Fossil and Archaeology News - April 2009 Archives

Google Earth aids discovery of early African mammal fossils (4/30/2009)

A limestone countertop, a practiced eye and Google Earth all played roles in the discovery of a trove of fossils that may shed light on the origins of African wildlife. ...> Full Article

Evidence of the 'Lost World' -- did dinosaurs survive the end Cretaceous extinctions? (4/29/2009)

The idea of isolated communities of dinosaurs surviving the catastrophic extinction event 65 million years ago has stimulated a great deal of literary and cinematic drama. Today the fiction seems just a little closer to reality. New scientific evidence suggests that dinosaurs may have survived in a remote area of what is now New Mexico and Colorado for up to half a million years. ...> Full Article

Fossil evidence of missing link in the origin of seals, sea lions, walruses found in Canadian Arctic (4/24/2009)

Researchers from the United States and Canada have found a fossil skeleton of a newly discovered carnivorous animal, Puijila darwini. New research suggests Puijila is a "missing link" in the evolution of the group that today includes seals, sea lions, and the walrus. The analysis of the skeleton and support for the hypotheses that pinniped origins can be found in the Arctic will be described in the April 23 issue of the journal Nature. ...> Full Article

Indus script encodes language, reveals new study of ancient symbols (4/24/2009)

Scholars have recently question whether ancient Indus inscriptions code for language. American and Indian scientists used statistics to show that the 4,500-year-old Indus symbols' pattern follows that of other spoken languages. ...> Full Article

Field Museum paleontologist leads study on two new dinosaurs from China (4/23/2009)

A team of researchers from China and the US have excavated a treasure trove of dinosaur skeletons from Early Cretaceous rocks in the southern part of the Gobi Desert. Two of their discoveries represent new species of theropod dinosaurs, and both are described on-line in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B this week. ...> Full Article

Archeologists discover temple that sheds light on so-called Dark Age (4/19/2009)

The discovery of a remarkably well-preserved monumental temple in Turkey -- thought to be constructed during the time of King Solomon in the 10th/9th-centuries B.C. -- sheds light on the so-called Dark Age. ...> Full Article

Fossils suggest earlier land-water transition of tetrapod (4/18/2009)

New evidence gleaned from CT scans of fossils locked inside rocks may flip the order in which two kinds of four-limbed animals with backbones were known to have moved from fish to landlubber. ...> Full Article

Prehistoric turtle goes to hospital for CT scan in search for skull, eggs, embryos (4/16/2009)

Montana State University researchers recently took a 75-million-year-old turtle for a CT scan to look for its skull, additional eggs and possible embryos. ...> Full Article

Digging up evidence of 400-year-old global trade and wealth (4/10/2009)

Largest 17th century bead repository found in coastal Georgia ...> Full Article

Researchers use CT to examine hidden face in Nefertiti bust (4/9/2009)

Using CT imaging to study a priceless bust of Nefertiti, researchers have uncovered a delicately carved face in the limestone inner core and gained new insights into methods used to create the ancient masterpiece and information pertinent to its conservation, according to a new study. ...> Full Article

Archaeological discovery in Jordan valley: Enormous 'foot-shaped' enclosures (4/8/2009)

'The 'foot' structures that we found in the Jordan valley are the first sites that the People of Israel built upon entering Canaan and they testify to the biblical concept of ownership of the land with the foot' ...> Full Article

Was a 'mistress of the lionesses' a king in ancient Canaan? (4/7/2009)

Tel Aviv University uncovers evidence that a woman led in the holy land. ...> Full Article