Category: Palaeontology
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The Kangaroos That Didn’t Hop
Extinct kangaroos displayed more diverse locomotion patterns than their modern counterparts, including quadrupedal bounding, climbing, and slower hopping, according to a review by researchers from the University of Bristol and the University of Uppsala. The study suggests that the high-speed endurance hopping seen in modern kangaroos was likely rare or absent in their ancestors, with…
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Depiction of Viking ship found in Iceland | HeritageDaily
Archaeologists have found a depiction of a Viking ship that may be the earliest image discovered in Iceland. The discovery was made at the Stöð archaeological site near the village of Stöðvarfjörður, situated in the municipality of Fjarðabyggð on Iceland’s eastern coast. Previous excavations have found two Viking-age longhouses, the older of which dates from…
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Fossil evidence confirms that predators decapitated these long-necked reptiles
Newswise — In the age of dinosaurs, many marine reptiles had extremely long necks compared to reptiles today. While it was clearly a successful evolutionary strategy, paleontologists have long suspected that their long-necked bodies made them vulnerable to predators. Now, after almost 200 years of continued research, direct fossil evidence confirms this scenario for the…
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Ankylosaurs may have been far more diverse than originally thought — ScienceDaily
A new armoured dinosaur, known as an ankylosaur, has been described and named for Prof Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum. Vectipelta barretti was discovered in the Wessex formation on the Isle of Wight and represents the first armoured dinosaur from the dinosaur Isle to be described in 142 years. Lead author Stuart Pond…
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Silver phalera depicting Medusa among new finds at Roman Vindolanda | HeritageDaily
Volunteer archaeologists excavating at Roman Vindolanda have uncovered a silver phalera depicting Medusa during this seasons excavations. Vindolanda (translated as “white field” or “white moor”) was a Roman auxiliary fort, situated on the fringes of the Roman Empire near Hadrian’s Wall to guard a major highway called the Stanegate. No less than nine Roman forts…
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New fossils from Patagonia may rewrite the history of duck-billed dinosaurs
Fossils from the southern tip of Chile are adding a wrinkle to researchers’ understanding of how duck-billed dinosaurs conquered the Cretaceous world. Duck-billed dinos known as hadrosaurids were highly successful and lived on most continents by the end of the Cretaceous, about 66 million years ago. Now, a study shows that an older duck-billed lineage…
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Armored dinosaur found on the Isle of Wight
There are some places in the world that are just magnets for dinosaurs—Utah’s Cedar Mountain Formation, the fossil beds of Liaoning, China, Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park. In the UK, one such hot spot is the Isle of Wight, a 148 square mile island now known as a popular summer holiday spot. Nevertheless, the tiny island…
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Archaeologists discover “completely unique” Roman mosaics in London | HeritageDaily
A team of archaeologists, led by the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), on behalf of Landsec and Transport for London (TfL), have discovered Roman mosaics in London described by experts as “completely unique.” Archaeologists also unearthed the well-preserved remnants of a mausoleum, a grand tomb structure with intact walls, interior flooring, and a captivating mosaic…
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The British Citizen Award Releases June 2024 People’s Honours List | HeritageDaily
On Thursday 29th June at the Palace of Westminster, 26 individuals from around the UK will be awarded the prestigious British Citizen Award for their exceptional endeavours which have positively impacted communities up and down the country. The 26 making the June 2024 People’s Honours list have all been recognised for making a positive contribution…
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Using new dating technique, researchers determine that hundreds of human skulls and mandibles are not foreign enemies, as previous researchers hypothesized. — ScienceDaily
Hundreds of human skulls and mandibles recovered from the Crenshaw site in southwest Arkansas are the remains of ancestors of the Caddo Nation and not foreign enemies, according to a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Collaborating with the Caddo Nation in Oklahoma, researchers at the University of Arkansas and Arkansas Archeological…