Tag Archives: inhabited

Twenty million years ago, the giant freshwater crayfish inhabited New Zealand.

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The fossil record of freshwater crayfish is surprisingly sparse, mainly containing trace fossils, some body fossils, and rarely gastroscopy. Paleontologists from Flinders University, the University of New South Wales, the Canterbury Museum and the University of Canterbury have discovered that the small molars (jaws) of the lower jaw of Gondwannan freshwater crayfish have a stiff, robust apatite layer. They discovered eight jaw fragments of a fossil freshwater crayfish that lived in New Zealand during the early Miocene period.

Swamp Yabby (Cherax Latimanus), Australian freshwater crayfish species. Image credits: McCormack & Raadik, doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5026.3.2.

Prehistoric freshwater crayfish grew to about 25 cm long compared to about 8 cm of today’s New Zealand species.

“Crayfish were important creatures in ancient settings,” says Dr. Paul Scofield, senior curator at the Canterbury Museum.

“The crayfish’s body does not fossil because it is made from the wrong chemical elements. However, the molars in the jaw are made of different materials, like mammalian teeth, so they do fossil because they are made from different materials.”

“This means that we can clearly say where freshwater crayfish lived in prehistoric times. It will speak more about prehistoric ecosystems and how they worked.”

Dr. Scofield and his colleagues sifted through hundreds of thousands of small fossil fragments found near St. Batan in central Otago and used microscopes to identify prehistoric crayfish to identify each piece.

Crayfish were identified from eight jaw fragments each, about 4 mm in length.

An exciting observation was to show that the three lower jaws showed that the three types lived together.

There are currently only two species in New Zealand and live in different parts of the country.

Fragments are very rare. One distance of the 100 kg fossil fragments recovered from St. Batan produced only one fragment.

“We also identified the first fossilized Yabby buttons, which are calcium deposits that form in the stomachs of crayfish,” said Dr. Trevor Worthy, a paleontologist at Flinders University.

“Historically, paleontologists have often misidentified Yabby buttons as fossilized fish teeth.”

“Several fragments like these are sitting in boxes of museum collections around the world and are marked with question marks. Now we can say what they are.”

“Small fossils can reveal a lot about prehistoric life,” said Dr Vanessa de Petri, a paleontologist at the University of Canterbury.

“It’s not just about big sexy bones, it’s about the little things. Every piece has a story to tell.”

Team’s result It was published in Alcheringa, Australian Journal of Palaeontology.

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Trevor H. Worthy et al. Decapoda, Parastacidae, of the fossil mandible from the early Miocene of New Zealand. AlcheringaPublished online on April 13th, 2025. doi:10.1080/03115518.2025.2488056

Source: www.sci.news

150,000 years ago, early humans inhabited lush rainforests in Africa

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A new study led by scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology challenges traditional ideas about the habitability of ancient tropical forests and suggests that West Africa may be an important center of the evolution of our species. Homo sapiens.

The Bete I site in Ivory Coast and other African sites from around 130,000-190,000 years ago. Image credits: Awakening et al. , doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-08613-y.

Homo sapiens It is believed that it appeared in Africa about 300,000 years ago before it was dispersed around the world.

Humans lived in the rainforests in Asia and Oceania 45,000 years ago, but there was the earliest evidence to connect people to the rainforests in Africa about 18,000 years ago.

“Our species are thought to have emerged in Africa 300,000 years ago before they were dispersed to occupy all the biomes of the world, from deserts to densely populated rainforests,” says Dr. Eslem Ben Araus, a researcher at the National Center for Human Evolution and a geographer at the Max Planck Institute.

“While grasslands and coasts are usually given advantages in studying the cultural and environmental contexts of human emergence and spread, recent evidence relates several regions and ecosystems during the early prehistoric periods of our species.”

“The tropical rainforest settlements in Asia and Oceania have been well documented as early as 45,000 years ago, and perhaps 73,000 years ago.”

“However, despite evidence that central Stone Age assembly is widespread in modern African rainforest regions, the oldest safe and close human associations with such damp tropical forests in Africa are not more than about 18,000.”

In their study, in the Agnama region of Côte de Iboir in West Africa, Dr. Auros and co-authors focused on the archaeological site of Bethe I.

The site is 150,000 years old and contains signs of human occupation, such as stone tools such as picks and small objects.

“Several recent climate models suggest that even during the arid season of forest fragmentation, the area may have been a refuge for rainforests,” said Professor Eleanor Serli, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute.

“We knew this site offered the best possible opportunity to know how much it has returned to past rainforest settlements.”

Researchers investigated sediment samples of precipitated plants called pollen, silicid plant plants, and investigated wax isotopes in the leaves.

Their analysis shows that the area is rich in woodland and has pollen and leaf wax typical of wet West African rainforests.

Low levels of grass pollen showed that this site was not in narrow forest strips and not in dense forests.

“This exciting discovery is the first in a long list, as there are other Koiboria sites waiting to be investigated to study the human presence associated with rainforests.”

“Convergent evidence shows that there is no doubt that ecological diversity is at the heart of our species,” added Professor Scerri.

“This reflects the complex history of the population plots in which different populations lived in different regions and habitat types.”

“We now need to ask how these early human niche expansions affected the flora and fauna that shared the same niche space with humans.”

“In other words, how much will human changes in human nature's habitat return?”

study Today I'll be appearing in the journal Nature.

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E. Ben Aurus et al. A man from a wet tropical forest in Africa 150,000 years ago. NaturePublished online on February 26th, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08613-y

Source: www.sci.news

New archaeological findings suggest Tanimbar Islands were inhabited by humans 42,000 years ago

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The Tanimbar Islands are one of the main island groups of Wallacea (a group of mainly Indonesian islands separated from the Asian and Australian continental shelves by deep-sea straits) that was on the early human migration route from Sunda to Sahul (Australia and New Guinea). Despite their geographic importance, the group has not been thoroughly archaeologically explored. Now, archaeologists from the Australian National University have found the first evidence of Pleistocene human occupation in the Tanimbar Islands, dating back about 42,000 years ago.

Map of Walesia showing Birdsel's north and south migration route. The map also highlights the oldest Pleistocene sites on each island. On the north route, the following sites are highlighted: 1) Reang Karampuang, Reang Tedonggae, Reang Bulu Sipong 4, 2) Goa Topogaro, 3) Reang Saru, 4) Deo 2, 5) Goro, 6) Kero 6. On the south route, the following sites are highlighted: 7) Liang Bua, 8) Rua Meko, 9) Makupan, 10) Laili, 11) Ashitau Kuru, Rene Hara, Macha Kuru 2, 12) Hia Soloto Entapa, 13) Erivavan. The last two sites represent a connection to Sahul. 14) Reang Lemdub is now in the Aru Islands but was once connected to the mainland during the Pleistocene. 15) Majedbebe is the oldest known site in Sahul. Image credit: Kaharuddin others., doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108834.

The Tanimbar Islands are located at the easternmost tip of Southern Wallacea.

About 250 km east of Tanimbar lie the Aru Islands, which were part of the Sahul mainland during the Pleistocene low sea level period.

Although geographically close to the Sahul continental shelf, the Tanimbar Islands have remained permanently isolated by an ocean barrier since the first human settlement on Wallacea and even before that.

Compared to neighbouring islands closer to the Sahul Shelf, such as Halmahera, Seram and Gebe in the north, and Timor, Rote and Kisar in the south, the Tanimbar Islands have received relatively limited archaeological attention.

“This is particularly significant as it was found in Erivavan in the Tanimbar Islands of Indonesia,” said Hendri Kaharuddin, a doctoral student at the Australian National University.

“Taninbar lies just offshore from the Sahul Shelf, which includes present-day Australia and New Guinea.”

“The question of how our early ancestors got there from Southeast Asia is one of the most intriguing of prehistoric migrations, mainly because of the long distances involved and the need for advanced navigation techniques.”

“There have been two main routes that have been explored as possibilities since the mid-20th century: a northern route through islands such as Sulawesi, and a southern route passing near Timor and the Tanimbar islands.”

“This discovery represents one of the oldest sites on the southern route and is an important piece of the puzzle.”

Although much remains unknown about Erivavan's first inhabitants, the perilous nature of the sea crossing suggests that the colonists had developed advanced maritime technology by about 42,000 years ago.

“They would have had to cross a body of water over a distance of more than 100 kilometres, regardless of the direction of their travel,” Kaharuddin said.

“Along with small fragments of pottery, evidence of bones, shells and sea urchins was also found, indicating that the island was a centre of early maritime activity.”

“As research continues in less-explored regions like the Tanimbar Islands, we hope to learn more about early human life and migration patterns.”

“It is also clear that the colonization of Sahul was not a single event, but a gradual process involving successive waves of seagoing populations.”

“Coastal communities likely navigated the coastline, exploited marine resources, and built resilient settlements along the way.”

“This island-hopping strategy fostered cultural exchange and adaptation, leading to the formation of diverse societies across the landmass.”

of Investigation result Published in a journal Quaternary Science Review.

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Hendri AF Kaharuddin others2024. Islands on the Brink: 42,000 Year Old Occupation of the Tanimbar Islands and Implications for the Sunda-Sahul Early Human Migration Theory. Quaternary Science Review 338: 108834; doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108834

Source: www.sci.news

A dinosaur from the Pseudopterygota group that inhabited the Panthalassa Ocean’s coast

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US paleontologists have described a new genus and species of extinct crocodile relative based on a partially articulated skeleton found in the Middle Triassic Fossil Hill Formation of the Fabre Formation in Nevada, a pelagic region of the eastern Panthalasan Ocean rich in ammonites and giant ichthyosaurs.

Bengwigiwishingasucus Elemical Minis Pansarasan Sea coast. Image courtesy of Jorge Gonzalez.

Newly identified species Pseudobranchial reptiles It lived during the Middle Triassic period, between 247.2 million and 237 million years ago.

Named Bengwigiwishingasucus Elemical MinisThe animal probably reached a length of around 1.5-1.8 metres (5-6 feet).

It probably stayed fairly close to shore. Its limbs are well developed and well preserved, with no signs of aquatic life such as fins or changes in bone density.

“This intriguing new species provides evidence that pseudobranchs occupied coastal habitats worldwide during the Middle Triassic,” said Dr. Nate Smith, Gretchen Augustine Director and Curator of the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

“The area containing the Fabre Formation, which captured fossil life from the Triassic Eastern Panthalassa Ocean, is known for the fossils of marine creatures such as ammonites, as well as marine reptiles such as giant ichthyosaurs. Cymbospondylus youngholm — Newly written Bengwigiwishingasucus Elemical Minis It was a bit of a shock.”

“Our first reaction was, ‘What is this?'” said Dr Nicole Klein, a paleontologist at the University of Bonn.

“We expected to find something like a marine reptile. We couldn’t understand how a land animal could be so far out in the ocean amongst ichthyosaurs and ammonites.”

“It wasn’t until I actually saw the almost perfectly prepared specimen that I was convinced it was indeed a land animal.”

Although pseudopterygian archosaurs have been unearthed from coastal fossil beds in the Tethys Ocean, this is the first to be found in the Panthalassa Ocean and along the coasts of the Western Hemisphere, revealing that close relatives of these crocodiles were present in coastal environments worldwide during the Middle Triassic.

Interestingly, these coastal species do not all belong to the same evolutionary group, suggesting that Pseudobranchia (and Archosaurs more broadly) were uniquely adapted to life along the coast.

“Essentially, it seems like a very different group of archosaurs came together in the Middle Triassic and decided to dip their toes in the water,” Dr Smith said.

“What’s interesting is that many of these ‘independent experiments’ don’t seem to have led to a wider spread of semi-aquatic groups.”

Archosaurs appeared in the Triassic Period and split into two groups, with two representative species surviving: birds, which were descendants of dinosaurs, and pseudo-crocodile archosaurs such as crocodiles (alligators, crocodiles, and gharials). Bengwigiwishingasucus Elemical Minis.

Today’s crocodiles are similar enough to mistake them for other reptiles, but ancient species of crocodiles differed greatly in size and lifestyle.

Evolutionary relationships Bengwigiwishingasucus Elemical Minis and its relatives suggest that pseudobranchs gained great diversity very rapidly after the end-Permian mass extinction, but the extent of this remains to be elucidated in the fossil record.

“The recent and growing number of discoveries of Middle Triassic pseudobranchs suggests that there was underappreciated morphological and ecological diversity and experimentation taking place early in the group’s history,” Dr Smith said.

“Much of the public interest in the Triassic has been focused on the origin of the dinosaurs, but it was the pseudobranchs at the beginning of the Mesozoic that were actually doing interesting things.”

Discovery Bengwigiwishingasucus Elemical Minis It has been reported paper In the journal Biology Letters.

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Nathan D. Smith others2024. A new pseudobranch discovered in Nevada’s Fabre Formation indicates that archosaurs inhabited coastal regions around the world during the Middle Triassic. violet 20(7); Source: http://www.doi.gov/doi/2020240136 Source: 10.1098/rsbl.2024.0136

This article is based on a press release from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Source: www.sci.news