Popular Science articles about Paleontology & Archaeology

New giant clam species offers window into human past

Researchers report the discovery of the first new living species of giant clam in two decades, according to a report to be published online on August 28th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. While fossil evidence reveals that the...

Ancient mother spawns new insight on reptile reproduction

A 75-million-year-old fossil of a pregnant turtle and a nest of fossilized eggs that were discovered in the badlands of southeastern Alberta by scientists and staff from the University of...

New evidence debunks 'stupid' Neanderthal myth

Research by UK and American scientists has struck another blow to the theory that Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) became extinct because they were less intelligent than our ancestors (Homo sapiens). The...

Tahitian vanilla originated in Maya forests, says UC Riverside botanist

The origin of the Tahitian vanilla orchid, whose cured fruit is the source of the rare and highly esteemed gourmet French Polynesian spice, has long eluded botanists. Known by the...

Dying frogs sign of a biodiversity crisis

Devastating declines of amphibian species around the world are a sign of a biodiversity disaster larger than just frogs, salamanders and their ilk, according to researchers from the University of...

Surviving the revolution, easier than withstanding human use and abuse

Inwood Hill Park survived the drastic modifications of Revolutionary War patriots, but preserving this last bastion of large-growth, mature trees in New York City is difficult with the proliferation of...

Rare Antarctic fossils reveal extinction of tundra before full polar climate arrived

(Boston) An international research team in Antarctica led by David Marchant, an associate professor of earth sciences at Boston University, has reported the discovery of exceptionally well-preserved freshwater fossils including...

Little teeth suggest big jump in primate timeline

Tiny fossilized teeth excavated from an Indian open-pit coal mine could be the oldest Asian remains ever found of anthropoids, the primate lineage of today's monkeys, apes and humans, say...

Stanford study uses genetic evidence to trace ancient African migration

Stanford University researchers peering at history's footprints on human DNA have found new evidence for how prehistoric people shared knowledge that advanced civilization.

Evolution of skull and mandible shape in cats

In a new study published in the online-open access journal PLoS ONE, Per Christiansen at the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, reports the finding that the evolution of skull and...

New research challenges notion that dinosaur soft tissues still survive

Paleontologists in 2005 hailed research that apparently showed that soft, pliable tissues had been recovered from dissolved dinosaur bones, a major finding that would substantially widen the known range of...

'Pristine' Amazonian region hosted large, urban civilization, study finds

They aren't the lost cities early explorers sought fruitlessly to discover.

Bone parts don't add up to conclusion of Palauan dwarfs

Misinterpreted fragments of leg bones, teeth and brow ridges found in Palau appear to be an archaeologist's undoing, according to researchers at three institutions. They say that the so-called dwarfs...

Heavy metal link to mutations, low growth and fertility among crustaceans in Sydney Harbor tributary

Heavy metal pollutants are linked to genetic mutations, stunted growth and declining fertility among small crustaceans in the Parramatta River, the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, new research shows.

Oetzi the Iceman dressed like a herdsman

A famous Neolithic Iceman is dressed in clothes made from sheep and cattle hair, a new study shows. The researchers say their findings support the idea that the Iceman was...

New report details historic mass extinction of amphibians

Amphibians, reigning survivors of past mass extinctions, are sending a clear, unequivocal signal that something is wrong, as their extinction rates rise to unprecedented levels, according to a paper published...

Hebrew U. archaeological excavations uncover Roman temple in Zippori (Sepphoris)

Ruins of a Roman temple from the second century CE have recently been unearthed in the Zippori National Park in Israel. Above the temple are foundations of a church from...

Duck-billed dinosaurs outgrew predators to survive

With long limbs and a soft body, the duck-billed hadrosaur had few defenses against predators such as tyrannosaurs. But new research on the bones of this plant-eating dinosaur suggests that...

Rock art marks transformations in traditional Peruvian societies

Most rock paintings and rock carvings or petroglyphs were created by ancient and prehistoric societies. Archaeologists have long used them to gain clues to the way of life of such...

Rosella research could rewrite 'ring theory'

Published today in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the research investigates the genetic and geographical relationships between different forms of crimson rosellas and the possible ways...

UF study: Isthmus of Panama formed as result of plate tectonics

Contrary to previous evidence, a new University of Florida study shows the Isthmus of Panama was most likely formed by a Central American Peninsula colliding slowly with the South American...

'Chicken and chips' theory of Pacific migration

A new study of DNA from ancient and modern chickens has shed light on the controversy about the extent of pre-historic Polynesian contact with the Americas.