Fossil and Archaeology News - May 2009 Archives
 | Reporting in PLoS ONE, a biological anthropologist from Appalachian State University working with an undergraduate student from Appalachian, an evolutionary biologist from UNC Greensboro, and a team of archaeologists from Deccan College (Pune, India) recently reported analysis of a 4000-year-old skeleton from India bearing evidence of leprosy. This skeleton represents both the earliest archaeological evidence for human infection with Mycobacterium leprae in the world and the first evidence for the disease in prehistoric India. ...> Full Article |
Scientists at the University of Manchester have developed a new way of dating archaeological objects -- using fire and water to unlock their "internal clocks."
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 | The analysis of a termite entombed for 100 million years in an ancient piece of amber has revealed the oldest example of "mutualism" ever discovered between an animal and microorganism, and also shows the unusual biology that helped make this one of the most successful, although frequently despised insect groups in the world. ...> Full Article |
The oldest submerged town in the world is about to give up its secrets -- with the help of equipment that could revolutionize underwater archeology.
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The discovery of a gruesome feeding frenzy that played out 73 million years ago in Northwestern Alberta may also lead to the discovery of new dinosaur species in Northwestern Alberta. University of Alberta student Tetsuto Miyashita and Frederico Fanti, a paleontology graduate student from Italy, made the discovery near Grande Prairie, 450 kilometers northwest of Edmonton.
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Homo floresiensis feet may help settle a hotly debated question among paleontologists: was this population similar to modern humans, or not? A new research analysis demonstrates that although "hobbits"were bipedal, several features of their feet (such as flat feet) were primitive but not pathological. Furthermore, their gait was not efficient, and the population probably found long term running difficult.
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Archaeologists held their breath more than a decade ago when the launch of eBay theoretically increased the market for looted archaeological treasures. In fact, writes the director of UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology in the latest issue of Archaeology magazine, eBay hasn't increased looting, as originally feared. By creating a market for increasingly sophisticated fakes, eBay has actually had a dampening effect on the market for looted antiquities, writes UCLA archaeology professor Charles Stanish.
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A North Carolina State University paleontologist has more evidence that soft tissues and original proteins can be preserved over time -- even in fossilized remains -- in the form of new protein sequence data from an 80-million-year-old hadrosaur, or duck-billed dinosaur.
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 | Tablets on loan from Iran are being photographed and recorded ...> Full Article |
 | Paleontologists have completed a rigorous study that has culminated in a new approach to reconciling the conflict between fossil and molecular data in evolutionary studies. ...> Full Article |
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Fish can recognize a face based on UV pattern alone
Ancient DNA from rare fossil reveals that polar bears evolved recently and adapted quickly
Scientists locate apparent hydrothermal vents off Antarctica
Mars Express heading for closest flyby of Phobos
Artificial bee silk a big step closer to reality
Predicting the fate of stem cells
Artificial foot recycles energy for easier walking
New fiber nanogenerators could lead to electric clothing
What drives our genes? Researchers map the first complete human epigenome
Juggling enhances connections in the brain
Tracking down the human 'odorprint'
Fill 'er up - with algae
Scientists discover quantum fingerprints of chaos
Researchers help identify cows that gain more while eating less
Dinosaurs might be older than previously thought
Recently analyzed fossil was not human ancestor as claimed, anthropologists say
'Anaconda' meets 'Jurassic Park': Study shows ancient snakes ate dinosaur babies
Tiny shelled creatures shed light on extinction and recovery 65 million years ago
New dinosaur rears its head
New dinosaur discovered head first, for a change
Archaeologist discovers Jerusalem city wall from tenth century B.C.E.
Pitt-led study debunks millennia-old claims of systematic infant sacrifice in ancient Carthage
What was that? Unraveling a 400-million-year-old mystery
Queen's helps produce archaeological 'time machine'
Scientists complete color palette of a dinosaur for the first time
Ancient remains put teeth into Barker hypothesis