2,000m of ice. DNA extracted from
ice cores shows that moths and butterflies were living in forests
of spruce and pine in the area between 450,000 and 800,000 years ago.
Researchers writing in Science magazine say the specimens could represent
the oldest pure DNA samples ever obtained.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Ancient American bird was glider
(Jul 3, 2007)
The largest bird known to have taken to the skies would have been
a remarkable glider, scientists say. A North American team has studied
the flight abilities of Argentavis magnificens, which lived six million
years ago in Argentina. With its seven-metre (23ft) wingspan, the
animal must have been an expert at riding thermals and updrafts.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
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