Tag Archive for 'Pleistocene'

Homotherium serum. Image credit: Sergiodlarosa / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Fossil Expands Geographic Footprint of Scimitar-Toothed Cat Homotherium

Jun 4, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists from the University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere have discovered a fragmentary jaw of the scimitar-toothed cat Homotherium on McFaddin...

The illustration portrays a reconstruction of Genyornis newtoni at the water’s edge in a wetland or swamp-like environment. The scene itself was inspired by locations that exist in southern South Australia today, such as Ngarrindjeri country in and around the Coorong and lower Murray River. However, back when Genyornis newtoni was kicking about, this type of environment would have been more widespread across the country. Many Genyornis fossils are recovered from Lake Callabonna which is more than a day’s drive north of there and is a dry salt lake nowadays. Back in the day this would have been much wetter place. Image credit: Jacob C. Blokland.

Well-Preserved Skull Fossil of Extinct Giant Bird Found in Australia

Jun 3, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists in Australia have unearthed the fossilized skull of Genyornis newtoni, a species of giant flightless ‘mihirung’ that became extinct...

Simosthenurus occidentalis. Image credit: Nellie Pease / ARC CoE CABAH / CC BY-SA 4.0 Deed.

Extraordinary Fossil of Giant Short-Faced Kangaroo Found in Australia

May 29, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the Museums Victoria Research Institute and elsewhere have unearthed a nearly 50,000-year-old skeleton of Simosthenurus occidentalis...

North American porcupines differ from the southern relatives in having more fur, a shorter tail and a bulkier frame.

Extinct North American Porcupine Had Long, Prehensile Tail

May 28, 2024 by News Staff

New World porcupines originated in South America and dispersed into North America between 4 and 3 million years ago. Prehensile-tailed porcupines today...

The site of Taguatagua 3 in Chile: (A) combustion feature spatially associated with gomphothere cervical vertebrae and skull fragments; (B) sacral and caudal vertebrae, vertebral discs, and unfused coxal portions; note the distance between the first sacral vertebra and its vertebral disc; (C) end scraper in situ; (D) core debitage in situ spatially associated with gomphothere remains. Image credit: Labarca et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302465.

12,500-Year-Old Settlement Discovered in Chile

May 22, 2024 by News Staff

Around 12,440-12,550 years ago, hunter-gatherers returned regularly to Tagua Tagua Lake in Chile to hunt ancient elephant relatives called gomphotheres...

Using the latest archaeological data, hindcasted climate projections, and age-structured demographic models, Bradshaw et al. demonstrate evidence for early arrival (14,257 to 13,182 years ago) to Cyprus and predicted that large groups of people (1,000 to 1,375) arrived in 2 to 3 main events occurring within less than 100 years to ensure low extinction risk. Image credit: Bradshaw et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2318293121.

Hunter-Gatherers Settled in Cyprus Thousands of Years Earlier than Previously Thought

May 20, 2024 by News Staff

Because of persisting narratives of isolation, inaccessibility, and unattractiveness, the initial peopling of one of the eastern Mediterranean islands...

Hanon et al. paint a vivid picture of a landscape dominated by expansive grasslands, hinting at the complex interplay of life that thrived in this region during the Plio-Pleistocene era. Image credit: Wits University.

Paleontologists Find New Fossil Bovids at Cradle of Humankind Site

May 13, 2024 by News Staff

Kromdraai is a Plio-Pleistocene site located in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. It has produced diverse and abundant faunal assemblages and key...

Arabica Coffee Originated More Than 600,000 Years Ago in Ethiopia: Study

Apr 16, 2024 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has generated the highest quality reference genome to date of the world’s most popular coffee species, Arabica coffee...

An artist’s impression of the newly-described fossil species Protemnodon viator and its relative Protemnodon anak, compared at scale to the living red kangaroo and eastern gray kangaroo. Image credit: T. Klarenbeek, Flinders University.

Three New Species of Fossil Kangaroos Discovered in Australia and New Guinea

Apr 15, 2024 by News Staff

The three new species belong to the extinct kangaroo genus Protemnodon, which were common members of Cenozoic communities across Australia and New Guinea...

The wooden spears from the Schöningen site, Germany. Image credit: Minkusimages / Matthias Vogel, NLD.

Study: Woodworking Played Important Role in Human Evolution

Apr 8, 2024 by News Staff

Wooden tools rarely survive in the Paleolithic record limiting our understanding of Pleistocene hunter-gather lifeways. With 187 wooden artifacts, the...

Myrmarachne colombiana. Image credit: George Poinar Jr. / Oregon State University.

New Species of Ant-Mimic Spider Found Preserved in Colombian Copal

Apr 1, 2024 by News Staff

Myrmarachne colombiana is the first species of ant-mimicking spider ever found in copal (fossilized resin) from Colombia. Myrmarachne colombiana. Image...

Life reconstruction of Peltocephalus maturin. Image credit: Júlia d‘Oliveira.

Fossil of Giant Freshwater Turtle Discovered in Brazilian Amazon

Mar 14, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Peltocephalus maturin possibly reached about 1.8 m (5.9 feet) in carapace length and is among the largest freshwater turtles ever found. This finding presents...

This image from Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera shows the globe of Mars set against a dark background. The disk of the planet features yellow, orange, blue and green patches, all with an overall muted grey hue, representing the varying composition of the surface. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / G. Michael / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Mars Drives Deep-Ocean Circulation in Earth’s Oceans, Study Suggests

Mar 13, 2024 by News Staff

Geoscientists from Australia and France have used the geological record of Earth’s deep oceans to discover a connection between the orbits of our home...

The portrait of Homo longi. Image credit: Cicero Moraes, doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24648591.

Face of Homo longi Reconstructed

Jan 15, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

A Brazilian anthropologist has reconstructed the face of the archaic human species Homo longi from a well-preserved skull discovered in northeastern China...

An artist’s impression of a group of Gigantopithecus blacki within a forest in southern China. Image credit: Garcia / Joannes-Boyau, Southern Cross University.

Gigantopithecus Went Extinct between 295,000 and 215,000 Years Ago, New Study Says

Jan 10, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest ever primate and one of the largest species of the southeast Asian megafauna, persisted in China from about 2 million...

Map of Sahul showing the extent of the now-submerged continental shelf (dark gray), with the area of the Northwest Shelf demarcated by a dashed black box, and the present-day distribution of the Köppen climate groups (seasonal precipitation and temperature) showing the extent of modern-day Australia and New Guinea. The tropical distribution of Late Pleistocene sites containing early axe technology are shown as black circles, sites without early axe technology as gray circles, and sites demonstrating Late Pleistocene occupation of the now submerged continental shelves as white circles. Image credit: Peter Hiscock / Norman et al., doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108418.

Up To Half Million People Once Lived on Now-Submerged Northwest Shelf of Sahul

Dec 20, 2023 by News Staff

The new-submerged Northwest Shelf of Sahul — the combined landmass of Australia and New Guinea at times of lower sea level — was a vast area...

Human colonization and associated bird extinctions: human expansion across the planet is classified into four major waves; major human dispersal routes are indicated with arrows, and silhouettes show example fossil (pre-Holocene - 1500 CE) and observed (1500 CE - present) bird extinctions. Image credit: Cooke et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43445-2.

Humans May Have Led to Extinction of At Least 1,300 Bird Species since Pleistocene: Study

Dec 20, 2023 by News Staff

Birds are among the best-studied animal groups, but their prehistoric diversity is poorly known due to low fossilization potential. Hence, while many human-driven...

Reconstructed life appearance of the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus in (top) side and (bottom) frontal view, based on remains uncovered from the Neumark-Nord 1 site in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Image credit: Hsu Shu-yu.

Straight-Tusked Elephant Exploitation Was Widespread among Neanderthals, Archaeologists Say

Dec 7, 2023 by News Staff

Archaeologists from MONREPOS, the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and Leiden University have recently learned that around 125,000 years ago, hunting...

Diprotodon skeleton in WA Museum Boola Bardip. Image credit: WA Museum Boola Bardip.

Several Diprotodon Skeletons Discovered in Australia

Dec 5, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have discovered several rare and nearly complete skeletons of diprotodons — the largest-known marsupials to have ever lived —...

Castor sp. from the Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America by John Woodhouse Audubon.

Hominins Hunted Beavers At Least 400,000 Years Ago, Ancient Bones Reveal

Nov 29, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie and Leiden University say they have found cut marks...

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