Collaborate Disseminate
Scientists have discovered the oldest known skin fossils, dating back long before the dinosaurs. The samples, found in a cave in Oklahoma, USA, show that reptile scales haven’t changed much in the last 286 million years.
Tags: Skin, World’s Oldest, Fossils, Reptile, University of Toronto
Continue reading World’s oldest skin preserved in extraordinarily rare fossil find
Scientists have uncovered the oldest fossilized forest, dating back 390 million years to a time when life was just getting a foothold on land. The ancient forest was made up of the first trees to ever grow on Earth – bizarre “prototype” trees that had to rip their skeletons apart in order to grow.
Category: Science
Tags: Tree, Forest, World’s Oldest, Fossils, Evolution, Cambridge University, University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, Plants
Continue reading Strange trees in world’s oldest forest ripped themselves apart to grow
Stone Age builders may have been using other materials as well, according to a new study. Archaeologists have discovered the oldest evidence of artificial structures made of wood, dating back almost half a million years – predating the appearance of our own species and suggesting our relatives settled down much earlier than we thought.
Category: Science
Tags: Human, History, Archeology, University of Liverpool, Africa, Wood, World’s Oldest
Continue reading Oldest wooden structure, half a million years old, predates our species
Scientists are divided over whether there’s a new “earliest known sexed anthropomorphic representation,” in the form of a 4.3-cm (1.69-in) carved graphite pendant that University of Bordeaux archaeologists believe is supposed to be a penis.
Category: Science
Tags: History, Sex, Art, World’s Oldest
Continue reading Scientists clash over world’s oldest penis carving
Scientists have discovered evidence of what may be the world’s oldest known human burial. The team argues that several Homo naledi remains, dating back about 300,000 years, show signs of having been intentionally buried in a chamber deliberately marked with symbols, suggesting complex funerary behavior. But other scientists aren’t so sure.
Category: Science
Tags: Human, Evolution, Fossils, National Geographic, South Africa, Cave, World’s Oldest
Continue reading Mysterious hominin made world’s oldest burial site, study claims
It’s hard to imagine constructing a building without a detailed plan, but when exactly did humans first start doing that? Archeologists have discovered the oldest known blueprints, with a 9,000-year-old rock carving in Jordan depicting a to-scale plan for a nearby megastructure.
Category: Science
Tags: Archeology, World’s Oldest, Saudi Arabia, University of Freiburg, History, Building and Construction
Continue reading World’s oldest known blueprints detail to-scale desert megastructures
Horses were likely the first “vehicle” humans used to travel faster and farther, but when exactly did we start riding them? Scientists at the University of Helsinki have now found archeological evidence that suggests horseback riding started some 5,000 years ago.
Category: Science
Tags: Horse-riding, World’s Oldest, Archeology, Human, History, University of Helsinki
Continue reading Ancient skeletons suggest humans were riding horses 5,000 years ago
Most of what we know about ancient extinct animals comes from their bones, since soft tissues don’t usually fossilize well. But now, scientists have discovered the oldest preserved vertebrate brain, in a fossilized fish almost 320 million years old.
Tags: Fossils, Fish, Brain, University of Michigan, World’s Oldest
Continue reading World’s oldest vertebrate brain found in 319-million-year-old fossil
Most of what we know about ancient extinct animals comes from their bones, since soft tissues don’t usually fossilize well. But now, scientists have discovered the oldest preserved vertebrate brain, in a fossilized fish almost 320 million years old.
Tags: Fossils, Fish, Brain, University of Michigan, World’s Oldest
Continue reading World’s oldest vertebrate brain found in 319-million-year-old fossil
The record for world’s oldest surviving DNA has been shattered. An international team of scientists has discovered DNA that dates back 2 million years, preserved in Ice Age sediment that captures an entire ecosystem of known – and unknown – lifeforms.
Category: Science
Tags: Life, DNA, Evolution, Greenland, Cambridge University, World’s Oldest, Animals
Continue reading Record-breaking 2-million-year-old DNA reveals long-lost ecosystem