Odd Creatures: Fossils & Ruins

January 17, 2016

Pathogens Found in Ice Man's Stomach

Mysterious Species of Pre-Modern Human

Fossil Provides Oldest Evidence of Brood Care

Face Mites Evolved Alongside Humans

Latest Headlines

updated 4:11am EST

Ancient Burial Rituals Prove You Can Take It With You ... and What You Take Says a Lot

Jan. 11, 2016 — Research on ancient burial tombs unlocks the mysteries of pre-Roman social status and cultural change, including ... read more

Roman Toilets Gave No Clear Health Benefit, and Romanization Actually Spread Parasites

Jan. 8, 2016 — Intestinal parasites such as whipworm became increasingly common across Europe during the Roman Period, despite the apparent ... read more

Ancient Egyptians Described Algol's Eclipses

Dec. 17, 2015 — The Ancient Egyptian papyrus Cairo 86637 calendar is the oldest preserved historical document of naked eye observations of a variable star, the eclipsing binary Algol -- a ... read more

Chitchat, Small Talk Could Serve an Evolutionary Need to Bond With Others

Dec. 14, 2015 — Idle conversation could be a social-bonding tool passed down from primates, suggests new research. The investigators found that lemurs use vocalizations far more selectively ... read more

Scientists Discover 'White Whale' Fossil

Dec. 9, 2015 — A 15-million-year-old fossil sperm whale specimen from California belongs to a new genus, according to a ... read more

Unique Mosasaur Fossil Discovered in Japan

Dec. 8, 2015 — The discovery also reveals the unique binocular vision of the first ancient marine reptile of its kind to be found ... read more

Eat a Paleo Peach: First Fossil Peaches Discovered in Southwest China

Dec. 1, 2015 — The sweet, juicy peaches we love today might have been a popular snack long before modern humans arrived on ... read more

Theory of 'Smart' Plants May Explain the Evolution of Global Ecosystems

Dec. 1, 2015 — In a new global theory of land-biome evolution, researchers suggest that plants are not passive features of their environments, but may instead actively behave in ways that ... read more

Fossil Dinosaur Tracks Give Insight Into Lives of Prehistoric Giants

Dec. 1, 2015 — A newly discovered collection of rare dinosaur tracks is helping scientists shed light on some of the biggest animals ever to live ... read more

Rare Fossil of a Horned Dinosaur Found from 'Lost Continent'

Nov. 30, 2015 — A rare fossil from eastern North America of a dog-sized horned dinosaur has been identified by a scientist. The fossil provides evidence of an east-west divide in North ... read more

'Hellboy ' Dinosaur Revealed

Evolution Opponent Discovers Prehistoric Fossils

Well, That Earthquake Nostradamus Predicted Didn't Happen

Giant Triassic Salamander Acted More Like A Crocodile

How Anti-Evolution Bills Evolve

Dec. 17, 2015 — An evolutionary biologist has analyzed political opposition to evolution and found it has evolved. The researcher analyzed the text in anti-evolution legislation using software for building genetic ... read more

Betrayals of Trust: Human Nature's Dark Side May Have Helped Us Spread Across the World

Nov. 24, 2015 — New research suggests that betrayals of trust were the missing link in understanding the rapid spread of our own species around the world. Moral disputes motivated by broken trust and a sense of ... read more

Loss of Mastodons Aided Domestication of Pumpkins, Squash

Nov. 23, 2015 — If Pleistocene megafauna -- mastodons, mammoths, giant sloths and others -- had not become extinct, humans might not be eating pumpkin pie and squash for the holidays, according to an international ... read more

Ancient Viral Molecules Essential for Human Development

Nov. 23, 2015 — Genetic material from ancient viral infections is critical to human development, according to ... read more

Fossil Fireworm Species Named After Rock Musician

Nov. 19, 2015 — A muscly fossil fireworm has been named Rollinschaeta myoplena in honor of punk musician and spoken word artist, Henry Rollins. The fossil worm is a polychaete annelid, a marine relative of ... read more

Our Closest Wormy Cousins: About 70% of Our Genes Trace Their Ancestry Back to the Acorn Worm

Nov. 18, 2015 — Scientists have analyzed the genomes of two acorn worm species and found that approximately two-thirds of human genes have counterparts in the ancestors of these marine animals. These ancient genes, ... read more

Methane Feeds Subsea Ice Mounds Off Siberia

Nov. 17, 2015 — Pingos are spectacular landforms associated with permafrost in the Arctic. They are circular or elliptical formations protruding from the level ground of the tundra, and can be up to 60 meters high. ... read more

Twenty-Two Ancient Shipwrecks Discovered in Small Greek Archipelago

Nov. 10, 2015 — An archaeological expedition has recorded 22 shipwrecks over 13 days in what may be the ancient shipwreck capital of the ... read more

Rat Fossils of Largest Rat That Ever Existed

Nov. 6, 2015 — Archaeologists have discovered fossils of seven giant rat species on East Timor, with the largest up to 10 times the size of modern rats. The work is part of the From Sunda to Sahul project which is ... read more

New Primate Species at Root of Tree of Extant Hominoids

Oct. 29, 2015 — Researchers have described the new genus and species, Pliobates cataloniae, based on a skeleton recovered from the landfill of Can Mata (Catalonia, NE Spain). The fossil remains belong to an adult ... read more

It's a Tyrannosaur-Eat-Tyrannosaur World

Oct. 29, 2015 — A nasty little 66-million-year-old family secret has been leaked by a recently unearthed tyrannosaur bone. The bone has peculiar teeth marks that strongly suggest it was gnawed by another ... read more

Unique Feeding Mechanism Among Marine Reptiles from the Age of Dinosaurs

Oct. 29, 2015 — Among the many groups of marine reptiles from the Age of Dinosaurs, elasmosaurs are famous for their necks, which can have up to 76 vertebrae and make up more than half the total length of the ... read more

300 Million-Year-Old 'Supershark' Fossils Found in Texas

Oct. 29, 2015 — Even before the age of dinosaurs, big toothy predators were roaming Texas. 300 million years ago, during a time called the Carboniferous, the area surrounding what is now Dallas, Texas was flooded by ... read more

Dinosaurs Used Nasal Passages to Keep Brains Cool

Oct. 29, 2015 — Dinosaur nasal passages were certainly nothing to sneeze at. Possessing among the largest and most complex nasal passages seen in animals, their function has puzzled paleontologists. New research ... read more

Declines in Whales, Fish, Seabirds and Large Animals Disrupt Earth's Nutrient Cycle

Oct. 26, 2015 — In the past, whales, giant land mammals, and other animals played a vital role in keeping the planet fertile by transporting nutrients via their feces. However, massive declines and extinctions of ... read more

Large, Violent Animal Packs Shaped the Ecosystems of the Pleistocene Epoch

Oct. 26, 2015 — Intense, violent attacks by large packs of some of the world's biggest carnivores -- including extinct lions much larger than those of today, and sabertooth cats -- limited the population sizes ... read more

Capacity to Regenerate Body Parts May Be the Primitive State for All Four-Legged Vertebrates

Oct. 26, 2015 — A team of paleontologists shows in a new study of fossil amphibians that the extraordinary regenerative capacities of modern salamanders are likely an ancient feature of four-legged vertebrates that ... read more

Traces of Enormous Solar Storms in the Ice of Greenland and Antarctica

Oct. 26, 2015 — Solar storms and the particles they release result in spectacular phenomena such as auroras, but they can also pose a serious risk to our society. In extreme cases they have caused major power ... read more

Earth’s First Bacteria Made Their Own Sunscreen

Oct. 26, 2015 — Earth in the days when life was just beginning had no protective ozone layer, so light-dependent, iron-oxidizing bacteria formed iron minerals around themselves to protect them from damaging ... read more

76-Million-Year-Old Extinct Species of Pig-Snouted Turtle Unearthed in Utah

Oct. 21, 2015 — In the 250-million-year evolutionary history of turtles, scientists have seen nothing like the pig nose of a new species of extinct turtle discovered in Grand Staircase-Escalante National ... read more

Thursday, December 17, 2015