Category: Palaeontology
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300-metre-long ancient aqueduct found at Giv‘at Hamatos | HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have discovered a large section of the upper aqueduct that transported water to the city of Jerusalem, Israel. The discovery was made during archaeological works in preparation for housing development in the Giv‘at Hamatos neighbourhood. Excavations revealed a 300-metre-long section that was built by King Herod some 2000-years-ago. During…
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4 facts on the Age of the Dinosaurs
We all know the line: For more than 150 million years, dinosaurs ruled the Earth. We imagine bloodthirsty tyrannosaurs ripping into screaming duckbills, gigantic sauropods shaking the ground with their thunderous footfalls, and spiky stegosaurs swinging their tails in a reign of reptiles so magnificent, it took the unexpected strike of a six-mile-wide asteroid to…
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A ‘user’s manual for the female mammal’ — how women’s bodies evolved
Ardipithecus ramidus, the first bipedal Eve.Credit: Julius T Csotonyi/SPL Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution Cat Bohannon Knopf/Hutchinson Heinemann (2023) What is a woman? In Eve, Cat Bohannon traces the development of female bodies back 200 million years. A writer with a doctorate in the evolution of narrative and…
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125-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Feathers Reveal Traces of Ancient Proteins
Isolated fossil feather from the Green River Formation (ca. 50 million years old, USA). Specimen held in the Yale University Peabody Museum of Natural History. Scale bar indicates 100 mm. Credit: Dr. Tiffany Slater New method reveals similarities between dinosaurs and birds. Paleontologists at University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland have discovered X-ray evidence of…
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Archaeological mission finds hundreds of sealed jars in tomb of Merit-Neith | HeritageDaily
An Egyptian-German-Austrian archaeological mission conducting excavations at the tomb of Merit-Neith have uncovered hundreds of sealed ceramic jars. Merit-Neith, meaning “Beloved by Neith”, was a consort and regent during the first dynasty. Despite her name not being included in the king lists from the New Kingdom, Merit-Neith may have been the first female pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. She is linked with…
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Climate and human land use both play roles in Pacific island wildfires past and present
It’s long been understood that human settlement contributes to conditions that make Pacific Islands more susceptible to wildfires, such as the devastating Aug. 8 event that destroyed the Maui community of Lahaina. But a new study from SMU fire scientist Christopher Roos published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution shows that climate is an…
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First terror bird footprints reveal functionally didactyl posture
Andrews, C. On the extinct birds of Patagonia, I, the skull and skeleton of Phororhacos inflatus Ameghino. Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond. 15, 55–86 (1899). Article Google Scholar Ameghino, F. Sobre las aves fósiles de Patagonia. Boletín del Instituto Geográfico de Argentina 15, 501–602 (1895). Google Scholar Alvarenga, H. M. F. & Höfling, E. Systematic revision…
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New chambers discovered in Ancient Egyptian pyramid of Sahura | HeritageDaily
An Egyptian-German archaeological mission has discovered several new chambers in the pyramid of Sahura, located in the Abu Sir Pyramid Field south of Giza. Sahura, meaning “He who is close to Re”, was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt and the second ruler of the Fifth Dynasty (2465 BC to 2325 BC). Sahure’s reign is seen…
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Ancient DNA Reveals Unexpected Extinctions in the Caribbean
Researchers extracted ancient DNA from Caribbean parrots, comparing it with modern bird genetics and revealing that two supposedly island-specific species had a more extensive range. This evidence illuminates the massive endangerment of parrots, showing that human interaction, including trading and relocation over thousands of years, has obscured understanding of their natural habitats and historical distributions.…
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Archaeologists identify runesmith who carved the Jelling Stone runes | HeritageDaily
Archaeologists using 3D scans have identified who carved the Jelling Stone runes, located in the town of Jelling, Denmark. The first of the two Jelling stones was erected by King Gorm the Old in honour of his wife Thyra. Following this, a second stone was raised by King Gorm’s son, Harald Bluetooth, to commemorate his…