Latest science news in Paleontology & Archaeology
Watch: Antique ambulance's 3,200-mile trip breaks world record
The oldest licensed ambulance in the United States earned a Guinness World Record when two men drove it more than 3,200 miles from Hollywood, Calif., to Hollywood, Fla.
Rare mammoth tusk found on West Texas ranch
Researchers have excavated a rare mammoth tusk discovered by a hunter on a West Texas ranch.
Jewish ritual bath discovered near Rome is the 'oldest discovery of its kind in the world'
A Jewish ritual bath known as a mikvah discovered in Ostia Antica is more than 1,500 years old.
Dinosaur footprints unknowingly displayed in a high school for 20 years
A large boulder used as decoration in a rural Australian high school’s foyer is actually covered in dinosaur footprints—it just took around 20 years for anyone to notice. After examining the ancient rock,...
Ancient DNA reveals Maghreb communities preserved their culture and genes, even in a time of human migration
The Neolithic period began in southwest Asia around 12,000 years ago. It marked a major shift in human history as societies transitioned from hunting and gathering to farming. This sparked...
Terrestrial 'life oasis' from end-Permian mass extinction period discovered in China
A new study reveals that a region in China's Turpan-Hami Basin served as a refugium, or "life oasis," for terrestrial plants during the end-Permian mass extinction, the most severe biological...
The remote locale that shielded plants during Earth’s biggest mass extinction
During a cataclysmic mass extinction event, there are typically not many places to hide. However, a region of the mountainous Turpan-Hami Basin in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in Western China may have been...
Archaeologists uncover the oldest known partial face fossil of a human ancestor in western Europe
A fossil of a partial face from a human ancestor is the oldest in western Europe, archaeologists reported Wednesday.
1.4 million-year-old skull found in Spain is 'earliest human face of Western Europe'
Fragments of the left side of the skull of a human relative have been discovered in Spain, revealing the face of the oldest human ancestor ever discovered in Western Europe.
New survey explores what people in South Africa expect of publicly visible scientists
Whether it's an astronomical discovery, news of a previously undiscovered disease or a major report about climate change, science is often making headlines.
Fossil face found in Spanish cave belongs to first known Western European
On his first day digging in a Spanish cave in 2022, archaeology graduate student Edgar Téllez found something spectacular: a mud-covered facial bone with tooth roots intact. His colleague, archaeologist Rosa Huguet, took...
Farming wasn’t a wholesale success when it arrived in North Africa
About 12,000 years ago, people in a dusty corner of Anatolia started the agricultural revolution. Their descendants soon spread west across Europe, bringing with them herds of animals, domesticated crops, and pottery—a shift...
Western Europe’s oldest face adds new wrinkles to human evolution
Face bones unearthed in a cave suggest that members of our genus, Homo, reached northern Spain as early as 1.4 million years ago.
1.4-million-year-old bones deepen mystery of who reached Europe first
The partial jawbone from a human ancestor nicknamed “Pink” is helping rewrite the history of hominin migration into Western Europe. Researchers believe that Pink represents the oldest archaic fossils ever found in this...
Kultarrs are tiny, cryptic creatures that only come out at night—scientists are finally learning how they live
In Australia's arid and semi-arid zones lives a highly elusive predator. It's small but fierce and feisty, with big eyes, long hind legs and a pointy nose. A carnivorous marsupial,...
190 freed from attacked Pakistan train, roughly 130 still held hostage
Pakistan freed 190 hijacked train passengers held hostage Wednesday as the battle to free remaining hostages held by the militant group Baloch Liberation Army continued.
340-million-year-old 'nail tooth' shark found deep inside Mammoth Cave in Kentucky
Scientists have found ancient nail tooth shark fossils deep inside Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, revealing new information about a mysterious group of extinct predators.
'Old stump' spotted by deer hunter is actually a mammoth tusk, Texas researchers say
Will Juett had doubts when a hunter told him they'd found something on the 02 Ranch even more rare than a trophy buck. An ancient fossil, the hunter said, a...
2,200-year-old grave in China contains 'Red Princess of the Silk Road' whose teeth were painted with a toxic substance
Archaeologists in China have discovered a unique burial of a woman whose teeth had been painted with cinnabar, with a toxic red substance that contains mercury.
North Korea says South’s bombing mishap could spark 'new armed conflict'
North Korea condemned an ongoing U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise Wednesday, saying another incident like Seoul's recent accidental bombing of its own village near the DMZ could lead to "a...
Unnoticed for decades, dinosaur footprints at Australian school reveal ancient secrets
A trove of fossilized dinosaur footprints has been found on a slab of rock gathering dust inside an Australian school, scientists said on Wednesday.
Four Dominican nationals sentenced for smuggling, drowning tropical birds
Four Dominican nationals have been sentenced for attempting to smuggle tropical birds from San Juan, Puerto Rico, into the Dominican Republic, and then drowning them to "cover up their crime."
Syria’s fragile transition hit by deadly sectarian violence
Syria's fragile transition from decades of Assad family brutal rule has been greatly shaken with an outburst of sectarian retribution and killings, posing a serious challenge to the new leadership...
More than 25% of UNESCO World Heritage Sites may hold unrecognized biocultural value
A new study published in Ecology and Society challenges the long-standing division between natural and cultural heritage within the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The research, titled "Bridging the nature-culture divide:...
This extinct tree-dwelling mammal may be among humans’ closer relatives
The planet’s earliest mammals are an important part of our evolutionary history, yet remain shrouded in mystery. One of them, Mixodectes pungens lived in western North America during the early Paleocene–about about 66...
Triassic Life: An overview of ancient amphibians, crocodile relatives, early dinosaurs and mammalian ancestors
The Triassic is one of the most important periods in the evolution of life on Earth. After one of the greatest mass extinctions 252 million years ago, not only the...
Why cockroaches are so resilient
Cockroaches have some of the worst PR in the animal kingdom. With a better agent, their story could be that of a hardy insect that has successfully thrived on every continent except...
A 62-million-year-old skeleton sheds light on an enigmatic mammal
For more than 140 years, Mixodectes pungens, a species of small mammal that inhabited western North America in the early Paleocene, was a mystery. What little was known about them...