Latest science news in Paleontology & Archaeology
Discovery of oldest bow and arrow technology in Eurasia
The origins of human innovation have traditionally been sought in the grasslands and coasts of Africa or the temperate environments of Europe. More extreme environments, such as the tropical rainforests...
Clues to the earliest known bow-and-arrow hunting outside Africa have been found
People hunted with bows and arrows in a rainforest on a South Asian island starting around 48,000 years ago, a new study suggests. Small bone artifacts with sharpened tips unearthed in a...
Watch: Man slices 65 kiwis in one minute for Guinness World Record
An Idaho man who was eliminated from "America's Got Talent" bounced back by breaking a Guinness World Record for slicing kiwis with a sword while standing on a balance board.
Reindeer were domesticated much earlier than previously thought, new study suggests
A University of Alberta anthropologist has found what might be the earliest evidence for domestication of reindeer in the Eurasian Arctic.
Cave divers search depths for the bones of the Ice Age
For thousands of years, the massive pelvis lay undisturbed at the bottom of the watery black pit. Approximately four feet across and weighing an estimated 80 pounds, it had once...
Unexpected mammal provides insight into the lives of ancient hominins
For decades, anthropologists have attempted to solve the mystery of what hominins—early ancestors of humans—ate to survive. The answer to this question can be found etched into the bones and...
L.A. County says museums can reopen. Museums say: Mmm, not so fast
Los Angeles County says they can reopen as soon as Friday, but museums tell The Times they need weeks, maybe months, before they'll be ready.
Potential beginning of life simulated in lab
Did life originate underground? Scientists at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) have substantiated their theory that life could have begun deep in the Earth's crust. In their experiments, structures that...
Fossil footprints show some crocodile ancestors walked on two legs
Fossil tracks preserved in a South Korean rock formation are the first footprint evidence that some ancient ancestors of modern crocodiles walked on two legs. The size and spacing of the 106-million-year-old tracks...
Did a shark clash with large squid and live to tell the tale?
Underwater photographer Deron Verbeck was diving off the coast of Kona, Hawaii when he spotted an oceanic whitetip shark with strange scarring across its head and back. He snapped a...
On This Day, June 12: Baseball Hall of Fame dedicated in Cooperstown, N.Y.
On June 12, 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated at Cooperstown, N.Y.
Ancient crocodiles walked on two legs like dinosaurs
An international research team has been stunned to discover that some species of ancient crocodiles walked on their two hind legs like dinosaurs and measured over three metres in length....
U.N.: At least eight mass graves discovered in Libya
The United Nations mission in Libya said Thursday that at least eight mass graves were discovered in the recently liberated town of Tarhuna.
Island 'drowning' is not inevitable as sea levels rise
An international study suggests islands composed of gravel material can evolve in the face of overtopping waves, with sediment from the beach face being transferred to the island's surface.
Researchers in Chile unearth 74 million year old mammal teeth
Chilean and Argentine researchers have unearthed teeth in far-flung Patagonia belonging to a mammal that lived 74 million years ago, the oldest such remains yet discovered in the South American...
A new character for Pokemon? Novel endemic dogfish shark species discovered from Japan
Newly discovered creatures can often be as impressive and exciting as the ones from the Japanese movies and shows. Many of those fictional characters, including inhabitants of the famous Pokémon...
Tropical disease in medieval Europe revises the history of a pathogen related to syphilis
Mass burials are common remnants of the many plague outbreaks that ravaged Medieval Europe. A number of these graveyards are well documented in historical sources, but the locations of most,...
Harry Styles reschedules North American leg of 'Love' tour
Harry Styles announced new 2021 dates for his "Love" tour after postponing the North American shows due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ancient origin for key hormone system: Sea cucumbers
A key set of proteins that help regulate hormones necessary for many essential functions in humans and other vertebrates have ancient origins in much simpler creatures such as sea cucumbers,...
Tropical disease in medieval Europe revises the history of a pathogen related to syphilis
Plague was commonplace in medieval times, so finding its victims in a 15th century Lithuanian graveyard was no surprise. However, discovering one woman with a second disease, yaws -- a...
Fossil tracks left by an ancient crocodile that 'ran like an ostrich'
Scientists are stunned to find that some ancient crocodiles may have moved around on two feet.
Ancient footprints in South Korea made by crocodiles that walked on two legs
Crocodiles once walked on two legs, just like dinosaurs, according to new analysis of a unique collection of footprints discovered in South Korea. Scientists dated the footprints to between 110...
Globalization really started 1,000 years ago
Viking ships touched down on the Canadian island of Newfoundland around the year 1000, at what is now the archaeological site known as L'Anse aux Meadows.
Fossil Footprints Help Uncover the Mysteries of Bipedal Crocodiles
Ancient tracks reveal a previously unknown creature from the Age of Dinosaurs—answering one question but raising more -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Oldest relative of ragworms and earthworms discovered
Scientists have discovered the oldest fossil that can be assigned to the living annelid worms, the group of animals that contains earthworms, leeches and many different forms in the ocean...
Ancient crocodiles walked on two legs like dinosaurs
An international research team has been stunned to discover that some species of ancient crocodiles walked on their two hind legs like dinosaurs and measured over three meters in length.
Kissing bugs also find suitable climatic conditions in Europe
An infection with Chagas disease is only possible in Latin America since the insect species that spread the disease only occur there. Scientists have now used ecological niche models to...
New insights into epigenetic modifications
Scientists at EMBL Rome unveil the mechanism behind the most studied epigenetic modification.