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This ancient fossil holds the oldest intact brain ever discovered, and it looks strikingly like that of a spider, © Credit: Nicholas Strausfeld Share this post A fossil found in southern China has revealed something scientists rarely get to see: the incredibly well-preserved brain and nervous system of a 520-million-year-old creature. It belonged to a now-extinct marine animal with big front claws and a body that shares surprising similarities with today’s spiders and scorpions. The fossil, part of the Alalcomenaeus genus, offers a detailed snapshot of early arthropod evolution. Researchers discovered that its nervous system, especially the brain and nerve...

A team of paleontologists from the United States, Canada and Argentina has analyzed the fossilized eggs of two different non-avian dinosaurs, Protoceratops and Mussaurus, and found that the eggs resembled those of turtles in their microstructure, composition, and mechanical properties. They've also found that hard-shelled eggs evolved at least three times independently in the dinosaur family tree. For many years there was scant fossil evidence of dinosaur eggs, and all known examples were characterized by thick, calcified shells -- leading paleontologists to speculate that all dinosaur eggs were hard-shelled, like those of modern crocodiles and birds. "The assumption has always...

It was in egg-cellent condition. Argentine paleontologists found a real diamond in the rough after happening across a perfectly preserved 70-million-year-old dinosaur egg during an excavation. “It was a complete and utter surprise,” Gonzalo Leonel Muñoz, a Vertebrate paleontologist at the Bernardo Rivadavia Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences, told National Geographic of the “spectacular” find. “‘It’s not uncommon to find dinosaur fossils, but the issue with eggs is that they are much less common.” The team of paleontologists was reportedly conducting an excavation campaign in the fossil-rich region of Río Negro, when they stumbled across the primeval embryo. While dinosaur...

Long before their teeth evolved to handle tough, fibrous plants, early humans were already digging up and eating grasses, sedges, and starchy underground foods.A new fossil-tooth isotope study shows this behavior began about 700,000 years before longer molars emerged -- revealing that behavioral innovation, not anatomy, drove the change...As early humans moved from the dense forests of Africa into open grasslands, they began relying on quick, reliable sources of energy. This shift in habitat led them to favor grassy plants, especially grains and the starchy tissues stored underground.A new study led by Dartmouth researchers reveals that hominins started eating these...

Leopard tooth marks were found on this Homo habilis jawbone. Image credit: Vegara-Riquelme et al., Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2025) Around 2 million years ago, prehistoric humans in East Africa turned the tables on the carnivores that had previously terrorized them, learning not only to fend off these predators but also steal their kills, thus replacing them at the very top of the food chain. Generally, the ancient species Homo habilis is credited with making this trophic leap, yet new research suggests that this extinct hominin was actually hunted by leopards and may therefore have been...

Discovered within the darkness of Petralona Cave, this remarkable skull - which belongs to an archaic species of human - is notable for the fact that it has a stalagmite growing directly through it. Initially found in 1960 and often referred to as "Petralona Man", this intriguing specimen has long left paleoanthropologist's scratching their heads. A recent study has concluded that it is neither Neanderthal nor human, leaving a question mark over exactly which species of archaic human ancestor it actually belonged to. The 'Petralona Man' skull. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 NadinaThe skull is also now believed to date...

A new study has provided the clearest picture yet of one of Europe’s most debated fossils — a nearly complete human skull discovered in Petralona Cave, northern Greece. The fossil, first unearthed in 1960, has long challenged scientists with questions about both its identity and its age. A skull unlike Neanderthals or modern humans The Petralona skull belongs to the Homo genus but stands apart from known groups. It shows marked differences from Neanderthals and modern humans, leaving researchers uncertain about where it fits in the evolutionary record. Its age has also been a source of dispute for decades, with...

...The following passage contains text from the book, published in 1910, Betrayed Armenia, by Armenian writer and diplomat Diana Agabeg Apgar: “The genealogy in Genesis runs thus : "The sons of Japheth, Gomer and Magog and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meschech, and Tiras...Only the names of the three sons of Gomer, and the four sons of Javan are given in Genesis, and by these we are told were the isles of the Gentiles divided. So much for Genesis. Later history records that these Gentiles spread themselves over part of that stretch of terra firma which now goes by...

...archaeological evidence at one site called Madjedbebe in the far north of Australia's Northern Territory suggests the area may have been occupied much earlier -- at least 65,000 years ago.Archaeologists recovered human-made artifacts, including stone tools and ocher "crayons," from the Madjedbebe rock shelter and published their findings in a 2017 study. One difficulty in dating the artifacts, however, was the copious amount of sand on the floor of the rock shelter, which can move easily and cause artifacts to fall farther down, making them look older than they are.Although the research team took steps to counteract this issue and...

Newly discovered Grand Canyon fossils capture a rare moment in Earth’s history when early animals flourished in a perfect evolutionary setting. Credit: Stock ============================================================================== Exceptionally preserved Cambrian fossils uncovered in the Grand Canyon show how evolution accelerated in resource-rich waters. An extraordinary cache of remarkably well-preserved ancient animals, dating back over 500 million years, has been unearthed in the Grand Canyon, one of the most renowned geological landmarks in the world. This groundbreaking discovery, the first of its kind in the Grand Canyon, features microscopic fossils of rock-grazing mollusks, filter-feeding crustaceans, worm-like creatures with spiked teeth, and even remnants of...

Stephen Hawking's chilling warning to humanity may be coming true after a renowned scientist claimed a 'hostile' encounter with alien life could be months away. Hawking, the famous theoretical physicist who died in 2018, warned the world that making contact with alien life could end in disaster for the human race. The late professor believed that actively seeking out extraterrestrials would bring on a deadly invasion, similar to how cultures on Earth have wiped out less advanced civilizations in the past. 'The extraterrestrials would probably be far in advance of us, 'Professor Hawking said in 2004. 'The history of advanced...

Did Early Man Have a Soul?April 8, 2009 — Some recent discoveries are surprising paleoanthropologists by how much some early ancestors seem – well, human.  We’re talking about ancestors half a million years old in the evolutionary scheme.  They were supposed to be prior to Homo sapiens and the Neanderthals, but they seem to exhibit intelligence and compassion. A report on New Scientist inferred that these early humans cared for the disabled.  The skull of a child found in Spain suggests it was mentally retarded.  To be able to live to age 12 indicates its parents or the social group...

...In 1991, researchers first revealed that the fossilized bones of Neanderthals had high ratios of nitrogen 15 compared with nitrogen 14 -- usually the signature of a high-meat diet... bigger meat eaters than even hypercarnivorous hyenas and lions. Butchered animal bones at archaeological sites reinforced the view that our close relatives relied heavily on meat from big game hunting....archaeologist John Speth of the University of Michigan... described accounts by missionaries and Arctic explorers of people who fell sick with "rabbit starvation" -- an illness that afflicts those who eat mainly lean, high-protein game meat and too little fat...Speth's paper offered...

Who killed Tagliente Man, a Cro-Magnon who lived in Italy 17,000 years ago? New analysis reveals evidence of violent intragroup conflict and targeted violence. Using archaeology and skeletal analysis, the video pieces together a story of prehistoric humans. Scientists JUST Unearthed a 17,000-Year-Old CRO-MAGNON Mystery | 18:00Mysterious Origins | 51.3K subscribers | 1,163 views | July 22, 2025 | Premiered 6 hours ago

What if Human Civilisation rose before, in Ancient pre-history? Is it possible? The evidence would suggest yes...The previous interglacial warming period, known as the 'Eemian' period, was 130 to 115,000 years ago. This period was longer than the current warm period, known as the Holocene, has been so far. Considering modern humans had already been around for at least 175,000 years by the start of the 'Eemian', why couldn't civilisation have flourished then as it has now? The conditions were optimal, it lasted more than enough time, we'd been around for 100s of 1000s of years already and according to...

Earth's famous Hubble Telescope has just revealed the first images of a mysterious interstellar object racing through our solar system. Spotted on Monday, Hubble has helped astronomers confirm that the massive, high-speed visitor is a comet from a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy. First spotted in late June, the comet named 3I/ATLAS has been on an 800-million-year journey to reach this solar system. The new images from Hubble captured what appears to be an icy tail that's ejecting rocky material from its 12-mile-long core. Those observations were reinforced by a new study published Tuesday morning which revealed 3I/ATLAS...

The Pleistocene-Holocene transition is a very significant period of time, because it marks what I believe is the true foundartions for the origins of civilisation, when we see the first permanent settlements in the Fertile Crescent followed by the onset of agriculture, and from then on humanity has developed exponentially.From an archaeological point of view, it’s truly a fascinating time period, with so many incredible sites discovered in the past century, from Ancient Jericho in the West Bank, to Mureybet and Tell Qaramel in Syria, and Kortik Tepe, Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe in Turkey.The foundations of these sites were...

Evidence continues to mount that Neanderthals were a much more intelligent species than scientists originally suspected. Popular Science reports that archaeologists uncovered a remarkable, multifunctional tool from Belgium's Scladina Cave. The utensil was fashioned from the tibia of an extinct cave lion 130,000 years ago and had four different functional components. Researchers believe that it may have originally been created for use in tasks such as chiseling, but as some of the points wore down, they were reshaped and repurposed for other jobs, such as sharpening and retouching flints. According to the report, the team stated that "the intentional transformation...

Palaeontologists excavating a dump outside Barcelona have found a skull dating back 14m years that could belong to a common ancestor of apes and humans. The nearly intact skull, which has a flat face, jaw and teeth, may belong to a previously unknown species of great ape, said Salvador Moya, the chief palaeontologist on the dig. "We could find a cradle of humanity in the Mediterranean," he said. A routine land survey for a planned expansion of the Can Mata dump in Els Hostalets de Pierola turned up the first surprise in 2002: a primate's tooth. Since then, scientists from...

Archaeologists working at the Magna Roman Fort in northern England have made a series of huge discoveries, in the very literal sense. Recent excavations at the ancient Roman fortification have unearthed several examples of gigantic shoes, with one representing what could be among the largest examples of historic footwear ever found. The unusual discoveries are offering researchers fresh new insights into the diversity of the people who worked along Hadrian’s Wall close to 2,000 years ago. A Gigantic Discovery The discoveries are among the latest that have made their way into the Vindolanda Charitable Trust’s remarkable collection, with similar examples...