https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), as part of a team of Chinese, Spanish, and French scientists, have just published a study of what may prove to be China's most ancient human fossil. The researchers employed microCT, geometric morphometry, and classical morphology techniques to investigate the remains of the maxillary and five teeth from the skull unearthed at the Chinese site of Gongwangling. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-homo-erectus-gongwangling-earliest-population.html Archaeology Tue, 14 Jun 2022 10:29:55 EDT news574421392 One day in 2011, undergraduate student Naomi Martisius was sorting through tiny bone remnants in the University of California, Davis, paleoanthropology lab when she stumbled across a peculiar piece. https://phys.org/news/2013-09-neandertals-modern-humans-specialized-bone.html Archaeology Fri, 20 Sep 2013 08:38:19 EDT news298885085 Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest known species of primate, lived mainly in South China during the Pleistocene. The enormous body size of this taxon, together with its special dietary proclivity and possible relationship with hominins arouse great interest among paleoanthropologists. The dental enamel thickness of primates can indicate important information of evolution and diet adaption. In a paper published in the journal of Acta Anthropologica Sinica 2013 (3), ZHANG Lizhao, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his advisor Dr. ZHAO Lingxia, reconstructed teeth of Gigantopithecus blacki using micro-CT, measured dental enamel thickness and compared them with the dentition of other primates, suggesting that thick dental enamel of Gigantopithecus blacki shared with the early hominins may be evolved from one branch of Miocene fossil ape or is the result of parallel evolution with modern humans. https://phys.org/news/2013-09-exploring-dental-enamel-thickness-giant.html Archaeology Wed, 11 Sep 2013 09:30:01 EDT news298109569 A major unsolved problem in mammalian evolution is the origin of Allotheria, including Multituberculata and Haramiyida. Multituberculates are the most diverse and best known Mesozoic era mammals and ecologically resemble rodents, but haramiyids are known mainly from isolated teeth, hampering our search for their phylogenetic relationships. Researchers from Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature and Linyi University, reported a new haramiyid from the Jurassic period of China, Arboroharamiya jenkinsi, a partial skeleton with both mandibles associated with teeth and isolated upper teeth. This largest known haramiyid reveals additional mammalian features of this group, and helps to identify other haramiyids represented by isolated teeth, indicating a complex pattern of evolution involving many convergences and/or reversals existed in Mesozoic mammals, as reported August 8 in Nature. https://phys.org/news/2013-08-haramiyid-indicating-complex-pattern-evolution.html Archaeology Tue, 13 Aug 2013 09:32:42 EDT news295605152 The discovery of an "early modern human" dating from 40,000 years ago in a cave outside Beijing, and a comparison of the individual's DNA with that of populations around the globe, are providing new pieces in the puzzle of how Homo sapiens left their African origins to expand across the continents. https://phys.org/news/2013-07-scientists-migration-continents.html Archaeology Mon, 29 Jul 2013 09:36:57 EDT news294309385 It is widely accepted that birds are a subgroup of dinosaurs, but there is an apparent conflict: modern birds have been thought to possess only the middle three fingers (digits II-III-IV) of an idealized five-digit tetrapod hand based on embryological data, but their Mesozoic tetanuran dinosaur ancestors are considered to have the first three digits (I-II-III) based on fossil evidence. How could such an evolutionary quirk arise? Various hypotheses have been proposed to resolve this paradox. Adding to the confusion, some recent developmental studies support a I-II-III designation for avian wing digits whereas some recent paleontological data are consistent with a II-III-IV identification of the Mesozoic tetanuran digits. https://phys.org/news/2013-07-evolution-avian-wing-digits.html Archaeology Mon, 08 Jul 2013 09:00:46 EDT news292492837 In the Tha Chang area, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand, several sand pits previously have yielded fossils. The area is 220 km northeast of Bangkok, and the sand pits are located next to the Mun River. The sedimentary sequence of these sand pits consists of unconsolidated mudstone, sandstone, and conglomerate, deposited by the ancient Mun River. Almost all the fossils have been found and collected by local villagers working in these sand pits, and they have been brought to public institutions such as Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University. Consequently, precise field information is unavailable for most of the fossils from the Tha Chang area, including the type mandible of the recently described new hominoid Khoratpithecus piriyai. https://phys.org/news/2013-06-species-hornless-rhino-late-miocene.html Archaeology Wed, 26 Jun 2013 10:10:07 EDT news291457340 Microtoid cricetids are widely considered to be the ancestral form of arvicoline rodents, a successful rodent group including voles, lemmings and muskrats. The earliest previously known microtoid cricetid is Microtocricetus molassicus Fahlbusch and Mayr 1975 from the Late Miocene (MN9, about 10-11 million years ago) of Europe. Paleontologists from Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, described a new microtoid cricetid, Primoprismus fejfari, from the Early Miocene deposits (roughly estimated at 18–17 million years ago) of the Junggar Basin in Xinjiang, northwest China. This new record is more than 6 million years earlier than the record of M. molassicus, thus indicating a much deeper origin of microtoid rodents than previously assumed. The IVPP team reported online in the journal of Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. https://phys.org/news/2013-06-earliest-microtoid-cricetid-junggar-basin.html Archaeology Wed, 26 Jun 2013 09:22:54 EDT news291457363 The alvarezsauroid theropod Linhenykus monodactylus from the Upper Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China is the first known monodactyl non−avian dinosaur, providing important information on the complex patterns of manual evolution seen in alvarezsauroids. In a paper published in the journal of Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 58 (1), Dr. XU Xing, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team provide a detailed description of the osteology of this taxon. Linhenykus shows a number of features that are transitional between parvicursorine and non−parvicursorine alvarezsauroids, but detailed comparisons also reveal that some characters had a more complex distribution. https://phys.org/news/2013-06-monodactyl-dinosaur-adding-knowledge-evolution.html Archaeology Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:20:01 EDT news290851498 The late Cretaceous tyrannosaurid Alioramus altai is known from a single specimen whose articulated braincase exhibits a nearly unique combination of preservational quality, subadult stage of growth, and morphological complexity. An international team, including Dr. XU Xing, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, use a detailed physical preparation combined with high-resolution computed tomography to provide an expanded description of this braincase that includes details of the neurocranium and its dermal roof, pneumatic recesses and sinuses, cranial endocast, and inner ear cavities. The Study published in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 376 (1) increases our understanding of dinosaur biology, and may further contribute to better understanding of tyrannosauroid relationships. https://phys.org/news/2013-06-scientists-reveal-braincase-anatomy-late.html Archaeology Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:33:53 EDT news290417749 Though present before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, around 24,500–18,300 years ago), microblade technology is uncommon in the lithic assemblages of north-central China until the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD, around 12,900–11,600 years ago). Dr. GAO Xing, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team discussed the origins, antiquity, and function of microblade technology by reviewing the archaeology of three sites with YD microlithic components, Pigeon Mountain (QG3) and Shuidonggou Locality 12 (SDG12) in Ningxia Autonomous Region, and Dadiwan in Gansu Providence, suggesting the rise of microblade technology during Younger Dryas in the north-central China was connected with mobile adaptations organized around hunting, unlike the previous assumption that they served primarily in hunting weaponry. Researchers reported online in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (2). https://phys.org/news/2013-06-microblades-mobile-north-central-china.html Archaeology Thu, 13 Jun 2013 08:50:02 EDT news290331079 Dinosaur egg clutches, single eggs, and countless eggshell fragments have been found in the the Upper Cretaceous of the Pingxiang Basin, Jiangxi Province of China since 2002. In an article published in the latest issue of Vertebrata PalAsiatica 51(2), Dr. WANG Xiaolin, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team described a new oospecies: Parafaveoloolithus pingxiangensis oosp. nov. This study helps better understanding the composition of the Pingxiang dinosaur eggs oofauna and provides new data to study the eggshell formation and evolution of the dinosaur eggs in the Cretaceous Period. https://phys.org/news/2013-06-parafaveoloolithid-dino-egg-pingxiang-basin.html Archaeology Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:50:03 EDT news289643816 The Shihuiba locality (Lufengpithecus site) at Lufeng, Yunnan is one of the most important Miocene mammal fauna sites in China. The Hipparion (three-toed horse) fossils collected from this locality from 1975 to 1983 were identified as Hipparion sp. 1 and Hipparion sp. 2. Recently, SUN Boyang, a graduate student paleontologist of Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, re-examined these specimens and found they represent two species, Hipparion theobaldi (Lydekker, 1877) and Hipparion (Hipparion) lufengense sp. nov. The study published in the latest issue of Vertebrata PalAsiatica 2013(2) indicated that both species immigrated from the Siwaliks to Yunnan when climate and environment changed, providing new data for studies on paleobiogeography. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-miocene-hipparion-species-shihuiba-locality.html Archaeology Fri, 31 May 2013 08:27:40 EDT news289207654 Danjiangkou reservoir is located in the northwest of Hubei Province and southwest of Henan Province at the headwaters area of the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project. In 1994 and 2004, Scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, conducted two surveys around the margin of the Danjiangkou reservoir that will later be submerged upon completing a new section of the dam, and found 91 paleolithic open-air sites, distributed upon different terraces along the Hanshui River and its tributary Danjiang River. In April and May 2009, researchers carried out an excavation in the Guochachang II site which is located on the left bank of Hanshui River's third terrace. The excavation exposed an area of 500 m2 and uncovered 132 stone artifacts in situ as reported in the latest issue of Acta Anthropologica Sinica 2013 (2). https://phys.org/news/2013-05-stone-artifacts-unearthed-early-paleolithic.html Archaeology Wed, 29 May 2013 08:30:02 EDT news289033640 Aprotodon is a large-sized primitive rhinocerotid form, distinguished by relatively robust and strongly curved lower incisors, and the specialized wide mandibular symphysis, which is similar to that of the hippopotamus. It has been reported from the Late Oligocene Jiaozigou Fauna of the Linxia Basin, but the Early Miocene deposits of this basin produced only a few lower cheek teeth. In May 2008, six huge tusk-like incisors of Aprotodon were collected from the Early Miocene Shangzhuang Formation in the Linxia Basin, and Dr. DENG Tao, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, described them in the latest issue of Vertebrata PalAsiatica 2013(2). This find not only showed that Aprotodon survived surely into the Early Miocene in the Linxia Basin, but also proved that the climate in the Linxia Basin during the Early Miocene was similar to that of the Late Oligocene. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-incisors-primitive-rhino-early-miocene.html Archaeology Mon, 27 May 2013 10:13:53 EDT news288868381 Archaeopteryx has been considered the most primitive and earliest known bird ever since its discovery, and has been placed at the base of Avialae in nearly all numerical phylogenetic analyses. In 2011, a parsimony-based phylogenetic study incorporating information of a new Archaeopteryx-like theropod, Xiaotingia zhengi, shifted its position from within Avialae, the group that contains modern birds, to Deinonychosauria, a highly diverse group of predatory dinosaurs. Consequently, this new phylogenetic result has gained much attention and received immediate comments. One of these comments questioned the deinonychosaurian affinities of Archaeopteryx by applying probability-based methods to the same dataset and restoring Archaeopteryx to basal Avialae, suggesting these methods should be used more often in palaeontological studies. Is the systematic position of Archaeopteryx shifted? https://phys.org/news/2013-05-systematic-position-archaeopteryx.html Archaeology Mon, 13 May 2013 08:50:03 EDT news287652309 A joint team from Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and Office for Cultural Relics Administration of Daoxian County, unearthed five hominin teeth and a large number of mammalian fossils from the Fuyan Cave site in Daoxian County, Hunan Province of China during an excavation carried out in September and October, 2011. Researchers announced their finding in the latest issue of Acta Anthropologica Sinica 2013 (2), providing new data for the study of human evolution and adaptive behavior in South China. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-homonin-site-daoxian-county-hunan.html Archaeology Mon, 13 May 2013 08:40:05 EDT news287652287 Transition of a nasal horn to a frontal horn in elasmotheres has been difficult to explain, because a major transformational gap exists between nasal-horned ancestors and frontal-horned descendants. In a paper published in May 2013 in the journal of Chinese Science Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 15), Dr. DENG Tao from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his colleagues reported the first discovered skull of Sinotherium lagrelii from the Late Miocene red clays with an age of about 7 Ma in the Linxia Basin, northwestern China. This skull has an enormous nasofrontal horn boss shifted posteriorly and a smaller frontal horn boss, which are connected to each other, providing new evidence on the origin of the giant unicorn Elasmotherium. https://phys.org/news/2013-05-tandem-horned-rhino-late-miocene-northwestern.html Archaeology Fri, 10 May 2013 09:50:06 EDT news287394744 Thalattosaurs, literally meaning "ocean lizard", are a group of prehistoric marine reptiles living during the Triassic Period in North America and Eurasia. They bore a superficial resemblance to lizards, but the exact relationships of thalattosaurs is unclear. Paleontologists from Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, described in detail a new species of thalattosaur, Concavispina biseridens, from the Upper Triassic (Carnian) Xiaowa Formation near Xinpu Village in Guanling County, Guizhou Province, China. The study published in the latest issue of Journal of Paleontology 87(2) provides important information regarding the biodiversity and the phylogenetic relationships of this group. https://phys.org/news/2013-04-thalattosaur-upper-triassic-guanling-guizhou.html Archaeology Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:42:04 EDT news284028107 The cricetids, including extant hamsters, constitute one of the most diverse families of rodents. The Eurasian Paleogene and early Neogene cricetid rodents are very diverse, but the phylogenetic relationships among these cricetids remain unsolved. Discovery of more specimens of these basal cricetids will help to resolve their systematic position. In an article published in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(1), Drs. Olivier Maridet and NI Xijun, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, reported a new early Oligocene cricetid, Paracricetops virgatoincisus, from the Caijiachong locality in Yunnan Province, China. Their phylogenetic analysis including Paracricetops and other early cricetids not only asserts the systematic position of this new cricetid and illuminates the phylogenetic relationships among other cricetids, but also casts new lights on the origin and early radiation of the family Cricetidae. https://phys.org/news/2013-03-cricetid-rodent-early-oligocene-yunnan.html Archaeology Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:05:52 EDT news283424744 Mountain beavers of the subfamily Ansomyinae are small-sized aplodontid rodents, characterized by a bucket-handle shaped ectoloph on their upper cheek teeth. Although fossils have been discovered from the Oligocene and Miocene of North America and Eurasia, the evolutionary origins and biogeography of the group are still poorly known because of relatively few records and poor representation of some taxa. Paleontologists from Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, American Museum of Natural History and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, described a new genus and species of aplodontid rodent, Proansomys dureensis, from the late Oligocene of the northern Junggar Basin of China. These specimens represent the earliest record of the subfamily in Asia and provide new information on the early history of the Ansomyinae, as recently reported in PLoS ONE 8(1). https://phys.org/news/2013-03-aplodontid-rodent-late-oligocene-northern.html Archaeology Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:07:45 EDT news283162047 The Gonglou Paleolithic site in Baise (Bose) basin is located on the fourth terrace of the south bank of the Youjiang River in Tianyang county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and was first discovered in 1980s. Researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Nanning Museum carried a survey in 2010 and gathered a total of 102 stone artifacts. Researchers reported their findings in the latest issue of Acta Anthropologica Sinica 2013 (1), providing new data for the study of lithic techniques in the early Middle Pleistocene in South China. https://phys.org/news/2013-03-stone-artifacts-gonglou-site-china.html Archaeology Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:38:21 EDT news282559096 Although a relatively large number of late Middle Pleistocene hominins have been found in East Asia, these fossils have not been consistently included in current debates about the origin of anatomically modern humans (AMHS), and little is known about their phylogenetic place in relation to contemporary hominins from Africa and Europe as well as to Upper Pleistocene hominins. Dr. LIU Wu, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his international collaborators present a detailed description and comparative analysis of four hominin teeth (I1, C1, P3 and P3) recovered from the late Middle Pleistocene cave site of Panxian Dadong, Guizhou of southwestern China, including two new teeth recovered in 1998-2000 and the reassessment of two teeth already described. https://phys.org/news/2013-03-middle-pleistocene-teeth-adding-discussion.html Archaeology Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:30:01 EDT news282469683 A joint team of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Preservation Center of Cultural Heritage in Tianjin found a new paleolithic site at the Sungezhuang village, Jixian County, Tianjin City, China in April 2005, and a total of 58 stone artifacts were unearthed. Researchers reported their findings in the latest issue of Acta Anthropologica Sinica 2013 (1). https://phys.org/news/2013-03-paleolithic-site-tianjin-china.html Archaeology Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:17:10 EDT news282384938 The blade technology is no longer accepted as a marker of modern humans, while the presence of different varieties of systematic blade production in transitional and Initial Upper Paleolithic industries remains a topic of considerable scientific interest. Dr. GAO Xing, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team re-examine the evidence for the age of the blade technology at the Shuidonggou site by comparing the lithic assemblages from the new excavations at Locality 2 with those from Locality 1, and found that the age of large blade technology appears to be around 34,000-38,000 years ago in this region, not around 24,000-29,000 years ago as thought before, suggesting a relatively rapid technology dispersal from the west and/or north. Researchers reported in the latest issue of the Journal of Human Evolution 64 (2). https://phys.org/news/2013-03-re-examination-indicating-large-blade-technology.html Archaeology Mon, 11 Mar 2013 08:30:03 EDT news282208746 Mylagaulids is an extinct group of Aplodontoidea (Rodentia). Most genera possess high crowned and complex cheek teeth with numerous enamel bordered lakes of different depths, which vary in size and shape with wear. Thus, it is very difficult to make taxonomic determination and assess the relationship of small samples. https://phys.org/news/2013-02-species-mylagaulids-rodentia-miocene-northern.html Archaeology Thu, 07 Feb 2013 09:00:01 EST news279448301 During recent field work in the northwestern China, Dr. WANG Shiqi, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his collaborators discovered a juvenile gomphotheriid mandible in the Neogene strata of the Nanyucun Locality, Wushan County, Gansu Province. Researchers assigned the specimen to Gomphotherium wimani, an extinct gomphothere of proboscidean, as reported in the latest issue of Vertebrata PalAsiatica 2013. The finding provides new data on the morphology of the genus. https://phys.org/news/2013-02-material-gomphotheres.html Archaeology Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:20:01 EST news279276769 Paleontologists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, collected some dinosaur eggs of the oofamily Dictyoolithidae from the Upper Cretaceous Chichengshan Formation in the Tiantai Basin of Zhejiang Province. On the basis of general external shape, size, eggshell thickness, and eggshell composed of 3-4 superimposed slender shell units with a reticulate organization, researchers established a new oogenus and two oospecies, Paradictyoolithus zhuangqianensis oogen. et oosp. nov., and P. xiaxishanensis oogen. et oosp. nov., as reported in the January issue of Vertebrata PalAsiatica 2013 (1). https://phys.org/news/2013-02-dinosaur-eggs-dictyoolithids.html Archaeology Tue, 05 Feb 2013 08:52:29 EST news279276741 Perikymata are typical enamel growth markings of anterior teeth, and their spacing pattern and total counts can provide helpful information on dental development and life history. Recently, researchers from Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) studied the perikymata spacing pattern and counts of anterior teeth of fossil orangutans from South China and published their study in recent Vertebrata PalAsiatica (issue 4, volume 32). https://phys.org/news/2013-01-advance-crown-formation-anterior-teeth.html Archaeology Thu, 03 Jan 2013 08:00:01 EST news276421593 According to an article published online December 2012 in the journal of Chinese Science Bulletin (Vol.57, No.36), Dr. JIN Changzhu, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team described a new species of trilophodont gomphotheres, Sinomastodon jiangnanensis, from the Early Pleistocene Renzidong Cave deposits in Anhui Province, Eastern China. The specimen, an almost complete skull with mandible and dentition, is the first discovery of a Quaternary Sinomastodon skull from China and has significant implications for discussing the evolution, dispersion and related paleoecological variation of Sinomastodon during the Quaternary. https://phys.org/news/2012-12-species-trilophodont-gomphotheres-quaternary-china.html Archaeology Mon, 17 Dec 2012 11:35:23 EST news274966507