News

Paleo-mathematicians are theorizing a significantly earlier dawn of man, as well as a dinosaur day for the dawn of primates. I don't understand any of the math, but it'd be interesting to see if we find more supporting evidence over the years.

Wilkinson, R.D., M.E. Steiper, C. Soligo, R.D. Martin, Z. Yang, & S. Tavaré. (2010). Dating primate divergences through an integrated analysis of paleontological and molecular data.

That famous giant invertebrate predator of the Cambrian was more of a shrimp than we previously thought, according to a recent study by paleontologist Whitey Hagadorn. It was apparently incapable of biting the trilobites it is rumored to have preyed upon.

Discovery News - Monster shrimp may have been an old softie (press release)

A complete skeleton of a basal sauropod has been discovered! The description is on its way shortly, but everyone's so excited about it that they've released the name early.

Red Orbit - First complete early sauropod dinosaur remains found (press release)

Surprising fossils have been discovered in Asia-- fossils of well-established communities with apparent religious monuments, which simply don't make sense chronologically, based on what we've concluded up to this point about the origin of anthropoids. Civilization just wasn't supposed to be so complicated in Asia so early in time. Your history books have kept quiet about this, since there was previously no explanation.

This late theory by Paleontologist Christopher Beard says that anthropoids moved out of Asia and into Africa, which at that time was particularly unprepared to deal with...

A new scincomorph lizard has been discovered in Alberta. A complete skull was found.

This remind anyone else of the creature stage in Spore?:
"We were down there ... and something shiny kind of gleamed in the sun.... I knew it was some sort of fossil. I gave it over to Federico and he jumped up and down with joy," said Graber. "He knew it was a skull. I had no idea – I just saw a shiny thing in the field."

Daily Herald-Tribune - New species named:...

The earliest known evidence of a modern tropical rainforest has been discovered in India. Thanks to 150 kg of amber, scientists have also discovered 700 new fossil species that lived around 50 Ma.

BBC - Ancient bugs found in 50-million-year-old Indian amber (press release with photos)

Recently analyzed facial fossils indicate hybridization between neanderthals and ancient Chinese humans.

MSNBC - Early humans mated with Neanderthals (press release)

If you're into electronic dance music and evolution, Ralf Richardt Strobech has written an opera about the works of Charles Darwin using a new age electronic style of music. ABC Radio National Music interviews Strobech about the opera:

ABC - A new species of opera (interview - RealPlayer or Windows Media Player only, duration about 15 minutes)

It's not often we see soft-bodied fossils this old: A Lower Cambrian sea anemone has been discovered in China that likely engaged in sex, but if it needed, it could just do some spontaneous segmentation and fission and start its life over as two of itself.

Han, J., S. Kubota, H. Uchida, G.D. Stanley Jr., X. Yao, D. Shu, Y. Li, & K Yasui. (2010). Tiny sea anemone from the Lower Cambrian of China. PLoS ONE. 5:(10). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013276

Spondarthritis is a form of arthritis that can develop as a result of a chemical imbalance in the bloodstream, causing sharp pains to occur in the joints. A recent study shows that a basal form of Cynognathus, developed spondarthritis in its vertebral column, which may have been an indirect factor leading to a premature death. This is the oldest-known evidence of spondarthritis; previously a Jurassic Camarasaurus was the recordholder for the earliest known victim of spondarthritis.

Cisneros, J.C., U.G. Cabral, F. de Beer, R. Damiani, & D.C. Fortier. (2010). Spondarthritis...

Kristi Curry Rogers has discovered a new sauropod on Madagascar. Minnesota Public Radio interviews her about it.

Minnesota Public Radio - Dinosaur discoveries: new research on Earth's oldest reptiles (press release)

Although recent opinions state Quetzalcoatlus northropi may have been too bulky to take off, calculations show that if it could get off the ground, it may have been capable of flying 10,000 miles in a single nonstop flight. If this was indeed the case, it's possible that fossils scattered across various continents could be more closely related than thought.

PhysOrg - 10,000 miles: New study proposes giant pterosaurs were record long-distance fliers (press release)

Yes, Horner was involved. And I know what you're gonna say-- you're gonna say it was a battle scar. PLEASE read the article before you say that, as they did investigate that. If you're going to say it's a battle scar, provide some sort of backup with your remark.

Longrich, N.R., J.R. Horner, G.M. Erickson, & P.J. Currie. (2010). Cannibalism in Tyrannosaurus rex. PLoS ONE. 5(10). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013419.

Novinite - Bulgaria seeks foreign paleontologists over new fossils (press release, photo)

ScienceDaily - World's oldest fig wasp fossil proves that if it works, don't change it (press release)

RedOrbit - Atapuerca cave dwellers took care of the elderly (press release)

New Kerala - Fossil of new dinosaur species found in China (press release)

RedOrbit - Fossil find suggests cat-sized dinosaur ancestors (press release)

EurekAlert! - New fossil suggests dinosaurs not so fierce after all (press release)

Guardian - Fossil virus leaves evolutionary footprints in songbird DNA (blog)