Discovery Of Fossils Research Articles

Old world fruit bats (Pteropodidae, Chiroptera) from the pleistocene of Vietnam

Isolated teeth of a lesser short-nosed fruit bat Cynopterus brachyotis (Müller, 1838), a fulvous fruit bat Rousettus leschenaultii (Desmarest, 1820), and a dawn bat Eonycteris spelaea (Dobson, 1871) are described from the Middle Pleistocene Tham Hai cave locality in northern Vietnam (Lang Son Province). These are the first fossil findings of the Old World fruit bats in Vietnam. The Middle Pleistocene association of Pteropodidae from the Tham Hai locality may largely reflect the composition of species that roosted in local caves.

The Kudmi (Kudumi), a totemic community of Jharkhand State and near about parts (India) – critical evaluation for inclusion in ST category

The Kudmi (Kudumi) a totemic primitive community (tribe) originated and evolved from the Neanderthal man (Homo Sapiens neanderthdemais) 2,30,000 years ago, like all other human beings, which is evidenced by the evolutionary theories based on fossil findings and population genetics. They are inhabiting in the state of Jharkhand and its near about, i.e. of West Bengal, Assam, Odisha and Chattisgarh states since time immemorial, who were classified as “Primitive tribes” by the British regime in India in 1865, alongwith other primitive tribes under the term of the Indian succession Act, as they have customary rules of sucession. Subsequently in 1913 and 1931 they were included in the list of tribes (Primitive Tribes). But unfortunately, they were omitted as from the ST category drawn up in 1950 for reasons that are unknown, although they are having traits of Primitive Tribes, e.g., they are totemic (alike all other primitive tribes of India and the world) i.e. their lineage related to plants, animals and other natural objects, shyness of contact with other communities at large, distinctive culture, geographically isolated, Backwardness (towards past, keeping back and slow is learning) and specific mother tongue-“Kudmali’.Under the above circumstances the Kudmis of the above noted geographical area be again reincluded in the ST category by the present authority concerned to bring them to the main stream of development of the country and to uplift their life style and social status at large.

The brachiopod faunas from the Fezouata Shale (Lower Ordovician; Tremadocian–Floian) of the Zagora area, Anti‐Atlas, Morocco: evidence for a biodiversity hub in Gondwana

AbstractSince the early 2000s, the discovery of fossils and their collection from the Fezouata Shale has accelerated; enabling us to understand the faunas more thoroughly. The brachiopod fauna has not been investigated for the past 50 years, and we present here the results of our recent studies. From the material (c. 350 samples), 30 species were identified and assigned to 23 genera. Among these, one new genus (Tinzoulinorthis) and four new species (Wosekella maghribi, Rafanoglossa inversa, Orbithele tazagurta, Lacunites punctum) are erected; one taxon is recognized at the family level. The fauna described from the upper Tremadocian horizons is more diverse than those in the Floian. The former is characterized by a high γ‐diversity, although at the horizon level the α‐diversity is low to medium. This fauna is typical of high‐energy, shallow‐water, unstable environmental conditions, in which long‐lived communities were prevented from developing into climax communities, and the succession of opportunists were regularly smothered in situ and killed by storm deposits. Multivariate analyses of the faunas indicate that the Tremadocian fauna, characterized by many endemic taxa, has closer affinities with faunas from peri‐Gondwanan terranes, in particular Bohemia. The Tremadocian Fezouata fauna is very rich in taxon first occurrences, which, coupled with a high γ‐diversity, suggest that it may have been a diversity hub. In contrast, the Floian Fezouata fauna not only shows stronger connections with Bohemia and the Montagne Noire, it also has links with the South Urals and Baltica, reflecting the changing Early Ordovician palaeogeography.

The earliest evidence of large animal fossil collecting in mainland Greece at Bronze Age Mycenae

Fossils of large animals have long influenced social practices and ideologies in human societies, including the fantastic myths of giants, heroes, and gods in ancient Greece. It has been estimated that purposeful fossil collecting in Greece began in the Late Bronze Age. However, previous archaeological finds of fossils from mainland Greece were not well documented in secure contexts that dated this far back in time. Herein, we present a newly recognized fossilized astragalus bone recently found in the legacy collections of the archaeological site of Mycenae. It was originally recovered by excavations in the 1970s and recently reanalyzed at the Mycenae Museum. Our analysis explored the available evidence of the find location, the state of fossil preservation, and the species represented. The results suggest that a fossilized rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus) astragalus was collected in the past, possibly from afar. Evidence indicates it was brought to Mycenae, where it was deposited near an interesting array of artifacts in a basement storage area of the Southwest Quarter, sometime in the thirteenth century BCE. This find represents the earliest secure evidence of large animal fossil use by people in mainland Greece, dating to the Late Bronze Age.

Early Pleistocene forerunners of Mammuthus-Coelodonta Faunal Complex in Nihewan Basin, North China

The typical Mammuthus-Coelodonta Faunal Complex dominated the mid- and high latitudes of continental Eurasia during the Mid-Late Pleistocene; the dominant taxa include woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), woolly rhino (Coelodonta antiquitatis), steppe bison (Bison priscus) and diverse horses (Equus spp.), etc. Recent excavations at the Early Pleistocene site Shanshenmiaozui in Nihewan Basin of North China resulted in the discoveries of rich mammalian fossils which include steppe mammoth (Mammuthus trogontherii), Nihowan woolly rhino (Coelodonta nihowanensis), archaic Chinese bison (Bison (Eobison) palaeosinensis) and rich collections of early horse fossil. In Nihewan Basin, a couple of sites (Xiashagou, Shanshenmiaozui and Yeniupo) yielded the Mammuthus-Coelodonta-Bison assemblage, which can be regarded as the closest ancestors of the Mammuthus - Coelodonta Faunal Complex or the forerunners of the later Mammuthus - Coelodonta Faunal Complex. Nihewan Basin bears the richest and most complete fossils of Early Pleistocene Coelodonta and Bison to date, and the juvenile specimens of M. trogontherii also represent the richest collection for its kind and its geologic age.

The earliest haplodiplatyid earwig, represented by a new genus from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Dermaptera: Haplodiplatyidae)

Summary Fossils of the early-diverging neodermapteran families Diplatyidae and Haplodiplatyidae are rare, and for the latter have confined to a single Miocene occurrence. Here we report a new genus and species of haplodiplatyid earwig in mid-Cretaceous amber from southern Asia. Zeugmadiplatys cheni n. gen., n. sp. shares many features with extant Haplodiplatys Hincks, 1955, especially the simple, dentiform metaparameres of the male genitalia, but differs notably in the development of the compound eyes, antennae, abdominal tergites and sternites, and ventrally flattened cercal forceps with weakly crenulate to serrate mesal margins. The discovery of the new fossil extends the fossil record of Haplodiplatyidae by approximately 80 million years and provides a crucial calibration point for divergence-time estimates in the diversification of Neodermaptera.

The famous fish beds of Lebanon: the Upper Cretaceous Lagerstätten of Haqel, Hjoula, Nammoura and Sahel Aalma

The fossils of the Lebanese Upper Cretaceous Lagerstätten, especially the articulated fish, are world renowned. Famous for their soft tissue preservation and highly sought after by fossil collectors, Lebanese fossils provide key information concerning the evolution of several major extant and extinct groups of Mesozoic organisms including cephalopods, crustaceans, hagfish, sharks, marine reptiles and pterosaurs. In fact, fossils from Lebanon are so exceptional that historical documentation describing them extends back to the Roman Empire. However, despite over 1600 years of knowledge of these fossils, a thorough understanding of the depositional environments, taphonomy and palaeoecology of the four main sites, Haqel, Hjoula, Nammoura (each Cenomanian in age) and Sahel Aalma (Santonian), is lacking. Here we compile a review of the palaeoenvironments, fauna and flora of these four Lebanese Lagerstätten. Our synthesis outlines the history of fossil discovery, and describes the current understanding of the geology, ages, mode of preservation and organisms found at these four sites. We also undertake a bibliometric and holotype analysis to investigate the impact that scientific colonialism has had on Lebanon. Our data confirm that local Lebanese researchers are typically not included in publications pertaining to Lebanese fossils and that the majority of Lebanese type material is stored in large historical collections outside Lebanon, predominantly in institutions within the northern hemisphere. Here, we recommend some basic practices for researchers utilizing historical collections that can help develop local Lebanese fossil collections and establish more research opportunities for local palaeontologists.

Drilling in an African Lake to Find Out Whether Climate Change Drove Human Evolution

Why does drilling into a dried-out lake in eastern Africa get scientists excited? Simple answer: the lake’s sediments store valuable information about how past climate change shaped the environment where our earliest ancestors lived. Those sediments serve as a natural record of Earth’s ancient climate. While much is known about human evolution from fossil discoveries in eastern Africa, the role that climate change might have played for human biological and cultural evolution remained unclear for a long time. But now we have drilled 278 m into the ground at the bottom of the old Chew Bahir Lake in southern Ethiopia, which has given us some detailed answers. This natural record covers the last 620,000 years of climate history from one of the proven habitats of ancient Homo sapiens, and it can help us to unravel connections between climate and human evolution.

Dart and the Taung juvenile: making sense of a century-old record of hominin evolution in Africa.

The announcement in 1925 by Raymond Dart of the discovery of the Taung juvenile's skull in a quarry in sub-Saharan Africa is deservedly a classic publication in the history of palaeoanthropology. Dart's paper-which designated Taung as the type specimen of the early hominin species Australopithecus africanus-provided the first fossil evidence supporting Charles Darwin's 1871 prediction that Africa was where the human lineage originated. The Taung juvenile's combination of ape and human characteristics eventually led to a paradigm shift in our understanding of human evolution. This contribution focuses on the milieu in which Dart's paper appeared (i.e. what was understood in 1925 about human evolution), the fossil evidence as set out by Dart, his interpretation of how a species represented by a fossilized juvenile's skull fitted within prevailing narratives about human evolution and the significance of the fossil being found in an environment inferred to be very different from that occupied by living apes. We also briefly review subsequent fossil finds that have corroborated the argument Dart made for having discovered evidence of a hitherto unknown close relative of humans, and summarize our current understanding of the earliest stages of human evolution and its environmental context.

Old World Fruit Bats (Pteropodidae, Chiroptera) from the Pleistocene of Vietnam.

Isolated teeth of a lesser short-nosed fruit bat Cynopterus brachyotis (Müller, 1838), a fulvous fruit bat Rousettus leschenaultii (Desmarest, 1820), and a dawn bat Eonycteris spelaea (Dobson, 1871) are described from the Middle Pleistocene Tham Hai cave locality in northern Vietnam (Lang Son Province). These are the first fossil findings of the Old World fruit bats in Vietnam. The Middle Pleistocene association of Pteropodidae from the Tham Hai locality may largely reflect the composition of species that roosted in local caves.

Statement of Retraction: Discovery and significance of ancient cod fossils in hydrothermal fluid deposition areas: a case study of Chang 7-3 from the Triassic Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin

Statement of Retraction: Discovery and significance of ancient cod fossils in hydrothermal fluid deposition areas: a case study of Chang 7-3 from the Triassic Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin

ÇATALHÖYÜK GASTRONOMY CULTURE THE FIRST KNOWN CULINARY PRACTICES IN ANATOLIA (TÜRKİYE) AND WORLD HISTORY

Çatalhöyük is an archaeological site located in the Çumra district of Konya, Turkey, with a deep-rooted history dating back to around 7500 BCE and still not fully explored. In this article, the eating habits and gastronomy culture of Çatalhöyük are examined, focusing on its history and culture. Remarkable findings in terms of dietary culture include the discovery of fossils of charcoal, grains, seeds, wild fruits, and plant bulbs. Additionally, the presence of hearths, storage containers, food processing tools, and grain storages within adjacent houses demonstrates how dietary activities were conducted. The abundance of wooden bowls, clay pots, and items made from plants such as baskets, crates, and mats as kitchen utensils indicates the processing, consumption, long-term storage, and potential for future production of these products. According to research, it can be said that herbs such as rye, chickpeas, lentils, figs, plums, sumac, blackberries, mallow, purslane, clover, and bird's foot trefoil were used during that period. Moreover, it is known that crops such as barley, wheat, millet, peas, chickpeas, lentils, almonds, and gum trees were also utilized. However, some wall paintings and decorations on utensils do not fully explain the types of meals prepared during that time. Therefore, further research is needed to fully understand the dietary culture at Çatalhöyük. This article aims to shed more light on the culinary culture of Çatalhöyük by conducting an in-depth literature review online, thereby contributing new insights to both Turkish and global gastronomy literature.

How the Sima de los Huesos was won.

Although the first discovery of a human fossil in the Sima de los Huesos took place in 1976, systematic excavations did not begin there until 1984. Since then, this site has been continuously excavated in month-long camps. The site is dated by different radiometric techniques to between 430,000 and 300,000 years ago. Until the 2023 campaign, just over 7000 human fossils have been recovered, constituting the largest collection of fossils prior to Homo sapiens ever discovered. The fossils correspond to a minimum of 29 individuals of both sexes and different ages at death, from preadolescents to a specimen of advanced age. Comparative anatomy and ancient DNA studies both suggest that this is a population closely related to Homo neanderthalensis. The great variety and extraordinary quality of the fossils recovered have allowed us to carry out a series of investigations that have greatly increased our knowledge about the evolution of Homo in the Middle Pleistocene. Among the most important discoveries, it has been possible to establish body size and proportions, the confirmation that the origin of the accumulation of human fossils was of an anthropic nature, that those past humans took care of disabled individuals and who were capable of having an oral language almost as complex and efficient as that of our own species.

Resource booms and the energy transition: What can we learn from Dutch economists' response to the discovery of natural gas reserves (1959–1977)?

Geopolitical instability and climate change are about to bring about large-scale energy reconfigurations. Recent discoveries of fossil fuel potential echo important historical episodes, starting with the finding of natural gas reserves in the Netherlands in 1959, which gave birth to the notion of Dutch Disease, in reference to the macroeconomic structural readjustments that followed the resource boom. Recently, the economic literature on whether such a boom might be a blessing or a curse for a country has been growing. What has not received attention so far is the attitude of Dutch economists in the 1960s and 1970s and the lessons to be drawn from them in today's economic research. This article explores how they understood the gas boom, how they anticipated its effects, and the role they played in shaping Dutch energy policies. We show that the 1960s were a parenthesis, and that energy optimism has historically been more an exception than a rule. In situ economists correctly anticipated some but not all of the transmission channels of the resource boom. These results are insightful for the 21st century, as they not only allow for historicizing the concept of the resource curse but also provide lessons for macroeconomic policies in the context of the energy transition, especially in countries endowed with fossil fuels and mineral resources.

Raising the Neanderthal (molecules) from the dead: a proposal for in vivo resurrection of Neanderthal haemoglobin for the investigation of biochemical adaptations for cold tolerance

Since the first discoveries of Neanderthal fossils, their derived characteristics, such as increased robusticity, have engaged researchers. Adaptation to cold environments has been hypothesised to explain such traits and this hypothesis has driven the majority of discourse. This proposal seeks to examine this hypothesis and locate evidence of Neanderthals being physiologically adapted to cold at the biomolecular level. Haemoglobin is a biomolecule that has been previously demonstrated to adapt to cold in some species, driven by the inhibition of the protein’s function by low temperatures. Neanderthal haemoglobin is extinct; however, using pre-sequenced genomic data, I propose to resurrect Neanderthal haemoglobin so I can examine the consequences of lowered temperature on its function. This project could potentially detect signs of cold adaptation in the Neanderthal globin genes and provide empirical evidence for the cold adaptation hypothesis.

Lower Ordovician synziphosurine reveals early euchelicerate diversity and evolution

Euchelicerata is a clade of arthropods comprising horseshoe crabs, scorpions, spiders, mites and ticks, as well as the extinct eurypterids (sea scorpions) and chasmataspidids. The understanding of the ground plans and relationships between these crown-group euchelicerates has benefited from the discovery of numerous fossils. However, little is known regarding the origin and early evolution of the euchelicerate body plan because the relationships between their Cambrian sister taxa and synziphosurines, a group of Silurian to Carboniferous stem euchelicerates with chelicerae and an unfused opisthosoma, remain poorly understood owing to the scarce fossil record of appendages. Here we describe a synziphosurine from the Lower Ordovician (ca. 478 Ma) Fezouata Shale of Morocco. This species possesses five biramous appendages with stenopodous exopods bearing setae in the prosoma and a fully expressed first tergite in the opisthosoma illuminating the ancestral anatomy of the group. Phylogenetic analyses recover this fossil as a member of the stem euchelicerate family Offacolidae, which is characterized by biramous prosomal appendages. Moreover, it also shares anatomical features with the Cambrian euarthropod Habelia optata, filling the anatomical gap between euchelicerates and Cambrian stem taxa, while also contributing to our understanding of the evolution of euchelicerate uniramous prosomal appendages and tagmosis.

Looking for the oldest diatoms

Paleontological observations of ancient flora and fauna provide powerful insights into past diversity and relationship dynamics between organisms and their environments. Diatoms are globally distributed protists that influence major biogeochemical cycles and sustain oceanic food webs. The fossil diatom record extends 120 million years back to the Early Cretaceous where rare deposits were discovered worldwide and are occasionally represented by diverse communities. However scarce, the taxonomic richness and geographical spread of these diatom communities suggest prior evolutionary events and therefore earlier deposits. To complement the existing fossil information and to discover diatom deposits predating 120 Ma, we examined 33 study sites from cores and outcrops across oceans and continents. These efforts did not generate new fossil discoveries, however. Our assessment suggests biogenic silica that comprises the cell wall of diatoms was likely dissolved from Mesozoic sediments through diagenetic processes. Altogether, the search for the oldest diatoms must continue but should target sediments that experienced shallow burial and concretions.

Largest known madtsoiid snake from warm Eocene period of India suggests intercontinental Gondwana dispersal

Here we report the discovery of fossils representing partial vertebral column of a giant madtsoiid snake from an early Middle Eocene (Lutetian, ~ 47 Ma) lignite-bearing succession in Kutch, western India. The estimated body length of ~ 11–15 m makes this new taxon (Vasuki indicus gen et sp. nov.) the largest known madtsoiid snake, which thrived during a warm geological interval with average temperatures estimated at ~ 28 °C. Phylogenetically, Vasuki forms a distinct clade with the Indian Late Cretaceous taxon Madtsoia pisdurensis and the North African Late Eocene Gigantophis garstini. Biogeographic considerations, seen in conjunction with its inter-relationship with other Indian and North African madtsoiids, suggest that Vasuki represents a relic lineage that originated in India. Subsequent India-Asia collision at ~ 50 Ma led to intercontinental dispersal of this lineage from the subcontinent into North Africa through southern Eurasia.

First record of a neobatrachian frog (Lissamphibia: Neobatrachia) from the Eocene–Oligocene Aiuruoca Basin, Brazil

ABSTRACT Despite the widespread diversity of neobatrachian frogs in South America nowadays, their fossils remain notably sparse, particularly during the Palaeogene. Consequently, the discovery of fossils attributed to neobatrachians constitutes a significant contribution to our understanding of their past distribution and diversity. Here, we report a new neobatrachian fossil from the Eocene – Oligocene Aiuruoca Basin in Brazil. The fossil record known from this unit, which is still inadequately documented, includes coprolites, plants, insects, fishes, and also frogs. Prior investigations of these anurans attributed approximately 200 specimens to an as-yet unnamed Pipidae species. The partially preserved specimen described herein (MZSP-PV 1333) clearly differs from the pipid-like fossils by the presence of procoelous vertebral centra, a sacrum separated from the urostyle, bicondylar sacro-urostylar articulation, and fused distal carpals 3 + 4 + 5. However, the absence of additional diagnostic features prevents a confident classification into a more specific subgroup, being thus identified as Neobatrachia indet. The identification of this new frog morphotype suggests that the anuran diversity in the Aiuruoca Basin is more extensive than previously understood, and further emphasises the palaeontological significance of this unit for ongoing research and collection endeavours.

A reassessment of the historical fossil findings from Bahia State (Northeast Brazil) reveals a diversified dinosaur fauna in the Lower Cretaceous of South America

ABSTRACT Supposed dinosaur remains were collected between 1859 and 1906 in the Lower Cretaceous Recôncavo Basin (Northeast Brazil). Since these materials remained undescribed, and most were considered lost. Recently, some of these historical specimens were rediscovered in the Natural History Museum of London, providing an opportunity to revisit them after 160 years. The specimens come from five different sites, corresponding to the Massacará (Berriasian-Barremian) and Ilhas (Valanginian-Barremian) groups. Identified bones comprise mainly isolated vertebral centra from ornithopods, sauropods, and theropods. Appendicular remains include a theropod pedal phalanx, humerus, and distal half of a left femur with elasmarian affinities. Despite their fragmentary nature, these specimens represent the earliest dinosaur bones discovered in South America, enhancing our understanding of the Cretaceous dinosaur faunas in Northeast Brazil. The dinosaur assemblage in the Recôncavo Basin resembles coeval units in Northeast Brazil, such as the Rio do Peixe Basin, where ornithopods coexist with sauropods and theropods. This study confirms the presence of ornithischian dinosaurs in Brazil based on osteological evidence, expanding their biogeographic and temporal range before the continental rifting between South America and Africa. Additionally, these findings reinforce the fossiliferous potential of Cretaceous deposits in Bahia State, which have been underexplored since their initial discoveries.