Ancient hominids from the Caucasus may have fed and cared for their elderly, a new fossil find has indicated. The 1.77 million-year-old specimen, which is described in Nature magazine, was completely toothless and well over 40; a grand old age at the time. This may suggest that the creature lived in a complex society which was capable of showing compassion. These hominids - like humans - may also have valued the old for their years of acquired knowledge, researchers think. "It is pretty amazing that [hominid] society fostered this kind of thing nearly 1.8 million yearsago," said co-author Reid Ferring, of the University of North Texas, US.
"Almost any way we cut it, this is very unusual and it is a totally new insight into the social relations of this early hominid." The senior specimen is one of a collection of hominid finds from the famous site of Dmanisi, Georgia. The little "people" - who stood at around four feet tall - have caused a lively debate amongst palaeoanthropologists. So far it has been tricky to work out exactly what they are. Many experts believe it was Homo erectus who first ventured out of Africa and spread around Asia. But Dmanisi hominids were not typical of the tall-standing, big brained Homo erectus -instead they were short, small-brained, thin browed and probably dragged their knuckles along the ground like apes. This has led some to believe they may have been Homo habilis. But ape-like Homo habilis was not thought to have left Africa - so the confusion continues. Although the Dmanisi hominids had no fire and only used very basic chopping and cutting tools, the new discovery does hint at a new level of sophistication.
Fossil evidence of a completely unknown prehistoric species of giant sand worm has been discovered in Devon, England. The giant worms would have lived 260 million years ago, long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, growing up to 3ft long and 6in wide. Large burrow holes were found indicating that the creatures would have travelled beneath the surface."Scientists have found evidence of a giant prehistoric sand worm in an Eng...Protein links T. rex to chickens
Submitted by Waspie Dwarf: Protein extracted from 68 million-year-old T. rex bones has shed new light on the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds. Researchers compared organic molecules preserved in the T. rex fossils with those of living animals, and found they were similar to chicken protein. The discovery of protein in dinosaur bones is a surprise - organic material was not thought to survive this long. A US team of researchers have published the finding in Science journal. The team ...Fossil of dinosaur-skin traces found
Workers at a leisure facility found a fossil containing traces of dinosaur skin patterns, a rare discovery that could shed light on the actual appearance of the creature, the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum said Thursday. Museum officials said classifying the dinosaur has been difficult because fossils of its bones have not been found. But they said it could be a plant-eater from the early Cretaceous Period, about 100 million to 140 million years ago, judging from the age of the stratum where ...Baby mammoth discovery unveiled
A baby mammoth unearthed in the permafrost of north-west Siberia could be the best preserved specimen of its type, scientists have said. The frozen carcass is to be sent to Japan for detailed study. The six-month-old female calf was discovered on the Yamal peninsula of Russia and is thought to have died 10,000 years ago. The animal's trunk and eyes are still intact and some of its fur remains on the body. Mammoths are an extinct member of the elephant family. Adults often possessed long...Walking with dinosaurs (and humans) ?
First appearing approximately 230 million years ago colossal creatures known as ‘dinosaurs’ ruled the earth. For millions of years, no other animal species legitimately threatened the existence of dinosaurs. Nonetheless, on one unlucky day, approximately 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth or so the story goes…On occasion throughout history, there have been sightings from remote regions of the world of enormous creatures that resemble various dino...Comet may have doomed mammoths
There's a new extraterrestrial suspect in the mysterious, highly debated disappearance of the woolly mammoth some 12,900 years ago. A team of two dozen scientists say the culprit was likely a comet that exploded in the atmosphere above North America. The explosions sent a heat and shock wave across the continent, pelted the ground with a layer of telltale debris, ignited massive wildfires and triggered a major cooling of the climate, said nuclear analytic chemist Richard Firestone of Lawrenc...Human ancestor was not so brainy
Submitted by Pandora: A monkey-like animal seen as an ancestor of monkeys, apes and humans was not as brainy as expected, according to scientists who analyzed its nicely preserved 29-million-year-old skull. The finding indicated that primate brain enlargement evolved later than once thought, the researchers said on Monday.They analyzed a remarkably well-preserved fossilized skull of the little primate Aegyptopithecus zeuxis, which lived in the trees and ate fruit and leaves about 29 million year...Archaeopteryx secrets revealed
An Archaeopteryx fossil discovered 150 million years has been subject to one of the world's most powerful x-ray scans in an attempt to uncover the secrets of this bird ancestor from the past."About 150 million years ago, an evolutionarily hybrid creature, a dinosaur on its wayto becoming a bird, died in what is now Germany, and become fossilized in limestone. . About 150 years ago, the fossil of this "dinobird&quo...Massive Birdlike Dinosaur Unearthed in China
The remains of a huge beaked dinosaur with the looks of an ostrich but the weight of a rhino have been discovered in China's Gobi desert, fossil hunters have announced. The previously unknown dinosaur weighed in around 1.5 tons (1.4 metric tons) and stood more than 16 feet (5 meters) tall—an extraordinary size given its birdlike appearance, say the Chinese researchers who found it. (See a photo gallery of the giant dinosaur. Gigantoraptor erlianensis, which lived some 70 million yea...Modern man had sex with neanderthals
A leading geneticist has stated that neanderthals would have mated with modern man, even though it wasn"t clear whether or not such couplings would have been capable of producing offspring."Modern man and Neanderthals had sex acrossthe species barrier, according to leading geneticist ProfessorSvante Paabo. . Professor Paabo, who is director of genetics at the renowned Max Planck Institution for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leip...
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Ancient hominids from the Caucasus may have fed and cared for their elderly, a new fossil find has indicated. The 1.77 million-year-old specimen, which is described in Nature magazine, was completely toothless and well over 40; a grand old age at the time. This may suggest that the creature lived in a complex society which was capable of showing compassion. These hominids - like humans - may also have valued the old for their years of acquired knowledge, researchers think. "It is pretty amazing that [hominid] society fostered this kind of thing nearly 1.8 million yearsago," said co-author Reid Ferring, of the University of North Texas, US. 
View: Full Article | Source: BBC News 
Giant prehistoric sand worm fossils discovered
Protein links T. rex to chickens
Fossil of dinosaur-skin traces found
Baby mammoth discovery unveiled
Walking with dinosaurs (and humans) ?
Comet may have doomed mammoths
Human ancestor was not so brainy
Archaeopteryx secrets revealed
Massive Birdlike Dinosaur Unearthed in China
Modern man had sex with neanderthals
