Category: Palaeontology
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More than a meteorite: New clues about the demise of dinosaurs
What wiped out the dinosaurs? A meteorite plummeting to Earth is only part of the story, a new study suggests. Climate change triggered by massive volcanic eruptions may have ultimately set the stage for the dinosaur extinction, challenging the traditional narrative that a meteorite alone delivered the final blow to the ancient giants. That’s according…
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Decoupling speciation and extinction reveals both abiotic and biotic drivers shaped 250 million years of diversity in crocodile-line archosaurs
Allan, R. P. Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis: Working Group I Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (WMO, IPCC Secretariat, 2021). Burke, K. D. et al. Pliocene and Eocene provide best analogs for near-future climates. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 115, 13288–13293 (2018). Article CAS PubMed …
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Earliest known fossil mosquito is a blood-sucking surprise
For as long as there have been humans, there have been female mosquitoes buzzing around in the hope of a blood meal. Now, the earliest known fossil mosquito reveals that some 130 million years ago, male… Continue Reading News Source: www.nature.com
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A Middle Pleistocene Mystery Solved
The skull of Hippopotamus amphibius of Cava Montanari. Cranium in dorsal (A), ventral (B), right lateral (C), left lateral (D) and posterior (E) views. Mandible in occlusal (F) right lateral (G) and left lateral (H) views. Scale bar 10 cm. Credit: Mecozzi et al., 2023, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 New analysis settles long-standing confusion about…
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Aging societies more vulnerable to collapse
Societies and political structures, like the humans they serve, appear to become more fragile as they age, according to an analysis of hundreds of pre-modern societies. A new study, which holds implications for the modern world, provides the first quantitative support for the theory that the resilience of political states decreases over time. Triggers of…
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‘Bone biographies’ reveal lives of medieval England’s common people — and illuminate early benefits system
A series of ‘bone biographies’ created by a major research project tell the stories of medieval Cambridge residents as recorded on their skeletons, illuminating everyday lives during the era of Black Death and its aftermath. The work is published alongside a new study investigating medieval poverty by examining remains from the cemetery of a former…
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Common origin of sterol biosynthesis points to a feeding strategy shift in Neoproterozoic animals
Brocks, J. J. Millimeter-scale concentration gradients of hydrocarbons in Archean shales: Live-oil escape or fingerprint of contamination? Geochim. et. Cosmochim. Acta 75, 3196–3213 (2011). Article ADS CAS Google Scholar Gold, D. A., O’Reilly, S. S., Luo, G., Briggs, D. E. & Summons, R. E. Prospects for sterane preservation in sponge fossils from museum collections and…
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A fungal plant pathogen discovered in the Devonian Rhynie Chert
Edwards, D., Kenrick, P. & Dolan, L. 2018. History and contemporary significance of the Rhynie cherts – our earliest preserved terrestrial ecosystem. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 373, 20160489 (2018). Article Google Scholar Strullu-Derrien, C., Kenrick, P. & Knoll, A. H. The Rhynie chert. Curr. Biol. 29, R1211–R1223 (2019). Article Google Scholar Hetherington, A. J.…
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A mixed origin made maize successful
Maize is one of the world’s most widely grown crops. It is used for both human and animal foods and holds great cultural significance, especially for indigenous peoples in the Americas. Yet despite its importance, the origins of the grain have been hotly debated for more than a century. Now new research, published Dec. 1…
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Antarctica’s ancient ice sheets foreshadow dynamic changes in Earth’s future
Nineteen million years ago, during a time known as the early Miocene, massive ice sheets in Antarctica rapidly and repeatedly grew and receded. The Miocene is widely considered a potential analog for Earth’s climate in the coming century, should humanity remain on its current carbon emissions trajectory. Identifying how and why Antarctica’s major ice sheets…