tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/palaeontology-1364/articlesPalaeontology – The Conversation2024-03-27T12:37:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2232682024-03-27T12:37:29Z2024-03-27T12:37:29ZHorses lived in the Americas for millions of years – new research helps paleontologists understand the fossils we’ve found and those that are missing from the record<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574775/original/file-20240211-26-t88v8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=63%2C121%2C4179%2C2650&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People have collected fossil horses throughout North America for centuries.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Florida Museum/Mary Warrick</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people assume that horses first came to the Americas when Spanish explorers brought them here about 500 years ago. In fact, recent research has <a href="https://theconversation.com/archaeology-and-genomics-together-with-indigenous-knowledge-revise-the-human-horse-story-in-the-american-west-202222">confirmed a European origin</a> for horses associated with humans in the American Southwest and Great Plains.</p>
<p>But those weren’t the first horses in North America. The family Equidae, which includes domesticated varieties of horses and donkeys along with zebras and their kin, is actually native to the Americas. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1105458">fossil record reveals</a> horse origins here more than 50 million years ago, as well as their extinction throughout the Americas during the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584586/original/file-20240326-30-4szthv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="family tree showing horse evolution diversifying over time" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584586/original/file-20240326-30-4szthv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584586/original/file-20240326-30-4szthv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584586/original/file-20240326-30-4szthv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584586/original/file-20240326-30-4szthv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=741&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584586/original/file-20240326-30-4szthv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584586/original/file-20240326-30-4szthv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584586/original/file-20240326-30-4szthv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Phylogeny, geographic distribution, diet and body sizes of the family Equidae over the past 55 million years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1105458">From 'Fossil horses–evidence for evolution.' Science. MacFadden, 2005. Reprinted with permission from AAAS.</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>We are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xhm6ez4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">paleontologists</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oZ8oBigAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">who focus our research</a> on various types of fossils, including ancient horses. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.35">Our most recent work</a> used computer statistics to analyze gaps in the fossil record to infer more about which horse species really did and didn’t live in one ancient habitat in Florida.</p>
<h2>Horses evolved as ecosystems changed</h2>
<p>People have collected fossil horses throughout North America for centuries. Because horse fossils are abundant and widespread across the continent, scientists often point to the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/earth-and-environmental-science/palaeontology-and-life-history/fossil-horses-systematics-paleobiology-and-evolution-family-equidae?format=PB">long span of the horse family</a> as evidence of long-term evolutionary change.</p>
<p>Paleontologists like us, who study extinct mammals, almost never find complete skeletons. Instead, we focus on durable fossil teeth, which help us understand ancient diets, and fossil limbs, which help clarify how these animals moved.</p>
<p>Horses are eating machines. In the wild today, they primarily feed on grasses that don’t provide much nutrition, and thus they need to consume large quantities to survive. The large teeth of modern horses and their ancestors are adapted primarily for grazing on gritty grasses. They replaced smaller teeth of more primitive horses adapted to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(01)00359-5">browsing on soft leafy vegetation</a>.</p>
<p>We know what horses ate millions of years ago by studying distinctive microscopic scratches, pits and other wear patterns on their teeth that were created <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.11.004">as the ancient horses chewed plant foods</a>. And analyses of carbon preserved in fossil teeth show that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(94)90099-X">coexisting horse species ate different plants</a>; some browsed on leaves from bushes and trees, some grazed on grasses, and yet others were mixed feeders.</p>
<p>The change in tooth shape tracks the change in dominant vegetation types in North America, from tropical forests that then gave way to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-040809-152402">great expansion of open prairie grasslands</a>. As the climate and flora changed over millions of years, horses shifted from being largely forest-dwelling browsers to largely open-country grazers. Their teeth and feeding patterns adapted to the environment.</p>
<p>Another adaptation is visible on horses’ feet. Modern horses have one hoofed toe on each foot. Many extinct fossil horses – the ancient ancestors of today’s horses – had three toes per foot. The single toe on each elongated foot is good for rapid and sustained running to evade predators and for long-distance seasonal migrations. The more ancient three-toed feet provided <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/308179a0">stability on unstable or wet ground</a>. The adaptation from three toes to one was likely in response to changing habitats.</p>
<p>But even as the environment changed, one distinct species didn’t completely replace another overnight. The fossil record in North America documents periods millions of years ago when multiple horse species coexisted on the ancient landscapes. Species were of different sizes and had teeth equipped for munching different plants, so they weren’t competing directly for the same foods. Different habitats within these ancient ecosystems likely had some species more adapted to forests and others more adapted to grasslands.</p>
<h2>Understanding Florida’s fossil record</h2>
<p>Paleontologists have been collecting horse fossils in Florida for over 125 years. The Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, where we work, has more than 70,000 fossil horse specimens from more than a thousand locations across the state.</p>
<p>One of our more <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/florida-vertebrate-fossils/sites/montbrook/">prolific fossil sites, Montbrook</a>, provides a glimpse of a 5.8 million-year-old ancient stream bed. It preserved more than 30 extinct mammals, including rhinos, elephants and carnivores, as well as hundreds of bones and teeth of fossil horses.</p>
<p>Although six horse species are known elsewhere in Florida, we have only found four so far at Montbrook. This smaller number of horse species perplexed us, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.35">so we decided to investigate</a>. Did the two “missing” horse species truly not live at Montbrook, or have scientists simply not discovered their fossil remains yet?</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584451/original/file-20240326-26-8hew8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Representative fossil horse teeth of Florida" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584451/original/file-20240326-26-8hew8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584451/original/file-20240326-26-8hew8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584451/original/file-20240326-26-8hew8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584451/original/file-20240326-26-8hew8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584451/original/file-20240326-26-8hew8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584451/original/file-20240326-26-8hew8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584451/original/file-20240326-26-8hew8y.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Each of the six fossil horse species (A-F) found in Florida have distinct teeth. Scale bar = 1 centimeter.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.35">Killingsworth & MacFadden, Paleobiology, 2024</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>We designed a theoretical model that compares Montbrook, with only four horse species, to other fossil sites in Florida that contain all six. Using a statistical technique that scientists call “<a href="https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/stor-i-student-sites/jack-trainer/bootstrapping-in-statistics/">bootstrapping</a>,” our computer essentially simulated continued fossil collecting over time. We generated 1,000 theoretical fossil collection events based on the fossil species counts from the sites where all six are present, to predict the probability of collecting the species that are currently missing at Montbrook.</p>
<p>Results from our simulation show that the two missing horse species at Montbrook were absent for different reasons. One of the horses is likely to be truly absent; the other may still be discovered with further excavation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576220/original/file-20240216-26-vkk8pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="About a dozen people focused on digging in soil a few feet below the surface of surrounding landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576220/original/file-20240216-26-vkk8pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576220/original/file-20240216-26-vkk8pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576220/original/file-20240216-26-vkk8pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576220/original/file-20240216-26-vkk8pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576220/original/file-20240216-26-vkk8pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576220/original/file-20240216-26-vkk8pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576220/original/file-20240216-26-vkk8pe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Excavations are ongoing at the Montbrook fossil site in Florida.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Florida Museum/Jeff Gage</span></span>
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<h2>Probing ‘gaps’ in the fossil record</h2>
<p>Knowing a species is absent is just as important as knowing when one is present at a fossil site. Absences may be indicators of underlying ecological and biological drivers changing population dynamics. Coupled with other types of analyses, researchers can apply this kind of predictive modeling across many fossil species and ancient landscapes.</p>
<p>Ever since <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin/Evolution-by-natural-selection-the-London-years-1836-42">Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution</a>, scientists have known that the fossil record is incomplete, resulting in gaps in our knowledge of the ancient past and evolutionary change. Paleontologists are challenged to explain these gaps, including which species were or were not present at particular fossil sites.</p>
<p>Gaps can result from certain materials, such as teeth and shells, which are often more durable than porous bone, fossilizing better than others. Likewise, different chemical conditions during fossilization, and even the amount of time spent collecting fossils at a particular site, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104537">can contribute to the lack of knowledge</a>.</p>
<p>Fortunately, fossil horse teeth preserve quite well and are commonly found. As new discoveries are made, such as those from our ongoing excavations in Florida, they’ll help clarify and narrow gaps in the fossil record.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223268/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce J. MacFadden receives funding from the US National Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Killingsworth does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Horse fossils are abundant and widespread across North America. Scientists often use their long history to illustrate how species evolve in response to a changing environment.Stephanie Killingsworth, Ph.D. Student in Geological Sciences, University of FloridaBruce J. MacFadden, Distinguished Professor and Director of Thompson Earth Systems Institute (TESI), University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2252862024-03-11T13:10:38Z2024-03-11T13:10:38ZA brief guide to birdwatching in the age of dinosaurs<p>Have you ever wondered what it would be like travel back in time to the age of dinosaurs? If you stumble upon a time machine, remember to bring your binoculars. Birdwatching is a popular hobby today, with an around <a href="https://www.wwt.org.uk/news-and-stories/blog/get-into-birdwatching/#:%7E:text=Bird%20watching%20in%20the%20UK,that%20we%20look%20after%20them.">3 million participants</a> in the UK alone, and in our modern world there are a staggering <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/pdf/PCv27_BR4">11,000 species</a> of birds to spot. </p>
<p>Despite the popularity of their modern-day descendants, we often forget about ancient birds because of their more famous dinosaur cousins.</p>
<p>Birds are actually <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-dinosaurs-evolved-into-birds.html">a type of dinosaur</a>. They are closely related to smaller, agile meat-eating dinosaurs such as the <em>Velociraptor</em>. Ancient birds came in a variety of forms, from ones with teeth and claws to species barely distinguishable from farmyard <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00766-2">chickens</a>. </p>
<p>So, if you were to point your binoculars over the heads of <em>Triceratops</em> and <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/five-things-you-probably-have-wrong-about-the-t-rex-220011">Tyrannosaurus rex</a></em>, what could you spot? Here is a quick introduction to six of the most interesting ancient bird species. </p>
<h2><em>Archaeopteryx</em></h2>
<p><em>Archaeopteryx</em> is <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/archaeopteryx.html">the iconic “dino-bird”</a> from the Jurassic period. The discovery of <em>Archaeopteryx</em> fossils in Germany over 150 years ago provided scientists with the first clues about the link between dinosaurs and modern birds. </p>
<p>At first glance, the skeleton of <em>Archaeopteryx</em> is just like any other meat-eating dinosaur – sharp teeth, clawed hands and a long bony tail. Surrounding the skeleton of specimens such as the <a href="https://www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/en/about/news/archaeopteryx-named-fossil-year">Berlin <em>Archaeopteryx</em></a> (discovered between <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/story/archaeopteryx-lithographica-%E2%80%93-the-berlin-specimen-museum-fuer-naturkunde-berlin/1AVxj85ySOZ4JQ?hl=en">1874 and 1876</a>) however, are imprints of feathers which form a pair of distinctly bird-like wings.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="3D rendering of black bird-like dinosaur flying through the sky" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580391/original/file-20240307-21-8fm1ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580391/original/file-20240307-21-8fm1ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580391/original/file-20240307-21-8fm1ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580391/original/file-20240307-21-8fm1ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580391/original/file-20240307-21-8fm1ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580391/original/file-20240307-21-8fm1ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580391/original/file-20240307-21-8fm1ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Archaeopteryx</em> looked half way between a dinosaur and a modern bird.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/archaeopteryx-birdlike-dinosaur-flying-through-sky-1722734977">Dotted Yeti/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>But for many years, palaeontologists debated whether <em>Archaeopteryx</em> could have used these wings to fly. Scientists now think it is likely that <em>Archaeopteryx</em> could have flown, but only <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03296-8">in short bursts </a>, like a pheasant. Recent technological advances have given us our first insights into dinosaur colour and studies of fossilised, pigmented cells have shown that <em>Archaeopteryx</em> had <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-65336-y">matt black</a> wing feathers.</p>
<h2><em>Confuciusornis</em></h2>
<p>This crow-sized bird had a beak like that of modern-day birds, but still had large, <a href="https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/items/fc74de43-ec0e-497f-a199-7f89b6b658b9">dinosaur-like claws</a> on its hands. It is thought that they lived in flocks, large numbers of which were killed by ash or gas in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms4151">volcanic eruptions</a> and preserved as fossils. Known from over <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326059155_A_taxonomical_revision_of_the_Confuciusornithiformes_Aves_Pygostylia">1,000 fossil specimens</a> from China, <em>Confuciusornis</em> is one of the most common fossil bird species.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580395/original/file-20240307-30-nefob5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Outline of dinosaur clearly preserved in rock" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580395/original/file-20240307-30-nefob5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580395/original/file-20240307-30-nefob5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580395/original/file-20240307-30-nefob5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580395/original/file-20240307-30-nefob5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580395/original/file-20240307-30-nefob5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580395/original/file-20240307-30-nefob5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580395/original/file-20240307-30-nefob5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"><em>Confuciusornis sanctus</em> fossil, encased in rock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dinosaur-fossil-confuciusornis-sanctus-rock-1232355214">Chawalit Chankhantha/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Some of these birds had a <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0409?casa_token=dLetzDz5OIUAAAAA%3AKUyu-cMBlflBhPXtC6xu-PxSc6wFebScqXzE3LBa33EmqsrzLISDWi08ToliVPfTfyuuDI_psxm7fBY">pair of tail feathers</a> longer than their body, while others lacked these long feathers and would have looked comparatively stumpy. Scientists think these long-tailed birds were the males of the species and those with <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2377">short tails were females</a>. Like modern peacocks and peahens, the males probably used their extravagant tail feathers to woo the females.</p>
<h2><em>Falcatakely</em></h2>
<p>Discovered in 2020, <em><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2945-x">Falcatakely</a></em>, from Madagascar, would have resembled a small, buck-toothed toucan. Its oversized, banana-shaped bill only had teeth <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03260-x">at the very tip</a>. Although we don’t know what this buck-toothed bird would have eaten, its close relatives ate a <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.07.18.549506v2.abstract">variety of food</a>, including fruit, fish and even larger prey. </p>
<p>Scientists think that birds such as <em>Falcatakely</em> could fly the same day they <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1100000">hatched from their egg</a>, unlike birds today which spend their first weeks or months helpless in the nest.</p>
<h2><em>Hesperornis</em></h2>
<p>One of the weirdest birds from the age of dinosaurs, <em>Hesperornis</em> would have looked something like a six-foot-tall penguin with a beak full of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12862-016-0753-6#Sec27">sharp teeth</a>. Its <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/14/4/267">tiny arms</a> would have made T rex look like a weightlifter, so it definitely couldn’t have used them to fly. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Illustration of bird with tiny wings perched on a rock" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580394/original/file-20240307-18-16mtuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580394/original/file-20240307-18-16mtuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580394/original/file-20240307-18-16mtuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580394/original/file-20240307-18-16mtuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580394/original/file-20240307-18-16mtuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580394/original/file-20240307-18-16mtuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580394/original/file-20240307-18-16mtuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Hesperornis</em> was an aquatic bird that lived at the time of the dinosaurs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/hesperornis-aquatic-bird-that-lived-time-1118302547">Daniel Eskridge/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Instead, <em>Hesperornis</em> used its oversized <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018217307149">feet to propel</a> itself through the water like a modern cormorant. Out of the water, <em>Hesperornis</em> walked <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018217307149">awkwardly upright</a> and probably couldn’t travel far overland.</p>
<h2><em>Vegavis and Asteriornis</em></h2>
<p>Towards the end of the dinosaurs’ reign, the earliest groups of modern birds began to appear. The first of these birds to be discovered was <em><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03150">Vegavis</a></em> from Antarctica, which in the time of dinosaurs would have been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018201004527">covered in trees</a> rather than ice. </p>
<p>It was probably an ancestor of ducks and geese and one exceptional fossil of <em>Vegavis</em> even has a rare <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature19852">preserved vocal organ</a>. Analysis of this fossil suggested that <em>Vegavis</em> couldn’t make a songbird melody but could have made simple noises such as goose-like honks.</p>
<p>Sixty-six million years ago, not long before the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2006087117">asteroid impact</a>, which caused the extinction of the non-bird dinosaurs, lived <em><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2096-0">Asteriornis</a></em>. This quail-sized bird from Belgium was an ancestor of modern ducks and chickens. Although it would have looked unremarkable compared to the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/netherlands-journal-of-geosciences/article/stratigraphic-ranges-of-mosasaurs-in-belgium-and-the-netherlands-late-cretaceous-and-cephalopodbased-correlations-with-north-america/2601C3D2DD398B92DFEDA122E82F9991">giant swimming lizards</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05445-y">huge, toothed seagulls</a> it lived alongside, this may have been to its advantage.</p>
<p>Scientists think that the small size of birds such as <em>Asteriornis</em> helped them to survive the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article/67/1/1/3960267">mass extinction</a>. Because smaller animals need less food and take less time to reproduce, these humble birds were able to survive and evolve into the birds you can see through your binoculars today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225286/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abi Crane does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If you love learning about dinosaurs don’t let crowdpleasers like the T Rex distract you from the fascinating birdlife that once roamed the Earth.Abi Crane, Postgraduate Researcher in Palaeontology, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2197082024-03-07T13:30:42Z2024-03-07T13:30:42ZTitanosaurs were the biggest land animals Earth’s ever seen − these plant-powered dinos combined reptile and mammal traits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578965/original/file-20240229-28-gycuea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C0%2C3000%2C1967&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A replica fossil of the titanosaur _Patagotitan_, one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered. It would have weighed about 70 tons (63.5 metric tons.)</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/replica-of-one-of-the-largest-dinosaurs-ever-discovered-is-news-photo/504972828">Spencer Platt/Getty Images News via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You’re probably familiar with classic sauropod dinosaurs – the four-legged herbivores famous for their long necks and tails. Animals such as <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520246232/the-sauropods"><em>Brachiosaurus</em>, <em>Apatosaurus</em> and <em>Diplodocus</em></a> have been standard fixtures in science museums since the 1800s.</p>
<p>With their small brains and enormous bodies, these creatures have long been the poster children for <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/triumph-of-the-titans/">animals destined to go extinct</a>. But recent discoveries have completely rewritten the doomed sauropod narrative. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Dz3tM2YAAAAJ&hl=en">I study</a> a lesser known group of sauropod dinosaurs – the Titanosauria, or “titanic reptiles.” Instead of going extinct, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95959-3_10">titanosaurs flourished</a> long after their more famous cousins vanished. Not only were they large and in charge on <a href="https://paleobiodb.org/navigator/">all seven continents</a>, they held their own amid the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.10.035">newly evolved duck-billed and horned dinosaurs</a>, until an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay2268">asteroid struck Earth</a> and ended the age of dinosaurs.</p>
<p>The secret to titanosaurs’ remarkable biological success may be how they merged the best of both reptile and mammal characteristics to form a unique way of life. </p>
<h2>Moving with the continents</h2>
<p>Titanosaurs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00853.x">originated by the Early Cretaceous Period</a>, nearly 126 million years ago, at a time when many of the <a href="https://deeptimemaps.com/map-lists-thumbnails/global-paleogeography-and-tectonics-in-deep-time/">Earth’s landmasses were much closer together</a> than they are today.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HhkyXrWNoVA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Starting about 200 million years ago, the supercontinent Pangea began to break apart and drift.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the next 75 million to 80 million years, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-earths-continents-became-twisted-and-contorted-over-millions-of-years-116168">continents slowly separated</a>, and titanosaurs drifted along with the changing formations, becoming distributed worldwide. </p>
<p>There were nearly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95959-3_8">100 species of titanosaurs</a>, making up more than 30% of known sauropod dinosaurs. They varied greatly in size. From the largest known sauropods ever discovered, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08912960410001715132"><em>Argentinosaurus</em></a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1219"><em>Patagotitan</em></a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1590/S0001-37652007000300013"><em>Futalognkosaurus</em></a>, whose weight exceeded 60 tons (54.4 metric tons) and were bigger than a semitruck, to the smallest known sauropods, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105389"><em>Rinconsaurus</em></a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2014.12.012"><em>Saltasaurus</em></a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1000781107"><em>Magyarosaurus</em></a>, which were around only 6 tons (5.4 metric tons) and about the size of an African elephant. </p>
<h2>Babies to titans</h2>
<p>Like many reptiles, titanosaurs began life comparatively tiny, hatching from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/24370">eggs no bigger than grapefruits</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/24370">best data on titanosaur nests</a> and eggs comes from a site in Argentina called Auca Mahuevo, featuring 75 million-year-old exposed rocks. The site contains hundreds of fossilized nests containing thousands of eggs, some of which are so well preserved, scientists recovered <a href="https://doi.org/10.1666/05-150.1">skin impressions from ancient embryos</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579040/original/file-20240229-20-4s0o47.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white microscopic image showing a bumpy pattern." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579040/original/file-20240229-20-4s0o47.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579040/original/file-20240229-20-4s0o47.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579040/original/file-20240229-20-4s0o47.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579040/original/file-20240229-20-4s0o47.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579040/original/file-20240229-20-4s0o47.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579040/original/file-20240229-20-4s0o47.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579040/original/file-20240229-20-4s0o47.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The fossilized skin of a titanosaur embryo discovered in Argentina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of L. M. Chiappe, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sheer number of nests found together, in multiple geological layers, suggests titanosaurs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.05.031">returned to this site repeatedly</a> to lay their eggs. The nests are so closely spaced, it’s unlikely an adult titanosaur would have been able to move freely through the nesting ground. Titanosaurs likely had a hands-off parenting style, similar to many reptiles that lay numerous eggs and don’t spend much time tending the nest or taking care of hatchlings. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf1509">A titanosaur hatchling</a> would have been roughly 1 foot (30 centimeters) tall, 3 feet (1 meter) long and 5-10 pounds (2.5-5 kg). Recent evidence from a site in Madagascar suggests these tiny titans were born ready to rumble.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569145/original/file-20240112-19-8vmjcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration of a human standing next to five different sized 4-legged, long necked dinosaurs from an baby to towering individual." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569145/original/file-20240112-19-8vmjcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569145/original/file-20240112-19-8vmjcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569145/original/file-20240112-19-8vmjcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569145/original/file-20240112-19-8vmjcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=259&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569145/original/file-20240112-19-8vmjcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569145/original/file-20240112-19-8vmjcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569145/original/file-20240112-19-8vmjcx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A titanosaur from Madagascar called <em>Rapetosaurus krausei</em> is known from fossils of tiny hatchlings, giant adults and a variety of in-between sizes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jordan Mae Harris</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fossilized bones from the species <em>Rapetosaurus</em> suggest that by the time they would have been just knee high to a modern human, they were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf1509">likely fending for themselves</a>. Microscopic details recorded deep within the bones indicate baby <em>Rapetosaurus</em> likely foraged independently for plants and moved much more nimbly than their lumbering adult relatives.</p>
<p>For the first century of dinosaur science, paleontologists imagined titanosaurs as giant, overgrown reptiles – and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2400208">used reptilian growth rates to predict their milestones</a>. In this slow-growth model, even the smallest titanosaurs would have taken nearly a century to reach their full size, meaning they would have been relatively small for a good chunk of their lives. New evidence suggests this growth pattern is unlikely.</p>
<p>Scientists like me <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520273528/bone-histology-of-fossil-tetrapods">study titanosaurs’ bones at high magnification</a> to better understand their growth. We look at the microscopic patterns of bone minerals as well as the density and architecture of the spaces that held blood vessels and cells. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579902/original/file-20240305-24-l3albd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A microscopic image showing both horizontal wavy spaces and circular spaces against a solid background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579902/original/file-20240305-24-l3albd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579902/original/file-20240305-24-l3albd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579902/original/file-20240305-24-l3albd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579902/original/file-20240305-24-l3albd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579902/original/file-20240305-24-l3albd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579902/original/file-20240305-24-l3albd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579902/original/file-20240305-24-l3albd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A thin slice of a juvenile titanosaur femur bone. The linear and circular structures are the spaces where a dense network of blood vessels supplied this fast-growing animal with plenty of nutrients.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kristi Curry Rogers</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The more dense the blood supply is to a bone, the faster that animal grows. These signatures are also present in living animals and can accurately reflect <a href="https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351189590">growth rates, anomalies and even age</a>. </p>
<p>Bone data shows titanosaur growth rates were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351189590">on par with mammals like whales</a> – much, much faster than any living reptile – meaning they would have reached their enormous adult sizes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2010.00137.x">in just a few decades</a>. Scientists can’t know for sure how long titanosaurs lived, but based on large land animals living today, titanosaurs lived possibly 60 or more years. </p>
<h2>Fueled by plants</h2>
<p>The rapid growth rates of sauropods was partly due to their body temperatures. By studying the chemistry of fossilized teeth <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9296">and eggshells</a>, scientists have determined titanosaurs had body temperatures <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1206196">ranging from about 95 to 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit</a> (35 to 38 degrees Celsius). That’s higher than that of crocodiles and alligators, about the same as modern mammals and a bit lower than most birds, whose bodies can regularly get <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0300-9629(91)90122-S">as warm as 104 F (40 C)</a>.</p>
<p>Titanosaurs’ rapid growth rates were also powered by their prodigious appetites for plants. Microscopic patterns of scratches, wear and pits on their teeth indicate titanosaurs in Argentina fed on a diverse diet rich in grit, suggesting they were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151661">dining on plants found lower to the ground</a>, where sediment would be more commonly found.</p>
<p>In India, chunks of fossilized feces, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-poop-offers-unusual-insight-into-animal-behaviour-197200">otherwise known as coprolites</a>, show titanosaurs there ingested everything from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1118806">ground-level plants all the way up to the leaves and branches</a> of trees.</p>
<p>Like all dinosaurs, titanosaurs replaced their teeth throughout life. But data shows they replaced each tooth <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0069235">about every 20 days</a> for maximum efficiency, one of the highest tooth-replacement rates known for dinosaurs.</p>
<p>Had it not been for the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1177265">asteroid impact 66 million years ago</a>, these long-lived, incredibly diverse and wildly successful animals probably would have kept on thriving, in places as distant as <a href="https://paleobiodb.org/navigator/">Madagascar, Romania, North America and even Antarctica</a>. Instead, titanosaurs were among the witnesses to – and victims of – the most recent mass extinction on Earth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219708/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristi Curry Rogers receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the David B. Jones Foundation. </span></em></p>Some of these giant vegetarians were as tall as a 3-story building. Microscopic analysis of their teeth, bones and eggshells reveals how they grew, what they ate and even their body temperature.Kristi Curry Rogers, Professor of Biology and Geology, Macalester CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2235012024-02-16T15:54:58Z2024-02-16T15:54:58ZModern palaeontology keeps unmasking fossil forgeries – and a new study has uncovered the latest fake<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575570/original/file-20240214-17-sfwnu2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C1478%2C814&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Tridentinosaurus counterfeit </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Valentina Rossi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fake fossils are among us, passing almost undetected under the eye of experts all over the world. This is a serious problem – counterfeited specimens can mislead palaeontologists into studying an ancient past that never existed. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12690">a new study</a>, my colleagues and I reveal a surprising truth about a fossil celebrated for decades as one of the best preserved fossils from the Alps. </p>
<p>The <em>Tridentinosaurus antiquus</em> was a small lizard-like reptile that lived during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Permian-Period">Permian period</a> (299-252 million years ago), where the Alps are today. Discovered in 1931, the specimen was prized for what scientists thought were carbonised traces of the skin visible on the surface of the rock. Generations of palaeontologists thought the fossil was genuine, perhaps the oldest animal mummy ever discovered. This is partly because the type of preservation was rare. </p>
<p>The fossil has been reported in books and <a href="https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app20100087.html">articles</a> but has never been studied in detail with modern techniques. Experts were unsure about which group of reptiles the fossil belonged to. Our study was hoping to resolve this and other long-running debates among scientists. </p>
<p>But our team discovered that the skin is actually fake. What was thought to be well-preserved carbonised skin was just a carved lizard-shaped body impression covered in black paint. </p>
<p>The fossil is not a complete fake, however. The bones of the hind limbs, in particular the femurs, seem genuine. We also found some tiny, bony scales (called osteoderms, like the scales of crocodiles) preserved on what perhaps was the back of the animal.</p>
<p>It was with our preliminary investigation using <a href="https://news.utexas.edu/2019/06/10/new-photography-technique-brings-hidden-history-of-fossils-to-light/">ultraviolet photography</a> that we revealed that the dark coloured body outline and all these bones and scales had been treated with some sort of coating material. Coating fossils with varnishes or lacquers used to be normal practice over the past couple of centuries – and is sometimes still necessary to <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/fossil-preparation.html">preserve fossil</a> specimens in museum cabinets and exhibits.</p>
<p>We were hoping that, beneath the coating layer, the original soft tissues would still be in good condition. But chemical techniques found the material actually matched a kind of <a href="https://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/indiv/overview/boneblack.html">black paint</a> made from animal bones, meaning the skin was indeed totally forged.</p>
<p>Sadly, this means we will never know what the original fossil really looked like. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575569/original/file-20240214-30-qoatq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two side by side images of ancient reptile" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575569/original/file-20240214-30-qoatq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575569/original/file-20240214-30-qoatq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575569/original/file-20240214-30-qoatq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575569/original/file-20240214-30-qoatq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575569/original/file-20240214-30-qoatq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=707&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575569/original/file-20240214-30-qoatq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=707&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575569/original/file-20240214-30-qoatq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=707&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A photo of the specimen next to a UV image showing there isn’t soft tissue beneath the black covering layer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Valentia Rossi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The circumstances behind this forgery are unknown, but we know that it took place before 1959 – the date of the official scientific description of the fossil. However, this discovery is a reminder of how important it is to report such specimens and combat fossil forgeries.</p>
<h2>The history of fossil forgeries</h2>
<p>The history of fossil forgery goes as far back as the dawn of palaeontology itself, with early reports dating back to the late <a href="https://www.rendicontisocietageologicaitaliana.it/297/article-4143/the-fossil-merchant-from-verona-the-first-written-testimony-of-paleontological-forgery-in-italy.html">18th and 19th centuries</a>. </p>
<p>This was mainly driven by the lucrative market of selling fossil specimens to private collectors and museums. For instance, an <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/archaeopteryx.html#:%7E:text=Archaeopteryx%20was%20a%20small%2C%20bird,it%20might%20be%20an%20angel">original specimen of _Archeopteryx</a>_ (an avian dinosaur) was <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-14084-6_5#DOI">sold</a> for the current equivalent of £85,000 back in the early 1860s. Some people forged fossils for scientific and <a href="https://theconversation.com/solving-the-piltdown-man-crime-how-we-worked-out-there-was-only-one-forger-63615">social recognition</a>, too. </p>
<p>Famous examples span a range of fossil types, from the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-twist-to-whodunnit-in-sciences-famous-piltdown-man-hoax-64470">Piltdown man</a> (1912), an elaborate fraud involving the construction of a hominid from an amalgamation of human and ape bones, to <em><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/35069145">Archaeoraptor</a></em> (1990), a chimaera (a fossil reconstructed with elements coming from more than a single species or genus of animal) formed by different dinosaurs’ skeleton parts to form a new specimen that was initially <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.290.5500.2224a">reported</a> in National Geographic magazine as genuine in 1999. </p>
<p>Other examples include cases of partial skulls of extinct mammals that were completed with bones <a href="https://evolutionnews.org/2023/06/fossil-friday-the-oldest-cheetah-was-yet-another-fraud/">made of plastic</a>. Sometimes a mixture of cement, resins, rock fragments and dust is used for this kind of forgery. Forgers can also use dark brown or black paint to change the appearance of poorly preserved specimens that otherwise would not be of interest to researchers or collectors. </p>
<p>This happened in the case of <a href="https://www.mapress.com/pe/article/view/palaeoentomology.2.5.15"><em>Mongolarachne chaoyangensis</em></a>, a supposedly giant spider found in China. It turned out to be a poorly preserved crayfish after palaeontologists took a closer look the same year the first paper about it was published in 2019.</p>
<p>Scientists have discovered that natural history museums around the world have counterfeit specimens in their collections. While new technology is helping to study fossil <a href="https://www.amnh.org/research/paleontology/collections/fossil-invertebrate-collection/trilobite-website/the-trilobite-files/fake-trilobites"><em>trilobites</em></a>, a kind of ancient marine invertebrates in more detail, it is also showing that many specimens are fake.</p>
<p>The same is happening with animal and plant remains fossilised in amber
(fossil <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2151-6952.1994.tb01023.x?casa_token=o7kmo8NJM5UAAAAA:F2aabeMdF0gT5SafKrpJxpoyGqfiNahJNGkBUFQHB7XjKZThJOeWlFVHpkMMVbF_QqS18U3u2ITjKFI">tree resin</a>), acquired in historical times and only <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0059">recently analysed in detail</a> with modern techniques. </p>
<p>The market for fake fossils is a huge problem today. This is particularly the case in countries with less regulation. The fossil trade <a href="https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP485.1">in Morocco alone</a> is worth US$40 million (£32 million) a year and supplies fossil shows all over the world. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, colonialism stifled local expertise in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.210898">South America</a> – and as a result a high number of studies on fossils from the region are based on specimens illegally transferred to collections in other countries, particularly in Germany and Japan. </p>
<p>We need governments around the world to introduce <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12371-021-00595-3">rigorous laws</a> to protect our world’s palaeontological and geological heritage.</p>
<p>The case of <em>Tridentinosaurus antiquus</em> is a cautionary tale. We believe our research can inform practices of conservation of fossils that are not appropriate any longer, such as painting over fossils, and in turn outline more ethical actions to take when a fossil is discovered. </p>
<p>For instance, the state of a fossil at the moment of discovery should be recorded in detail – along with information about when and where it was found and how it was prepared and conserved. Embellishments should be avoided. </p>
<p>We might not be able to put an end to the making of fake fossils, but we are here and ready to unmask them and protect our marvellous fossil heritage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223501/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Valentina Rossi is currently affiliated with the University College Cork. She receives funding from the Promotion of Educational
Policies, University and Research Department of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano — South Tyrol within the research project ‘Living with the supervolcano - How Athesian eruptions destroyed and preserved 15 million years of Permian life’ (nr. 11/34; CUP H32F20000010003) awarded to Prof. Evelyn Kustatscher (Museum of Nature South Tyrol, Bolzano, Italy).</span></em></p>A lizard fossil that was thought to be the best preserved ever has turned out to have fake skin.Valentina Rossi, Postdoctoral researcher, Palaeontology, University College CorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2226322024-02-06T06:13:31Z2024-02-06T06:13:31ZNewly identified prehistoric pterosaur will help us understand evolution of flying reptiles<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573093/original/file-20240202-19-jahq7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C2246%2C1232&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artist's impression of the new pterosaur species, Cheoptera </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Witton/Natural History Museum</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When dinosaurs roamed the land, the skies above their heads were filled with a variety of soaring reptiles, which swept through the air on <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pterosaurs-were-monsters-of-the-mesozoic-skies/">slender, membranous wings</a>. These animals, pterosaurs, were not dinosaurs but their <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/watch-a-pterosaur-fly.html">evolutionary cousins</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2023.2298741">We’ve just announced</a> the discovery of a new species of pterosaur nearly 15 years after a fossil was found on the Isle of Skye. It is one of the most complete pterosaur fossils to be found in the UK since palaeontologist <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/mary-anning-unsung-hero.html">Mary Anning</a> unearthed <a href="https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Library-and-Information-Services/Collection-Highlights/Mary-Anning-and-the-Geological-Society/pterosaurs-coprolites-and-sepia/dimorphodon-macronyx">the first</a> from the Dorset coast in 1828. </p>
<p>Pterosaurs were the first backboned animals to achieve powered flight (<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982216314610">insects got there</a> first). Pterosaur fossils are known worldwide but their remains are rare in comparison to those of their land and water-based relatives. This is due to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/pterosaurs-should-%20have-been-too-big-to-fly-so-how-did-they-manage-it-60892">fragile nature of their skeletons</a>, which are composed of thin-walled, hollow bones.</p>
<p>Pterosaur fossils are often incomplete, <a href="https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/pterosaurs-flight-in-the-age-of-dinosaurs/why-are-pterosaur-fossils-rare">crushed and distorted</a>. A sparse pterosaur record has been harvested from the Jurassic period (200-145 million years ago) and <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/the-cretaceous-period.html#:%7E:text=When%20was%20the%20Cretaceous%20Period,Cenozoic%20Era%2C%20our%20current%20era.">Cretaceous period</a> (145-66 million years ago) rocks of the UK since Anning’s discoveries. </p>
<p>But most of these are limited to a few isolated bones <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/oes/news/2013/03/20_new_pterosaur_from_isle_of_wight.page">such as <em>Vectidraco</em></a>, a toothless pterosaur whose fossilised remains were found on the Isle of Wight in 2008 by five-year-old Daisy Morris. </p>
<p>This is where <a href="https://www.scottishtours.co.uk/scotland/isle-of-skye/">the Isle of Skye</a> comes in. Although Skye is most famous for the ancient volcanic landscapes of the <a href="https://www.isleofskye.com/skye-guide/skye-places/the-cuillin">Cuillin Hills</a> mountain range, there are <a href="https://www.isleofskye.com/skye-guide/history/jurassic-skye#:%7E:text=The%20Isle%20of%20Skye%20holds,mainly%20contained%20in%20local%20knowledge.">Jurassic-aged rocks</a> around the margins of the island. </p>
<p>Over the past 50 years teams of geologists and palaeontologists have been gradually uncovering <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/earth-and-environmental-science-transactions-of-royal-society-of-edinburgh/article/diverse-vertebrate-assemblage-of-the-kilmaluag-formation-bathonian-middle-jurassic-of-skye-scotland/B8DD4D46839FA83FA2E57437BDEBF2B8">more of Skye’s ancient</a> past. This work has accelerated thanks to the new imaging techniques, mainly CT scanning, which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/30/getting-under-a-fossils-skin-how-ct-scans-have-changed-palaeontology-dinosaur-lizard">make it easier</a> to study these fossils. </p>
<p>Our new pterosaur was found in 2006 by a team of researchers including Paul Barrett in a loose boulder lying on the beach at <a href="https://canmore.org.uk/site/138335/cladach-a-ghlinne">Cladach a’Glinne</a>, on the edge of a remote bay overshadowed by the Cuillins. </p>
<p>At first sight, the new skeleton was an underwhelming smear of thin, broken, black bone set in a hard, dark-grey mudstone. But, even then, these thin bones suggested that the find would turn out to be interesting.</p>
<p>It took <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/departments-and-staff/staff-directory/lu-allington-jones.html">Lu Allington-Jones</a>, one of the Natural History Museum’s fossil technicians, nearly two years to prepare our discovery for study. The rocks from Skye are extremely hard, and the fossil bones are delicate. </p>
<p>Although Lu’s work allowed us to study some of the bones, others remained encased in rock as they were too dainty to remove or expose further.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573095/original/file-20240202-21-y3x46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573095/original/file-20240202-21-y3x46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573095/original/file-20240202-21-y3x46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573095/original/file-20240202-21-y3x46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573095/original/file-20240202-21-y3x46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573095/original/file-20240202-21-y3x46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573095/original/file-20240202-21-y3x46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573095/original/file-20240202-21-y3x46f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Skeleton of the new pterosaur <em>Ceoptera evansae</em> from the Isle of Skye.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Trustees of the Natural History Museum</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once this work was complete, the specimen lay dormant in the museum’s collections for about nine years. But then we decided to examine the fossil using the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/earthsciences/research/palaeobiology/facilities/xtm-facility/">university’s CT scanner</a>. </p>
<p>Using this equipment, similar to that used in a hospital for diagnosing broken bones, with many months of careful imaging we were able to reveal almost the entire animal in three dimensions. </p>
<p>After comparing it with other pterosaur fossils from around the world, we realised that we were dealing with something new and we called it <em>Ceoptera evansae</em> (from the Gaelic name for Skye, Eilean a’ Cheò, Isle of Mist, and honouring <a href="https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/9226-susan-evans">Professor Susan Evans</a> who has worked extensively in the area). </p>
<p>This pterosaur species is important because of the quality of preservation and its age. It is one of only a <a href="https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/12007/1/zitteliana_2008_b28_05.pdf">handful of pterosaur skeletons</a> from the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/jurassic">Middle Jurassic period</a>, approximately 167 million years ago. </p>
<p>At this time pterosaurs were undergoing colossal anatomical changes from early small-bodied, long-tailed pterosaurs such as <em><a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/Dimorphodon">Dimorphodon</a></em> (roughly the size of a raven) to later pterosaurs like <em><a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/Pteranodon">Pteranodon</a></em> which had a wingspan similar to that of a small airplane. </p>
<p>The lack of good pterosaur specimens from this time interval has hindered scientists’ attempts to understand how pterosaurs evolved from these earlier forms to those that dominated the skies later in Earth’s history. <em>Ceoptera</em> helps to fill this a gap. </p>
<p>For 15 years scientists have studied <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-%20nature/darwinopterus-a-transitional-pterosaur-55145586/">transitional pterosaurs</a> that show a mix of features seen in the
earlier, tailed forms and their later, giant relatives. <em>Ceoptera</em> is one of these transitional forms (called a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/darwinopterus-a-transitional-pterosaur-55145586/">Darwinopteran</a>), one of the first members of this group known from Europe, and is the second-oldest darwinopteran worldwide. </p>
<p>This makes <em>Ceoptera</em> crucial in understanding the pace of pterosaur evolution, and it has pushed back the appearance of more advanced pterosaurs to the Early Jurassic period, about 10 million years earlier than previously thought. It brings us one step closer to understanding where and when the more advanced pterosaurs evolved. </p>
<p><em>Ceoptera</em>‘s discovery shows how palaeontologists are making new discoveries all the time, even in places like the UK - one of the most heavily surveyed places worldwide. It also shows how new technology can is helping to unearth the mysteries of Earth’s ancient past. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Barrett is affiliated with The Linnean Society (Trustee).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Martin-Silverstone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Isle of Skye has a rich palaeontological heritage, so perhaps it’s no surprise scientists made an important discovery there.Elizabeth Martin-Silverstone, Research Assistant in Palaeontology, University of BristolPaul Barrett, Individual Merit Researcher, Natural History MuseumLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2193042024-01-10T19:13:07Z2024-01-10T19:13:07ZGiant ‘kings of apes’ once roamed southern China. We solved the mystery of their extinction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563807/original/file-20231206-15-lq4hvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C9%2C3241%2C2087&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Artist's impression of a group of Gigantopithecus blacki in a forest in southern China.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Garcia/Joannes-Boyau (Southern Cross University)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Giant creatures are usually associated with dinosaurs, woolly mammoths or mystical beasts. But if you go back though the human lineage you’ll find a very distant relative that stood three metres tall and weighed around 250 kilograms. This was <em>Gigantopithecus blacki</em>, the mightiest of all the primates and one of the biggest unresolved mysteries in palaeontology.</p>
<p>Despite surviving for nearly two million years in what is now the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southern China, the entire species is represented in the fossil record only by a few thousand teeth and four jawbones. Nothing from the neck down. </p>
<p>Added to that is its mysterious disappearance from the fossil record at a time when other primates were flourishing. Where did the giants go and what brought them down?</p>
<p>Since 2015, a team of Chinese, Australian and US scientists <a href="https://www.wheregiantsroamed.com/">has been chasing</a> this mighty beast in <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/karst/">the distinctive terrains</a> of southern China. Our findings <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06900-0">are published in Nature today</a> and reveal a story of seasonality, stress and vulnerability.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566488/original/file-20231219-23-d6iweb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A series of flat-topped tall cliffs covered in greenery set against a blue sky" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566488/original/file-20231219-23-d6iweb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566488/original/file-20231219-23-d6iweb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566488/original/file-20231219-23-d6iweb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566488/original/file-20231219-23-d6iweb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566488/original/file-20231219-23-d6iweb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566488/original/file-20231219-23-d6iweb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566488/original/file-20231219-23-d6iweb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A karst landscape panorama in southern China.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Renaud Joannes-Boyau</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Finding the window of extinction</h2>
<p>Extensive exploration and excavations in hundreds of caves over a five-year period has been narrowed down into evidence from 22 caves in two regions of Guangxi: Chongzuo, near the Vietnamese border, and Bubing Basin, close to Nanning. Eleven of these caves contain evidence of <em>G. blacki</em> and the other eleven – of a similar age range – do not. </p>
<p>Our team applied several dating techniques to sediments from the caves: <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/luminescence-dating-cosmic-method-171538">luminescence dating</a> of feldspars (a common rock-forming mineral), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_spin_resonance_dating">electron spin resonance dating</a> of quartz, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/dating-geochronology/Uranium-series-disequilibrium-dating">uranium series dating</a> of stalagmites and similar deposits, as well as fossils. Altogether we ended up with a staggering 157 radiometric ages.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566487/original/file-20231219-25-qvs2tg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A dark cave with light walls, with several people in hard hats looking through the sediment" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566487/original/file-20231219-25-qvs2tg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566487/original/file-20231219-25-qvs2tg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566487/original/file-20231219-25-qvs2tg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566487/original/file-20231219-25-qvs2tg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566487/original/file-20231219-25-qvs2tg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566487/original/file-20231219-25-qvs2tg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566487/original/file-20231219-25-qvs2tg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Excavations in Ma Feng Cave in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southern China.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kira Westaway</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We used these data sets to establish exactly when <em>G. blacki</em> dropped out of the fossil record, to define a “window of extinction”. This window allowed us to target a period of time to look closely at the environmental changes.</p>
<p>Next, we looked at eight sources of environmental and behavioural evidence, including ancient pollen grains, other animal bones and micro details in the sediments.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567028/original/file-20231221-15-f2uwk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A close up of a dark faced ape with dark ginger hair, black eyes and a round muzzle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567028/original/file-20231221-15-f2uwk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567028/original/file-20231221-15-f2uwk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=679&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567028/original/file-20231221-15-f2uwk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=679&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567028/original/file-20231221-15-f2uwk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=679&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567028/original/file-20231221-15-f2uwk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567028/original/file-20231221-15-f2uwk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567028/original/file-20231221-15-f2uwk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The closest primate relative of <em>G. blacki</em> is the critically endangered orangutan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/brown-monkey-on-green-grass-during-daytime-Sn9t1C7AhXQ">Bob Brewer/Unsplash</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Furthermore, we gained a wealth of information from <em>G. blacki</em> teeth themselves – from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopic_signature">isotopic signatures</a>, trace elements and the wear patterns on the surface of the teeth. This evidence can indicate diet, migration patterns, habitat preferences, diversity of food sources and stress. </p>
<p>This data represents the largest collection of well-dated evidence for the giant ape and for the first time is supported by well-documented environmental and behavioural changes. It reveals the rise and fall of <em>G. blacki</em> in comparison to its closest primate relative – the orangutans. </p>
<h2>Stronger seasons</h2>
<p>Surprisingly, <em>G. blacki</em> went extinct between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, much more recently than previously assumed. Before this time, <em>G. blacki</em> flourished in a rich and diverse forest. </p>
<p>But between 600,000 and 300,000 years ago the environment became more variable. An increase in the strength of the seasons caused a change in the structure of the forest plant communities. By 200,000 years ago, the forests started to deteriorate.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566490/original/file-20231219-15-qvs2tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566490/original/file-20231219-15-qvs2tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566490/original/file-20231219-15-qvs2tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566490/original/file-20231219-15-qvs2tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566490/original/file-20231219-15-qvs2tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=731&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566490/original/file-20231219-15-qvs2tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566490/original/file-20231219-15-qvs2tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566490/original/file-20231219-15-qvs2tg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Differences in trace elements such as barium, strontium and calcium mapped across the inside of <em>G. blacki</em> and orangutan teeth. At earlier sites, clear banding in both species’ teeth suggests diverse food sources and a flourishing population. Diffuse or no banding in later <em>G. blacki</em> suggests less diverse food sources and chronic stress. The orangutan tooth suggests a less stressed population than <em>G. blacki</em> at this time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nature</span></span>
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<p>Despite being a close relative of <em>G. blacki</em>, orangutans were able to adapt their size, behaviour and habitat preferences to accommodate to these forest changes. Their fossils display a flexible and balanced diet with very little stress during this period.</p>
<p>But <em>G. blacki</em> made the fatal mistake of relying on a less nutritious back-up food like twigs and bark when their favourite food sources such as fruit-bearing plants were unavailable. This meant the diversity of the giant apes’ food decreased and their less mobile body size compared to the more agile orangutans restricted their geographic range for foraging. </p>
<p>Surprisingly, <em>G. blacki</em> also increased in body size over this period, which further contributed to food source problems and caused immense chronic stress to the species. This stress can be seen in the trace element mapping of their teeth, providing an insight into a species on the brink of extinction.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566489/original/file-20231219-23-1rpdyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graph showing more arboreal plants and fewer ferns before the window of extinction, and a more even spread of plants afterward" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566489/original/file-20231219-23-1rpdyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566489/original/file-20231219-23-1rpdyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=187&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566489/original/file-20231219-23-1rpdyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=187&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566489/original/file-20231219-23-1rpdyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=187&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566489/original/file-20231219-23-1rpdyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566489/original/file-20231219-23-1rpdyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566489/original/file-20231219-23-1rpdyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Pollen records from caves in the region showing the change in plant communities over time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nature</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Failure to adapt</h2>
<p>As a direct consequence, <em>G. blacki</em> numbers dwindled as the species was placed under increasing environmental stress.</p>
<p>It would seem that by having such specific food and habitat preferences, <em>G. blacki</em> was vulnerable to environmental and habitat changes. Its size and choice of food hampered its adaptation compared to more agile and mobile species like orangutans.</p>
<p>The story of <em>G. blacki</em> is a lesson in extinction – how some species are more equipped to survive change and others are more vulnerable. This is a lesson we must take on board with the looming threat of a sixth mass extinction event. </p>
<p>Trying to understand past extinctions is a good starting point to understand primate resilience. It may offer clues to the fate of other large animals, both in the past and in the future.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-mass-extinction-and-are-we-in-one-now-122535">What is a 'mass extinction' and are we in one now?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219304/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kira Westaway receives funding from The Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marian Bailey receives funding from the Australian Government RTP Stipend. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renaud Joannes-Boyau receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Haberle receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yingqi Zhang receives funding from Chinese Academy of Sciences and The Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>What happened to the three-metre tall apes that once lived alongside orangutans? A new study suggests they were too slow to adapt to a changing world.Kira Westaway, Associate Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie UniversityMarian Bailey, PhD Candidate, Geoarchaeology, Southern Cross UniversityRenaud Joannes-Boyau, Associate Professor, Southern Cross UniversitySimon Haberle, Professor, Australian National UniversityYingqi Zhang, Research professor in palaeontology, Chinese Academy of SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2188332024-01-04T10:27:36Z2024-01-04T10:27:36ZAfricans discovered dinosaur fossils long before the term ‘palaeontology’ existed<p>Credit for discovering the first dinosaur bones usually goes to British gentlemen for their finds between the 17th and 19th centuries in England. <a href="http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/learning/htmls/plot.htm">Robert Plot</a>, an English natural history scholar, was the first of these to <a href="https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/dinosaurs-and-fossils/who-discovered-the-first-dinosaur-fossils?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share-from-amnh-org">describe</a> a dinosaur bone, in his 1676 book The Natural History of Oxfordshire. Over the next two centuries dinosaur palaeontology would be dominated by numerous British natural scientists. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP543-2022-236">our study</a> shows that the history of palaeontology can be traced back much further into the past. We present evidence that the first dinosaur bone may have been discovered in Africa as early as 500 years before Plot’s.</p>
<p>We’re a team of scientists who study fossils in South Africa. Peering through the published and unpublished archaeological, historical and palaeontological literature, we discovered that there has been interest in fossils in Africa for as long as there have been people on the continent. </p>
<p>This is not a surprise. Humankind originated in Africa: <em>Homo sapiens</em> has existed for at least <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22336">300,000 years</a>. And the continent has a great diversity of rock outcrops, such as the Kem Kem beds in Morocco, the Fayum depression in Egypt, the Rift Valley in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-maasai-legend-behind-ancient-hominin-footprints-in-tanzania-119373">east Africa</a> and the Karoo in southern Africa, containing fossils that have always been accessible to our ancestors. </p>
<p>So it wasn’t just likely that African people discovered fossils first. It was inevitable.</p>
<p>More often than not, the first dinosaur fossils supposedly discovered by scientists were actually brought to their attention by local guides. Examples are the discovery of the gigantic dinosaurs <a href="https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Jobaria/390687"><em>Jobaria</em></a> by the Tuaregs in Niger and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/542624-Giraffatitan"><em>Giraffatitan</em></a> by the Mwera in Tanzania.</p>
<p>Our paper reviews what’s known about African indigenous knowledge of fossils. We list fossils that appear to have long been known at various African sites, and discuss how they might have been used and interpreted by African communities before the science of palaeontology came to be.</p>
<h2>Bolahla rock shelter in Lesotho</h2>
<p>One of the highlights of our paper is the archaeological site of Bolahla, a Later Stone Age rock shelter in Lesotho. Various dating techniques indicate that the site was occupied by the Khoesan and Basotho people from the 12th to 18th centuries (1100 to 1700 AD). The shelter itself is surrounded by hills made of consolidated sediments that were deposited under a harsh Sahara-like desert some 180 million to 200 million years ago, when the first dinosaurs roamed the Earth. </p>
<p>This part of Lesotho is particularly well known for delivering the species <em>Massospondylus carinatus</em>, a 4 to 6 metre, long-necked and small-headed dinosaur. Fossilised bones of <em>Massospondylus</em> are abundant in the area and were already so when the site was occupied by people in the Middle Ages. </p>
<p>In 1990, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3889171">archaeologists</a> working at Bolahla discovered that a finger bone of <em>Massospondylus</em>, a fossil phalanx, had been transported to the cave. There are no fossil skeletons sticking out the walls of the cave, so the only chance that this phalanx ended up there was that someone in the distant past picked it up and carried it to the cave. Perhaps this person did so out of simple curiosity, or to turn it into a pendant or toy, or to use it for traditional healing rituals. </p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dinosaur-tracksite-in-lesotho-how-a-wrong-turn-led-to-an-exciting-find-208963">Dinosaur tracksite in Lesotho: how a wrong turn led to an exciting find</a>
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<p>After heavy rains, it is not unusual that the people in the area discover the bones of extinct species that have been washed out of their mother-rock. They usually identify them as belonging to a dragon-like monster that devours people or even whole houses. In Lesotho, the Basotho call the monster “Kholumolumo”, while in South Africa’s bordering Eastern Cape province, the Xhosa refer to it as “<a href="https://chosindabazomhlaba.com/2022/03/29/ukufika-kwamacikilishe-angamagongqongqo/">Amagongqongqo</a>”.</p>
<p>The exact date when the phalanx was collected and transported is unfortunately lost to time. Given the current knowledge, it could have been at any time of occupation of the shelter from the 12th to 18th centuries. This leaves open the possibility that this dinosaur bone could have been collected up to 500 years prior to Robert Plot’s find.</p>
<h2>Early knowledge of extinct creatures</h2>
<p>Most people knew about fossils well before the scientific era, for as far back as collective societal memories can go. In Algeria, for example, people referred to some dinosaur footprints as belonging to the legendary “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10420940109380182">Roc bird</a>”. In North America, cave paintings depicting dinosaur footprints were painted by the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10420940109380182">Anasazi people</a> between AD 1000 and 1200. Indigenous Australians identified dinosaur footprints as belonging to a legendary “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10420940109380182">Emu-man</a>”. To the south, the notorious conquistador Hernan Cortes was given the fossil femur of a Mastodon by the <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Fossil_Legends_of_the_First_Americans.html?id=CMsgQQkmFqQC&redir_esc=y">Aztecs</a> in 1519. In Asia, Hindu people refer to ammonites (coiled fossil-sea-shells) as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/shaligrams-the-sacred-fossils-that-have-been-worshipped-by-hindus-and-buddhists-for-over-2-000-years-are-becoming-rarer-because-of-climate-change-209311">Shaligrams</a>” and have been worshipping them for more than 2,000 years. </p>
<h2>Claiming credit</h2>
<p>The fact that people in Africa have long known about fossils is evident from folklore and the archaeological record, but we still have much to learn about it. For instance, unlike the people in Europe, the Americas and Asia, indigenous African palaeontologists seem to have seldom used fossils for traditional medicine. We are still unsure whether this is a genuinely unique cultural trait shared by most African cultures or if it is due to our admittedly still incomplete knowledge. </p>
<p>Also, some rather prominent fossil sites, such as the Moroccan Kem Kem beds and South African Unesco <a href="https://www.maropeng.co.za/content/page/introduction-to-your-visit-to-the-cradle-of-humankind-world-heritage-site">Cradle of Humankind</a> caves, have still not provided robust evidence for indigenous knowledge. This is unfortunate, as fossil-related traditions could help bridge the gap between local communities and palaeontologists, which in turn could contribute <a href="https://theconversation.com/graffiti-threatens-precious-evidence-of-ancient-life-on-south-africas-coast-157777">preserving</a> important heritage sites.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rock-stars-how-a-group-of-scientists-in-south-africa-rescued-a-rare-500kg-chunk-of-human-history-192508">Rock stars: how a group of scientists in South Africa rescued a rare 500kg chunk of human history</a>
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<p>By exploring indigenous palaeontology in Africa, our team is putting together pieces of a forgotten past that gives credit back to local communities. We hope it will inspire a new generation of local palaeoscientists to walk in the footsteps of these first African fossil hunters.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julien Benoit receives funding from the DSI-NRF African Origins Platform program and GENUS (DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences) </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cameron Penn-Clarke receives funding from GENUS (DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Helm does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some time between 1100 and 1700 AD, a Massospondylus bone was discovered and carried to a rock shelter in Lesotho.Julien Benoit, Senior Researcher in Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of the WitwatersrandCameron Penn-Clarke, Senior Researcher, University of the WitwatersrandCharles Helm, Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2200112023-12-19T16:53:46Z2023-12-19T16:53:46ZFive things you probably have wrong about the T rex<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566317/original/file-20231218-17-rt6kdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C12%2C8142%2C5444&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/adventurous-young-boy-imitating-dinosaur-toy-2124861329">Jacob Lund/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>An icon from the age of dinosaurs, <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em> has featured in everything from blockbuster movies to the shape of chicken nuggets. As a creature to be feared for its bone-crushing bite or ridiculed for its inability to give a high five, T rex has captured the imagination of children and adults alike. </p>
<p>One skeleton broke records in 2020 when it sold at auction for <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/stan-t-rex-sells-record-32-million-auction">US$32 million</a> (£25 million). But how well do you really know T rex? Here is the truth behind five common misconceptions about this dinosaur.</p>
<h2>Myth: T rex had bad eyesight</h2>
<p>Scientists think that T rex had excellent vision, despite what Jurassic Park might have you believe. The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03706-0">grapefruit-sized eyes</a> of T rex could have distinguished objects with up to five times more precision than those of a falcon and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26%5B321%3ABVITD%5D2.0.CO%3B2">13 times better</a> than a human. </p>
<p>They also had <a href="https://www.uv.es/pe/2000_1/retinal/text.pdf">superior colour vision</a>. Like birds and crocodiles, T rex could distinguish more colours of the rainbow than humans and see ultraviolet light. Although it makes for good dramatic tension in fiction, standing still would not hide you from a hungry T rex. </p>
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<h2>Myth: Chickens are the direct descendants of T rex</h2>
<p>This myth has its origins in truth. All birds, including chickens, are not only descendants of dinosaurs but <a href="https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s12052-009-0133-4">are themselves dinosaurs</a>. Birds belong to a lineage of dinosaurs closely related to the raptors (including <em>Velociraptor</em>). </p>
<p>Early birds, such as <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/archaeopteryx.html"><em>Archaeopteryx</em></a>, had wings like modern birds but teeth and long tails like their ancestors. These ancient birds first appeared <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12168">in the Jurassic period</a>, millions of years before T rex evolved. </p>
<p>Scientists have identified an ancestor of modern ducks and chickens as the quail-sized <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2096-0"><em>Asteriornis</em></a>, nicknamed the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/wonderchicken">wonderchicken</a> by scientists. It was still living at the time of T rex. A handful of these humble bird species <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982218305347">survived the mass extinction</a> that killed their dinosaur relatives and evolved into all the birds we know today.</p>
<p>T rex, rather than being the grandparent of the modern chicken, is more like an oversized cousin to all birds.</p>
<h2>Myth: T rex had tiny, useless arms</h2>
<p>Muscle reconstructions show that T rex arms <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kenneth-Carpenter-2/publication/314895700_Looking_again_at_the_forelimbs_of_Tyrannosaurus_rex/links/58c70de0aca27232ac8297b6/Looking-again-at-the-forelimbs-of-Tyrannosaurus-rex.pdf">were strong</a> for their size and had a reasonable range of motion. It is likely they were used in a range of behaviour. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.eaapublishing.org/journals/index.php/biosis/article/view/60">most plausible suggestions</a> scientists have come up with so far include slashing and holding onto prey and use in communicating between T rex individuals.</p>
<p>T rex actually <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03043773">couldn’t twist its arms</a> to make its hands face palm downward, as is commonly depicted. To improve the accuracy of your next T rex impression, face your palms towards each other, as if clapping. </p>
<p>At around one metre long, T rex arms are larger than human arms but still small compared with their 13-metre long bodies. Small arms are common among larger theropods (two-legged, predatory dinosaurs) and have <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982222008600">evolved several times</a> in this group. Other dinosaurs in this group had even smaller arms. </p>
<p>The eight-metre long <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/carnotaurus.html"><em>Carnotaurus</em></a>, a horned predator from South America, had <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0024408298901935">stubby arms</a> less than 50 centimetres long. </p>
<h2>Myth: T rex lived alongside <em>Stegosaurus</em></h2>
<p>The age of dinosaurs was probably longer than you think. T rex lived at the end of the Cretaceous period, just before the dinosaur-killing <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2006087117">asteroid strike</a> 66 million years ago. <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/stegosaurus.html"><em>Stegosaurus</em></a>, and other popular Jurassic dinosaurs such as <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/diplodocus.html"><em>Diplodocus</em></a>, lived around 150 million years ago. </p>
<p>T rex lived closer to the modern day than to the time of <em>Stegosaurus</em>. By the time T rex walked the Earth, <em>Stegosaurus</em> were already fossils beneath their feet.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566315/original/file-20231218-21-hst1i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Kids food dinosaur shapes on a plate" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566315/original/file-20231218-21-hst1i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566315/original/file-20231218-21-hst1i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566315/original/file-20231218-21-hst1i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566315/original/file-20231218-21-hst1i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566315/original/file-20231218-21-hst1i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566315/original/file-20231218-21-hst1i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566315/original/file-20231218-21-hst1i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The T rex lived long after stegosaurus went extinct.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kids-food-dinosaur-shaped-chicken-fish-1427323466">Erhan Inga/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Myth: T rex was scaly and grey or green</h2>
<p>The idea that T rex might have had feathers is contentious, even among palaeontologists. There is evidence of feathers in many dinosaur species, leading some scientists to conclude that feathers were <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1235463">widespread among dinosaurs</a>. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10906"><em>Yutyrannus</em></a>, a nine-metre long relative of T rex, was found preserved with a coat of fuzzy feathers. </p>
<p>So does this mean T rex was also fluffy? Not so fast. Some scientists think that a full feather coat would leave the giant, warm-blooded T rex at risk of overheating. </p>
<p>This thinking is supported by <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0092">preserved patches of skin</a> found from many parts of the body that appear to be scaled. Although we don’t know for certain either way, the real T rex was probably something between fully scaly and fully fuzzy. </p>
<p>The science of dinosaur colour is one of the most <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-earth-073019-045641">exciting developments</a> in recent palaeontology. Scientists have been able to determine the colours and patterns of some exceptionally well preserved dinosaurs by studying fossilised pigement-containing capsules within cells in feathers and scales. </p>
<p>Although no one has worked out what colour T rex was yet, we now know that dinosaurs came in a range of colours, including <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1186290">red</a> and <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1213780">iridescent black</a>, and patterns <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08740">such as stripes</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220011/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abi Crane does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Impress your niece or nephew with these T rex facts.Abi Crane, Postgraduate Researcher, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2166422023-11-30T19:03:33Z2023-11-30T19:03:33ZControversial claims about extinct humans are stirring up evolution research. Here’s how the mess could have been avoided<p>In June, researchers led by palaeoanthropologist Lee Berger published <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/science/ancient-humans-homo-naledi-buried-dead.html">sensational claims</a> about an extinct human species called <em>Homo naledi</em> online and in the Netflix documentary <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27837467/">Unknown: Cave of Bones</a>. They argued the small-brained <em>H. naledi</em> <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.01.543127v1.article-metrics">buried their dead</a> in Rising Star Cave in South Africa more than 240,000 years ago, and may also have decorated the cave walls with engravings. </p>
<p>If true, this would be an astonishing new entry in the annals of human evolution. But <a href="https://theconversation.com/major-new-research-claims-smaller-brained-homo-naledi-made-rock-art-and-buried-the-dead-but-the-evidence-is-lacking-207000">many scientists</a> – including ourselves (the authors of this article, along with Ian Moffat at Flinders University in Australia, Andrea Zerboni at the University of Milan in Italy, and Kira Westaway at Macquarie University in Australia) – are not convinced by the evidence in the three online articles.</p>
<p>The peer reviewers of these articles and the journal editor found that the evidence was “inadequate” and <a href="https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/89106/reviews#tab-content">suggested a comprehensive list of changes</a> that would be needed to make the articles’ argument convincing. More recently, a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047248423001434?dgcid=coauthor">strongly worded, peer-reviewed critique</a> by one of us (Herries) concluded there was not enough evidence to support the hypothesis that <em>H. naledi</em> carried out intentional burials.</p>
<h2>The need for an analytical revolution</h2>
<p>What would “enough evidence” for such claims look like? As we argue in a new comment piece in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-02215-5">Nature Ecology and Evolution</a>, there are modern scientific techniques that could provide it. </p>
<p>There are many kinds of evidence for human evolution, such as fossils and artefacts, and the sediment (or dirt) from which they are recovered. There are also many new and creative ways we can use to study this evidence. </p>
<p>We argue that the routine use of these techniques to generate supporting data will help avoid future controversies and increase public confidence in such claims. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559804/original/file-20231116-18-u8tdzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman in a lab coat examining a dish full of rock or soil." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559804/original/file-20231116-18-u8tdzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559804/original/file-20231116-18-u8tdzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559804/original/file-20231116-18-u8tdzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559804/original/file-20231116-18-u8tdzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559804/original/file-20231116-18-u8tdzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1328&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559804/original/file-20231116-18-u8tdzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1328&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559804/original/file-20231116-18-u8tdzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1328&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Archaeological scientist Kelsey Hamilton at work, Flinders University, Adelaide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike Morley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Scientific collaborations</h2>
<p>Human evolution researchers deal with very long timescales, often measured in hundreds of thousands – or even millions – of years. Because of this, we often work with geologists and other Earth scientists, and use their ideas and tools to analyse traces of ancient humans.</p>
<p>The analytical techniques of the Earth sciences can provide extremely useful information about the context of fossils and archaeological material. </p>
<p>These techniques are commonly used to study the sediments that the archaeology and fossils are recovered from. These kinds of analyses can be carried out at the microscopic level, which means we can find information about the collected remains that would otherwise be impossible to obtain.</p>
<h2>Answers in the dirt</h2>
<p>Better instruments and ways to study dirt means that archaeological science can be used to understand the processes that form archaeological sites and preserve fossils and artefacts in incredibly detailed ways. We can even study evidence at the scale of <a href="https://theconversation.com/digging-deep-dna-molecules-in-ancient-dirt-offer-a-treasure-trove-of-clues-to-our-past-172489">molecules and elements</a>.</p>
<p>One way of studying dirt that is gaining traction in the field is known as micromorphology. This method involves the microscopic analysis of sediment that surrounds fossils or archaeology.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dishing-the-dirt-sediments-reveal-a-famous-early-human-cave-site-was-also-home-to-hyenas-and-wolves-122458">Dishing the dirt: sediments reveal a famous early human cave site was also home to hyenas and wolves</a>
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<p>By studying intact blocks of sediment removed from archaeological trenches, microscopic clues can be pieced together to reconstruct the past environments present at the site and in the local environment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A close up view of a slice of brown-and-white rock." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561786/original/file-20231127-27-h0u61t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561786/original/file-20231127-27-h0u61t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561786/original/file-20231127-27-h0u61t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561786/original/file-20231127-27-h0u61t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561786/original/file-20231127-27-h0u61t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561786/original/file-20231127-27-h0u61t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561786/original/file-20231127-27-h0u61t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A microscopic view of hyena coprolite (fossilised excrement) including pieces of bone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike Morley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What’s more, the same blocks of sediment can be used for other analyses, such as refining the ages of the dirt and to better understand how archaeological sites form and preserve up until the point of discovery.</p>
<h2>What’s in the dirt? Science can tell us</h2>
<p>Micromorphology has proven to be a powerful tool for analysing ancient human remains and burial practices. In 2021, scientists who studied the oldest known human burial (78,000 years ago) used micromorphology to help identify the burial and publish the work in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03457-8">Nature</a>.</p>
<p>Earlier, in 2017, the technique was used to identify <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440316300838?casa_token=wf5YCUeuqCoAAAAA:PM8L5sZsNrsur2Jvvt49y2nVK2Q-d8VX5tIwBRpeL42Pjqp1Gp-q0B3dgoJdHV4ai9qHCkM-WQ">hearth features at Liang Bua cave (Indonesia)</a>. These small fireplaces were not obvious to the naked eye but under the microscope showed all of the characteristics of burning, including micro-traces of charcoal and ash. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562032/original/file-20231128-29-qinibd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Photo of a thin slice of rock showing a dark band and traces of soot on a paler background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562032/original/file-20231128-29-qinibd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562032/original/file-20231128-29-qinibd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562032/original/file-20231128-29-qinibd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562032/original/file-20231128-29-qinibd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562032/original/file-20231128-29-qinibd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562032/original/file-20231128-29-qinibd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562032/original/file-20231128-29-qinibd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A microscope slide showing traces of an ancient fireplace at Liang Bua cave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike Morley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fossils of <em>H. floresiensis</em> (dubbed “hobbits”) were also found in this cave. However, it turned out the hearths were made by <em>H. sapiens</em> 46,000 years ago, after the last appearance of the hobbits (around 60,000–50,000 years ago).</p>
<p>In the case of <em>H. naledi</em>, micromorphology could have provided evidence for, or against, the idea that the remains were deliberately buried. It might have found traces of a grave cut or subtle differences in the sediment used to cover the body that might not have been obvious during excavation. </p>
<p>In fact, three of the four peer reviewers of the original burial paper suggested micromorphology could have been used to interpret the sediments of the possible grave fill.</p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>As scientists working in the field of human evolution, we are thrilled about the Rising Star Cave fossils and the recognition of <em>H. naledi</em> as a new member of our genus, <em>Homo</em>. We trust the team working at the site will soon present new data that convinces us all one way or the other about the question of intentional burial.</p>
<p>On the weight of the currently available evidence we agree with others that there is no compelling case for that particular mortuary practice at the site. However, there are a raft of scientific techniques that could help end the controversy.</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/major-new-research-claims-smaller-brained-homo-naledi-made-rock-art-and-buried-the-dead-but-the-evidence-is-lacking-207000">Major new research claims smaller-brained _Homo naledi_ made rock art and buried the dead. But the evidence is lacking</a>
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<p>It can be incredibly difficult for the public to disentangle facts from fiction. We believe scientists need to be extremely careful about how they communicate their findings to avoid an increase in scepticism towards scientists that can have a major impact across all aspects of modern life.</p>
<p>Aside from the <em>H. naledi</em> burial debate, we would like to see a future where all investigations into human evolution use these scientific techniques from the outset. This might avoid future controversy and find clues that strongly support hypotheses. This would also allow for greater confidence in findings presented to the scientific community and public alike.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216642/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike W Morley receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andy I.R. Herries receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna M. Kotarba-Morley receives funding from Australian Research Council, National Centre for Science in Poland, Queensland Department of Environment, and Science and Rock Art Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renaud Joannes-Boyau receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vito C. Hernandez receives funding from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences of Flinders University, and the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship grant of Associate Professor Mike Morley.</span></em></p>How, when and where did modern humans evolve? Nobody has all the answers, but studying rock and dirt can put the debate on firmer footing.Mike W. Morley, Associate Professor and Director, Flinders Microarchaeology Laboratory, Flinders UniversityAndy I.R. Herries, Professor of Palaeoanthropology, La Trobe UniversityAnna M. Kotarba-Morley, Lecturer in Museum and Curatorial Studies, University of AdelaideRenaud Joannes-Boyau, Associate Professor, Southern Cross UniversityVito C. Hernandez, Geoarchaeologist and Postgraduate Research Scholar, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2145722023-10-03T00:14:40Z2023-10-03T00:14:40ZHoles in baby dinosaur bones show how football-sized hatchlings grew to 3-tonne teens<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551328/original/file-20231002-25-pmkx02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C862%2C3242%2C2128&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/maiasaura-dinosaurs-cross-swamp-3d-illustration-2316905179">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite their public image as torpid, lumbering creatures, many dinosaurs were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12822">evidently warm-blooded, highly active animals</a>, capable of prolonged and strenuous aerobic exercise. </p>
<p>In new research, my colleagues and I determined how much energy minibus-sized dinosaurs called Maiasaura used while growing to adulthood. </p>
<p>Our results, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.24">published</a> in the journal Paleobiology, show Maiasaura was capable of taking in huge amounts of energy and nutrients and using them for rapid growth and levels of activity comparable to those of modern mammals.</p>
<h2>How bones heal and grow</h2>
<p>Living an active lifestyle can leave traces in the skeleton. Locomotion and weight-bearing activity cause stresses and strains that result in microfractures in the bones. If these tiny cracks build up, the outcome can be a catastrophic fracture.</p>
<p>Fortunately, the leg bones of dinosaurs – like those of birds, mammals and varanid lizards such as the Komodo dragon – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.00514">repair themselves</a> in a process known as bone remodelling. </p>
<p>This occurs by blood capillaries growing through old bone, which is dissolved and replaced by new bone. Under the microscope, the new bone can be seen as column-like structures called “secondary osteons”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-smart-were-our-ancestors-turns-out-the-answer-isnt-in-brain-size-but-blood-flow-130387">How smart were our ancestors? Turns out the answer isn't in brain size, but blood flow</a>
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<p>Many palaeontologists have looked for and found these secondary osteons in dinosaur bones as evidence for the bone remodelling that is characteristic of warm-blooded animals. </p>
<p>However, little attention has been given to the bones of juvenile dinosaurs, in which primary bone is being laid down in a process called bone modelling. </p>
<p>The main impediment to this research is the shortage of collections of bones from a single dinosaur species at different stages of growth. </p>
<h2>‘Good mother reptile’</h2>
<p>Possibly the best growth series of dinosaur bones in the world comes from the fossil beds of the Two Medicine Formation in the US state of Montana. </p>
<p>Fossils from this formation have yielded much information about the eggs, hatchlings and early lives of a dinosaur named Maiasaura (meaning “good mother reptile”). </p>
<p>This herbivorous hadrosaur apparently tended her eggs and <a href="https://iknowdino.com/maiasaura-episode-37/">raised her offspring</a> for more than a year after hatching. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551329/original/file-20231002-23-va3j3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An illustration showing a mother Maiasaura with one of her young." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551329/original/file-20231002-23-va3j3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551329/original/file-20231002-23-va3j3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551329/original/file-20231002-23-va3j3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551329/original/file-20231002-23-va3j3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551329/original/file-20231002-23-va3j3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551329/original/file-20231002-23-va3j3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551329/original/file-20231002-23-va3j3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Maiasaura tended their eggs and raised offspring for more than a year after they hatched.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.deviantart.com/ntamura/art/Maiasaura-mother-and-son-80065377">N. Tamura</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Young Maiasaura grew <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2015.19">astonishingly fast</a>, reaching 200-400 kilograms by their second year, and over 3,000kg by their teens. </p>
<p>In comparison, cold-blooded saltwater crocodiles today weigh only about 6kg at the age of two, and reach adulthood at between ten and 16 years old, when females weigh about 34kg and males about 115kg.</p>
<p>Such high growth rates in Maiasaura involved rapid lengthening and thickening of their long bones, and the process doubtlessly required much oxygen and nutrients from the blood. </p>
<p>The shafts of long bones of the leg, such as the femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shin bone), are supplied with blood by the principal nutrient artery, which enters the bone through a hole (called a foramen) that is visible on the surface.</p>
<h2>How to measure blood flow from bones</h2>
<p>A decade ago, I wondered whether the size of the foramen could be an indirect measurement of the rate of blood flow to a bone. </p>
<p>This turned out to be true, and since then the “foramen technique” has been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.0968">used on fossils</a> to estimate blood flow rate and hence how much energy and nutrients were used in the bones of adult dinosaurs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three photos of a fossilised bone, with a small round discolouration circled." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551330/original/file-20231002-15-y0rv8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551330/original/file-20231002-15-y0rv8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551330/original/file-20231002-15-y0rv8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551330/original/file-20231002-15-y0rv8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551330/original/file-20231002-15-y0rv8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551330/original/file-20231002-15-y0rv8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551330/original/file-20231002-15-y0rv8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A fossilised Maiasaura shin bone, showing the foramen – the hole which allows an artery to supply blood to the bone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photos by Heath Caldwell of a specimen in the Museum of the Rockies.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To apply the foramen technique to the fast-growing juvenile Maiasaura, I teamed up with Heath Caldwell, a student at Montana State University, who searched for the tiny foramina among the fossil collection at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. </p>
<p>Holly Woodward of Oklahoma State University had previously determined the ages of the animals when they died. Qiaohui Hu at Adelaide University used the best techniques for measuring foramen size and relating it to nutrient artery size. </p>
<h2>Rapid growth doesn’t come cheap</h2>
<p>Our work produced clear results. Blood flow rates calculated from foramen size were similar in one-year-old dinosaurs weighing between 189kg and 455kg and in six- to 11-year-old adults weighing between 1,680kg and 3,200kg. </p>
<p>In other words, a one-year-old had about four times as much blood flowing to each gram of its shinbone as a full-grown adult did. The flow rate per gram in the femur of a two kilogram hatchling Maiasaura was 15 times higher than that of the adults. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hot-fuss-is-warm-blooded-dinosaur-theory-right-or-wrong-8174">Hot fuss: is warm-blooded dinosaur theory right or wrong?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These differences reveal how much more energy and nutrients it took to build bones in the early rapid growth stages of a Maiasaura’s life than it did to maintain the bones in adulthood. </p>
<p>The size of the foramen in adults was also comparable to those in mammals alive today, and much larger than in most modern reptiles. These findings support the view that dinosaurs were not cold-blooded and sluggish, but warm-blooded, very active, fast-growing animals that dominated the Mesozoic landscape.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214572/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger S. Seymour receives funding from The Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Small holes in baby dinosaur bones add to the growing mass of evidence that the ancient creatures were warm-blooded and highly active.Roger S. Seymour, Professor Emeritus of Physiology, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2100842023-08-18T14:43:47Z2023-08-18T14:43:47ZWhy we think that some extinct giant flying reptiles cared for their young<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543063/original/file-20230816-28-82uhml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C0%2C6082%2C2931&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pteranodon was a large-bodied pterosaur.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pteranodon-flying-genus-pterosaur-lived-during-2133739385">YuRi Photolife / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Our understanding of animal behaviour depends on observation. Researchers can study how animals are born, grow and develop. We can gather evidence of how they interact with each other and their environment.</p>
<p>But how do we do this for extinct animals? <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2023.1102">In a recent scientific paper</a>,
palaeontologist <a href="https://www.ucc.ie/en/mariamcnamara/whoweare/zixiao/">Zixiao Yang</a> and colleagues compared the growth of small and giant pterosaurs. </p>
<p>These were flying reptiles that were alive between about 228 million years ago and 66 million years ago – sharing the Earth with dinosaurs. Yang and colleagues wanted to understand what, if anything, was different about how the giant animals got so big.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Pterosaur" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543263/original/file-20230817-23-q0f85v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543263/original/file-20230817-23-q0f85v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543263/original/file-20230817-23-q0f85v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543263/original/file-20230817-23-q0f85v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543263/original/file-20230817-23-q0f85v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543263/original/file-20230817-23-q0f85v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543263/original/file-20230817-23-q0f85v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Model pterosaur, Dimorphodon macronyx (reconstruction). Photographed at the National Museum of Scotland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.jasongilchrist.co.uk/Blog_386348.html">Jason Gilchrist</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They looked at the limb bones, which are critical to locomotion: the forelimbs to flight, the hindlimbs to movement on the ground. With the smaller-bodied pterosaurs (the smallest in the study had a wingspan of 0.19–0.74 metres), they discovered that the limb bones that lay closest to the body – the “proximal” ones – grew more slowly relative to their total body size as the animals aged after hatching.</p>
<p>For large-bodied pterosaur species, such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/Pteranodon"><em>Pteranodon</em></a>, with a wingspan range of 3.91-6.37 metres, the limb bones that lay closest to the body grew faster than other elements of their skeleton after hatching.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Limb bone growth allometry in pterosaurs of different sizes. The wings of small-bodied pterosaurs show limb bones that grew slowly with respect to the rest of the body, indicating that they were potentially good fliers soon after hatching. Large-bodied pterosaur species, however, were born with relatively small arms. Even though their wing bones grew quickly after hatching relative to the rest of the body, the young of these species likely could not fly as efficiently and therefore parental care may have been required." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543289/original/file-20230817-30641-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543289/original/file-20230817-30641-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543289/original/file-20230817-30641-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543289/original/file-20230817-30641-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543289/original/file-20230817-30641-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543289/original/file-20230817-30641-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543289/original/file-20230817-30641-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Infographic showing different growth patterns in large and small pterosaurs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yang Z, Jiang B, Benton MJ, Xu X, McNamara ME, Hone DWE.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In bird and mammal species alive today, this pattern is associated with particular developmental strategies. Present-day species showing a developmental pattern most similar to the smaller pterosaurs tend to <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/uessays/uPrecocial_and_Altricial.html">move around independently</a> from an early age.</p>
<p>While not necessarily lacking in parental care, such species tend to be less dependent on or demanding of their parents. By contrast, living species showing the developmental pattern seen in the larger <em>Pteranodon</em> tend to have young that are not capable of independent movement. In these animals, intensive parental care – including feeding the young – is the norm.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dinosaur-egg-bonanza-gives-vital-clues-about-prehistoric-parenting-121401">Dinosaur egg bonanza gives vital clues about prehistoric parenting</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Wing development</h2>
<p>Using data from fossils, Yang and colleagues used computers to model the body measurements of different pterosaur species as they grew.</p>
<p><em>Pteranodon</em>‘s wing aspect ratio (the wing length relative to wing area) increased as the species grew, allowing it to develop a long, narrow wing, associated with soaring in modern birds. The smaller pterosaurs, however, showed a consistent or decreasing wing aspect ratio during growth, allowing more manoeuvrability.</p>
<p>These developmental differences between larger and smaller species of pterosaur indicate that <em>Pteranodon</em>’s relatively greater proximal limb growth shortly after hatching, along with – perhaps – enhanced parental care, may have helped it reach a large adult size. Pterosaurs as a group encompassed the largest flying animals of all time. <em><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-002-0307-1">Hatzegopteryx thambema</a></em> may have been the biggest, with a wingspan of up to 12 metres. But all pterosaurs started small.</p>
<p>Pterosaur hatchlings’ size was limited by ultimately the size of their eggs, which was constrained by the size of the pelvic opening of female pterosaurs, and by the <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(14)00525-9">soft eggshell produced by pterosaurs</a>. Compared to hard-shelled bird eggs, soft eggs are weaker and cannot support larger sizes. To grow big, pterosaurs had to do most of their growing after they hatched.</p>
<h2>Parental care</h2>
<p>A key difference between the small and large species may have been parental care. This may have released large pterosaurs from growth and size constraints. An extended maturation period where parents protected their young and fed them may have allowed a bending of developmental physics, resulting in a larger body size, a lighter skeleton and more robust joints. In contrast, small pterosaur species by the nature of their slower proximal limb growth may have been locked into maturity at smaller sizes.</p>
<p>It’s also possible that baby pterosaurs from larger species with parental care were not capable of flight, whereas smaller species were <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-92499-z">flight-ready upon hatching</a>.</p>
<p>To grow to such a large body size, the giant pterosaurs also needed two things from their environment: space and updrafts. Big pterosaurs would principally have been soarers, meaning that they used updrafts to stay aloft and economised on energy by minimising flapping. Giant pterosaurs also needed a food supply to support their large size and fuel their metabolic requirements.</p>
<p>While competitors for food were likely in short supply for large adult pterosaurs, youngsters – being smaller – would be more likely to overlap in terms of food sources and habitats with smaller pterosaur species. Young giant pterosaurs probably <a href="https://tetzoo.com/blog/2021/7/21/baby-pterosaurs-were-excellent-fliers-and-occupied-different-niches-from-their-parents">did not compete for food with adult pterosaurs of the same species</a>.</p>
<p>Predation on adult giant pterosaurs by other animals would have been limited. What dinosaurs (or other creatures) would have been big and hard enough to take on such an imposing sharp-beaked monster?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Pteranodon longiceps being preyed on by a Cretoxyrhina shark." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543066/original/file-20230816-22-6737f1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543066/original/file-20230816-22-6737f1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543066/original/file-20230816-22-6737f1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543066/original/file-20230816-22-6737f1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543066/original/file-20230816-22-6737f1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543066/original/file-20230816-22-6737f1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543066/original/file-20230816-22-6737f1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Large pterosaurs like Pteranodon probably had only a handful of predators, such as this large shark.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.markwitton.co.uk/">Mark Witton</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Future fossils</h2>
<p>Incredible as it seems, we can infer the presence of parental care – and lack thereof – in long-dead species of flying reptile. The odds of a pterosaur being preserved in the act of unambiguous parental care seem incredibly slim. So evidence from fossils and understanding patterns from contemporary species are critical to our understanding.</p>
<p>At some point, someone will hopefully find juvenile giant pterosaurs, and their hatchlings, eggs and embryos. Otherwise, questions will remain regarding the development of baby pterosaurs.</p>
<p>These questions include: what was the nature of the parental care? Did parents keep eggs and young warm by sitting over them? Did they defend juveniles against predators, providing food for pterosaur babies? Did males and females share parental care equally? Did they care for young that were not their own?</p>
<p>To more fully re-imagine the early lives and parental behaviour of giant pterosaurs, we need more fossils. Let’s find them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210084/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Gilchrist does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Reptiles don’t generally care for their offspring, but some pterosaurs may have bucked the trend.Jason Gilchrist, Lecturer in the School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2062322023-06-13T20:05:08Z2023-06-13T20:05:08ZBones, the ‘Cave of the Monkeys’ and 86,000 years of history: new evidence pushes back the timing of human arrival in Southeast Asia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528694/original/file-20230528-27-d2uomq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5184%2C3453&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kira Westaway</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2009, when our team first found a human skull and jaw bone in Tam Pà Ling Cave in northern Laos, some were sceptical of its origin and true age. </p>
<p>When we published a <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1208104109">timeline</a> in 2012 for the arrival of modern humans in mainland Asia around 46,000 years ago based on the Tam Pà Ling evidence, the sceptics remained.</p>
<p>In short, the site was given a bad rap. One of the most interesting caves in mainland Southeast Asia was frequently overlooked as a possible route on the accepted path of human dispersal in the region. </p>
<p>However, in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-38715-y">new research</a> published today in Nature Communications, we report more human remains found in Tam Pà Ling – and a more detailed and robust timeline for the site. This shows humans reached the region at least 68,000 years ago, and possibly as long as 86,000 years ago.</p>
<h2>Plenty of evidence, but hard to date</h2>
<p>Our team of Laotian, French, US and Australian researchers has been excavating at Tam Pà Ling for many years. You can see a detailed, interactive 3D scan of the site <a href="https://mq.pedestal3d.com/r/0DH2py28jD">here</a>.</p>
<p>As we dug, we found more and more evidence of <em>Homo sapiens</em> at earlier and earlier times. </p>
<p>First there was a finger bone, then roughly 2.5 metres deeper, a chin bone, then part of a rib. In total, eight pieces were found in only 4.5 metres of sediment – which may not sound like a lot, but is huge in archaeological terms.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing a cave in a rocky hill." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531223/original/file-20230611-22144-nb009s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A cross-sectional view of the Tam Pà Ling cave, showing the location of the trench where remains were found.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-38715-y">Freidline et al. / Nature Communications</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Surely, we thought, this would be enough for Tam Pà Ling to take its place among the early human arrival sites in Southeast Asia.</p>
<p>But a hurdle remained: the cave is hard to date. This has prevented its significance being recognised, and without a convincing timeline the cave’s evidence will not be included in the debate over early human movements.</p>
<h2>Many common dating methods can’t be used</h2>
<p>There are a few difficulties with dating Tam Pà Ling. </p>
<p>First, the human fossils cannot be directly dated as the site is a world heritage area and the fossils are protected by Laotian laws. </p>
<p>Second, there are very few animal bones and no suitable cave decorations, either of which might be used for dating.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo from inside a cave, looking up a rocky slope to daylight outside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531222/original/file-20230611-158977-iblgu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The wide, steep entrance to Tam Pà Ling channelled sediments and fossils into the cave over a long time period.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kira Westaway</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And third, the entrance of the site is wide and steep. This means any charcoal found in the cave, which is useful for dating, may well have come from outside – so it has little relation to the age of the sediment inside.</p>
<p>This means the backbone of the timeline must be established by the dating of the sediment itself, using techniques such as luminescence dating.</p>
<h2>Signals in buried minerals</h2>
<p>Luminescence dating relies on a light-sensitive signal that builds up in buried sediment, resetting to zero when it is exposed to light.</p>
<p>This technique mainly uses two minerals: quartz and feldspar. </p>
<p>Quartz can only be used in the younger levels as it is limited by how much signal it can hold. In the deeper layers it can often underestimate the age, so in Tam Pà Ling we only used quartz to date the top three metres of the sediment. </p>
<p>For the lower levels (four to seven metres), we had to switch to dating using feldspar to fill in the gap in the age profile. Below six metres the feldspar grains started to weather and we had to resort to fine-grain dating, using tiny mineral grains all mixed together. </p>
<h2>Dating teeth</h2>
<p>Tam Pà Ling is relatively poor in animal evidence. Yet, eventually two teeth from a cow-like animal were unearthed at 6.5 metres deep that could be dated using two distinct techniques. </p>
<p>Uranium series dating works by measuring uranium, and the elements into which it transforms via radioactive decay, within the tooth. Electron spin resonance dating relies on measuring the number of electrons in tooth enamel. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/old-teeth-from-a-rediscovered-cave-show-humans-were-in-indonesia-more-than-63-000-years-ago-82075">Old teeth from a rediscovered cave show humans were in Indonesia more than 63,000 years ago</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Each technique offers an individual numerical age for the fossil. By combining the two, we obtained robust direct dates, which can complement the luminescence chronology. </p>
<h2>A closer look at sediment</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of archaeologists at work in a cave." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531224/original/file-20230611-150540-ohn2oi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Archaeologists have returned to Tam Pà Ling regularly, steadily accumulating more evidence from a deep 7 m excavation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kira Westaway</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To make the dating as strong as possible, we used every technique we could, such as applying uranium series dating to a stalactite tip that had been buried in sediment. </p>
<p>We also began to support all our dating evidence with a very detailed analysis of the sediments to assess the origin of the fossils. </p>
<p>Micromorphology is a technique that examines sediments under a microscope to establish the integrity of the layers that buried the fossils. </p>
<p>This is a key component of the new chronology, as it helped establish that there was a fairly consistent accumulation of sediment layers over a long period. </p>
<p>By 2022, we had amassed an array of dating evidence that could be modelled to determine the exact age of each layer and the fossils they buried. </p>
<h2>A stop on the route of human dispersal</h2>
<p>Our updated chronology revealed humans were present in the vicinity of Tam Pà Ling Cave for roughly 56,000 years. It also confirmed that, far from reflecting a rapid dump of sediments, the site contains sediments that accumulated steadily over some 86,000 years.</p>
<p>The age of the lowest fossil, a fragment of a leg bone found seven metres deep, suggests modern humans arrived in this region between 86,000 and 68,000 years ago.</p>
<p>The evidence from Tam Pà Ling has pushed back the timing of <em>Homo sapiens</em> arrival in Southeast Asia. This suggests the mainland, along with the coastal and island locations, may have also been a viable dispersal route. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-fossil-tooth-places-enigmatic-ancient-humans-in-southeast-asia-179290">A fossil tooth places enigmatic ancient humans in Southeast Asia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Tam Pà Ling is just a stone’s throw from Cobra Cave, where we found a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29923-z">tooth</a> some 150,000 years old belonging to a Denisovan, the now-extinct human relatives otherwise known only from remains found in Siberia and Tibet. This suggests the site may lie on a previously used dispersal route among hominins.</p>
<p>Tam Pà Ling continues to reveal pieces of the puzzle of the ancient human journey across the world. Only time will tell how many more it has in store.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206232/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kira Westaway receives funding from Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meghan McAllister-Hayward receives funding from Flinders University College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and the ARC Future Fellowship awarded to Associate Professor Mike Morley. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike W Morley receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renaud Joannes-Boyau receives funding from the Australian Research Council </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vito C. Hernandez receives funding from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences of Flinders University, and the ARC Future Fellowship grant of Associate Professor Mike Morley.</span></em></p>New evidence from contested Laos cave site shows humans reached Southeast Asia at least 68,000 years ago.Kira Westaway, Associate Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie UniversityMeghan McAllister-Hayward, PhD CandidateMike W. Morley, Associate Professor, Flinders UniversityRenaud Joannes-Boyau, Associate Professor, Southern Cross UniversityVito C. Hernandez, Geoarchaeologist and Postgraduate Research Scholar, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2054092023-06-01T01:49:59Z2023-06-01T01:49:59ZA new virtual museum reveals 600 million years of Australian fossils in unprecedented 3D detail<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529254/original/file-20230531-23-7wcrs9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=362%2C188%2C1808%2C1176&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Virtual Australian Museum of Palaeontology</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/disciplines/palaeontology">Palaeontology</a> is the study of evolution and prehistoric life, usually preserved as fossils in rocks. It combines aspects of geology with biology and many other scientific disciplines. </p>
<p>But a lot of palaeontology really is about rocks. For 200 years, hammers and chisels have been some of its most commonly used tools. </p>
<p>However, advances in modern scanning technology are revolutionising the way we do palaeontology. Precise scans of the internal and external features of fossils let us see them in new ways.</p>
<p>And these digitised scans can readily be made available to the public online. At the new <a href="https://sites.flinders.edu.au/vamp/">Virtual Australian Museum of Palaeontology</a>, we offer free access to 600 million years of digital Australian fossils, from enigmatic early lifeforms to gigantic extinct marsupials.</p>
<h2>How do palaeontologists learn about the past?</h2>
<p>There are many different types of fossils. For example, a dinosaur leg bone can become a fossil, but so can a leaf from a tree, the footprint of an extinct kangaroo, poo from a shark, or even geochemical traces preserved in ancient soils. </p>
<p>The field of palaeontology was formally solidified into scientific enquiry by people such as Georges Cuvier (1769-1832). Cuvier was a French naturalist and zoologist sometimes referred to as the “founding father of palaeontology”. Others such as the Scottish geologist Charles Lyell (1797-1875) gave us the geological framework through which fossils could be classified and compared. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man digging up fossils" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527172/original/file-20230519-29-hgzees.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527172/original/file-20230519-29-hgzees.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527172/original/file-20230519-29-hgzees.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527172/original/file-20230519-29-hgzees.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527172/original/file-20230519-29-hgzees.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527172/original/file-20230519-29-hgzees.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527172/original/file-20230519-29-hgzees.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Palaeontologist Aaron Camens digging up fossils.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aaron Camens</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Palaeontology has come a long way in the past 200 years. </p>
<p>Records of long-extinct animals also survive in the rock art and oral traditions of First Nations peoples. These are increasingly being recognised as an important complement to traditional Eurocentric approaches. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/of-bunyips-and-other-beasts-living-memories-of-long-extinct-creatures-in-art-and-stories-113031">Of bunyips and other beasts: living memories of long-extinct creatures in art and stories</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How to scan a fossil</h2>
<p>Different kinds of scanning technology are playing an increasing role in palaeontology. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CT_scan">Computed tomography</a>, or CT scanning, uses x-rays to create three-dimensional models of the internal and external features of dense objects.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526921/original/file-20230517-23-hksywx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four images showing stages of creating a 3D model of a fossil fish" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526921/original/file-20230517-23-hksywx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526921/original/file-20230517-23-hksywx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526921/original/file-20230517-23-hksywx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526921/original/file-20230517-23-hksywx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526921/original/file-20230517-23-hksywx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526921/original/file-20230517-23-hksywx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526921/original/file-20230517-23-hksywx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A photo of a fossil fish (far left), an x-ray image (middle left), a ‘tomogram’ or slice through the scan data (middle right), and a 3D virtual model (far right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alice Clement</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other imaging methods include <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photogrammetry">photogrammetry</a>, or surface scanning using lasers or projected patterns of light. These methods capture the external three-dimensional shape of an object or site, sometimes with colour and textural detail. They also have the advantage of being more portable and can often be taken directly to the fossil.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A photo of a man holding a device that illuminates a fossil with a bright purple light" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526919/original/file-20230517-22090-5xhdxc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526919/original/file-20230517-22090-5xhdxc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526919/original/file-20230517-22090-5xhdxc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526919/original/file-20230517-22090-5xhdxc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526919/original/file-20230517-22090-5xhdxc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526919/original/file-20230517-22090-5xhdxc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526919/original/file-20230517-22090-5xhdxc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Palaeontologist Jacob van Zoelen using a surface scanner on a fossil marsupial skull.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alice Clement</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most powerful scanning methods are the synchrotron and neutron imaging. A synchrotron works on the same principles as CT scanning, using radiation to look inside an object, but uses much stronger radiation. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_tomography">Neutron imaging</a> uses neutrons instead of x-rays or other radiation, and it can be useful for particularly dense or large objects. </p>
<p>These advances in scanning technology are opening up whole new avenues for exploring, sharing and analysing Australia’s unique fossils. Now what to do with all our digital palaeontology data?</p>
<p>That’s where the <a href="https://sites.flinders.edu.au/vamp/">Virtual Australian Museum of Palaeontology</a> comes in. </p>
<h2>About the museum</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526922/original/file-20230517-12177-2p1a5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of a woman standing outdoors holding two pieces of rock containing a fossil" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526922/original/file-20230517-12177-2p1a5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526922/original/file-20230517-12177-2p1a5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526922/original/file-20230517-12177-2p1a5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526922/original/file-20230517-12177-2p1a5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526922/original/file-20230517-12177-2p1a5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526922/original/file-20230517-12177-2p1a5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526922/original/file-20230517-12177-2p1a5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Palaeontologist Alice Clement in the field with a new fossil discovery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alice Clement</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We are a group of researchers at Flinders University, working with the South Australian Museum, the Western Australian Museum, and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Between us, we have spent many hours scanning, processing and uploading hundreds of three-dimensional virtual models. </p>
<p>Australia is geologically old with a rich fossil heritage. We are fortunate to have captured high-quality examples spanning nearly 600 million years of evolution on our continent. </p>
<p>We have scans of some of the earliest complex life from Ediacaran and Cambrian sites from over 500 million years ago. We have exquisite examples from <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/jgs/article/179/1/jgs2021-105/608194/The-Gogo-Formation-Lagerstatte-a-view-of-Australia">the best ancient fish deposit in the world</a>, and many amazing extinct megafauna not known from anywhere else.</p>
<p>Examples include the marsupial lion <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208020"><em>Thylacoleo</em></a>, the giant wombat-like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diprotodon"><em>Diprotodon</em></a>, and huge short-faced kangaroos such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sthenurus"><em>Sthenurus</em></a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Reconstructions of common Australian megafauna in an open bush setting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528478/original/file-20230526-17-dub84d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528478/original/file-20230526-17-dub84d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528478/original/file-20230526-17-dub84d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528478/original/file-20230526-17-dub84d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528478/original/file-20230526-17-dub84d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528478/original/file-20230526-17-dub84d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528478/original/file-20230526-17-dub84d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many giant creatures that once roamed Australia are now known only from fossils.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Trusler</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the pilot phase of this project we have digitised more than 500 fossils across more than 30 genera. Some highlights include: </p>
<ol>
<li>one of the world’s most complete marsupial lion skeletons (almost every bone from the skull to the toe bones)</li>
<li>one of the only known bones of a pterosaur (flying reptile) from South Australia</li>
<li>scans of one of the oldest known sharks in the world</li>
<li>fossil mammal footprints that are now known only from our digital data, as the original trackways have been destroyed.</li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526925/original/file-20230517-10717-icqnfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A collage shows six digital models of fossils accompanied by silhouette drawings of the animals they came from" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526925/original/file-20230517-10717-icqnfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526925/original/file-20230517-10717-icqnfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526925/original/file-20230517-10717-icqnfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526925/original/file-20230517-10717-icqnfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526925/original/file-20230517-10717-icqnfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526925/original/file-20230517-10717-icqnfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526925/original/file-20230517-10717-icqnfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Six digital models of scanned fossil specimens from the museum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Virtual Australian Museum of Palaeontology</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You can explore the <a href="https://sites.flinders.edu.au/vamp/">VAMP website</a> yourself. All you need to dig into a world of 3D fossil scans is a computer or a smartphone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205409/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Clement receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is employed by Flinders University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aaron Camens works for Flinders University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacob van Zoelen is employed by Flinders University.</span></em></p>Digital scanning offers a new window on Australia’s unique fossil history, from early multicellular lifeforms to gigantic ‘marsupial lions’.Alice Clement, Research Associate in the College of Science and Engineering, Flinders UniversityAaron Camens, Lecturer in Palaeontology, Flinders UniversityJacob van Zoelen, PhD Candidate, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2034052023-04-11T23:36:24Z2023-04-11T23:36:24ZFirst near-complete sauropod dinosaur skull found in Australia hints at ancient links between continents<p>In May and June of 2018, Australia’s first near-complete skull of a sauropod – a group of long-tailed, long-necked, small-headed dinosaurs – was found on a sheep station northwest of Winton in Queensland.</p>
<p>I was part of the dig team from the <a href="https://www.australianageofdinosaurs.com/">Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum</a> that made the discovery, and subsequently had the privilege of leading the team that studied the skull. After years of work, our results are published today in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.221618">Royal Society Open Science</a>.</p>
<p>The skull belonged to a creature we have dubbed “Ann”: a member of the species <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1342937X14001051"><em>Diamantinasaurus matildae</em></a> which shows surprising similarities to fossils found halfway across the world, lending weight to the theory that dinosaurs once roamed between Australia and South America via an Antarctic land connection.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520112/original/file-20230411-18-1a1qsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520112/original/file-20230411-18-1a1qsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520112/original/file-20230411-18-1a1qsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520112/original/file-20230411-18-1a1qsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520112/original/file-20230411-18-1a1qsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520112/original/file-20230411-18-1a1qsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520112/original/file-20230411-18-1a1qsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The ‘Ann’ Site, dug in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Trish Sloan / Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A good skull is hard to find</h2>
<p>The sauropod dinosaurs have been a source of lifelong fascination for me, and finding a sauropod skull was one of my childhood dreams. Sadly, the fossil record is biased towards preserving sauropod limbs, vertebrae and ribs, and heavily against skulls. </p>
<p>This makes sense when you consider the processes that act on an organism’s body after it dies, which palaeontologists call <a href="https://opengeology.org/historicalgeology/tools-of-historical-geology/fossil-taphonomy/">taphonomy</a>. </p>
<p>Large, robust limb bones are resistant to decomposition, and if they are buried rapidly they might fossilise quite readily. Vertebrae and ribs comprise a significant proportion of a vertebrate skeleton, increasing their odds of preservation. </p>
<p>By contrast, sauropod skulls were relatively small, made up of many delicate bones that were only loosely held together by soft tissue, and seemingly easily detached from the end of the neck. They might also have been prime targets for carnivorous dinosaurs: the only previously described <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/192/2/610/6104802">sauropod braincase from Australia</a> preserves several bite marks from fierce theropods.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520114/original/file-20230411-28-cp2zm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520114/original/file-20230411-28-cp2zm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520114/original/file-20230411-28-cp2zm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520114/original/file-20230411-28-cp2zm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520114/original/file-20230411-28-cp2zm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520114/original/file-20230411-28-cp2zm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520114/original/file-20230411-28-cp2zm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The original skull bones of the sauropod dinosaur Diamantinasaurus matildae.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Trish Sloan / Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The bones of the skull were found around two metres beneath the surface, scattered over an area of about nine square metres. Much of the right side of the face is missing, but most of the left is present. Sadly, many of the bones show signs of distortion (presumably a result of post mortem scavenging or trampling), which makes physical reassembly of the skull a delicate process. </p>
<h2>Modern technology recreates an ancient animal</h2>
<p>This being the case, we set out to reconstruct the skull digitally. We CT scanned the bones at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. This enabled the internal features of each bone to be observed on a computer. </p>
<p>Inside one bone in the snout (which we also had scanned at the <a href="https://www.ansto.gov.au/facilities/australian-synchrotron">Australian Synchrotron</a>), we found replacement teeth. It has long been known that sauropods, like crocodiles today, continually <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0069235">replaced their teeth</a> throughout their lives. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520109/original/file-20230410-24-3zv2hv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520109/original/file-20230410-24-3zv2hv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520109/original/file-20230410-24-3zv2hv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520109/original/file-20230410-24-3zv2hv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520109/original/file-20230410-24-3zv2hv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520109/original/file-20230410-24-3zv2hv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520109/original/file-20230410-24-3zv2hv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CT scanning a sauropod skull at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adele Pentland</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also scanned all of the bones with a surface scanner, enabling detailed 3D models of each bone to be made on a computer. The skull could then be reassembled in a virtual space with no risk of damage to the fossils themselves. </p>
<p>The teeth in the new sauropod skull were very similar to those found at other sites in the Winton area. Comparisons with Australia’s only other fragmentary sauropod skull (also from Winton) revealed additional similarities. </p>
<h2>Meet <em>Diamantinasaurus matildae</em></h2>
<p>Our skull belongs to the species <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamantinasaurus"><em>Diamantinasaurus matildae</em></a>. <em>Diamantinasaurus</em> would have been about as long as a tennis court, as tall as basketball ring at the shoulder, and weighed ~25 tonnes – <a href="https://content.isuzu.com.au/industry-insights/the-thin-red-line-what-makes-a-fire-truck-extraordinary/">about as much as two fire engines</a>.</p>
<p><em>Diamantinasaurus</em> occupies a low branch on the family tree of a group of sauropods called titanosaurs. Other members of the titanosaur group (from higher branches on their family tree) include the largest land animals that ever lived, such as <em>Patagotitan</em> and <em>Argentinosaurus</em>, which exceeded 30 metres in length. Titanosaurs were the only sauropods to live right until the end of the Cretaceous Period (66 million years ago), when the age of dinosaurs came to a close.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-march-of-the-titanosaurs-the-snake-creek-tracksite-unveiled-161039">The march of the titanosaurs: the Snake Creek Tracksite unveiled</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Diamantinasaurus</em> has a rounded snout, typical of medium- to high-level browsing sauropods. Its teeth are robustly constructed, but those from other sites show little sign of wear by soil or grit, reinforcing the idea <em>Diamantinasaurus</em> preferred to feed some distance above ground level. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520111/original/file-20230410-20-x7c3sg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520111/original/file-20230410-20-x7c3sg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520111/original/file-20230410-20-x7c3sg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520111/original/file-20230410-20-x7c3sg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520111/original/file-20230410-20-x7c3sg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520111/original/file-20230410-20-x7c3sg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520111/original/file-20230410-20-x7c3sg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520111/original/file-20230410-20-x7c3sg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The reconstructed skull of Diamantinasaurus matildae, viewed from the left side.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Poropat / Samantha Rigby</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Only two replacement teeth are present in each tooth socket, implying that <em>Diamantinasaurus</em> replaced its teeth relatively slowly. And finally, the teeth are restricted to the front of the snout, meaning that <em>Diamantinasaurus</em>, like all other sauropods, did not chew its food.</p>
<h2>Family resemblances</h2>
<p>We compared our sauropod skull with others from around the world. The most similar skull was that of <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0151661"><em>Sarmientosaurus musacchioi</em></a>, which lived in southern South America. <em>Diamantinasaurus</em> and <em>Sarmientosaurus</em> lived at around the same time (about 95 million years ago), and at around the same latitude (50°S). </p>
<p>We had previously hypothesised that these two sauropods <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/192/2/610/6104802">were close relatives</a>, albeit on the basis of limited evidence. The new skull shores up that idea in a big way: bone for bone, the skulls of <em>Diamantinasaurus</em> and <em>Sarmientosaurus</em> are extremely similar.
This might seem strange, given the great physical distance between South America and Australia today. However, back then each of those continents retained a lingering land connection with Antarctica. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-key-feature-contributed-to-sauropods-getting-so-enormous-new-dino-foot-study-reveals-188462">A key feature contributed to sauropods getting so enormous, new dino foot study reveals</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Sauropods seemingly preferred <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098222101647X">warmer climates at low to medium latitudes</a>. However, 95 million years ago the climate was extremely warm, even by the warm standards of the Cretaceous. With polar latitudes more amenable for sauropods, these scaly behemoths – and other landlubbing animals – could <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep34467">trundle through lush forests at the bottom of the world</a> between South America and Antarctica. </p>
<p>It is a privilege to be able to finally put a face to the name <em>Diamantinasaurus matildae</em>. Future discoveries will hopefully help cement its status as one of the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2021.2047991">most completely understood titanosaurs</a> worldwide.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203405/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Poropat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Meet Ann: a toothy 95 million-year-old Diamantinasaurus from outback Queensland.Stephen Poropat, Research associate, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2027612023-03-31T09:37:19Z2023-03-31T09:37:19ZTyrannosaurus rex: our new research shows it covered its enormous teeth with lips<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518435/original/file-20230330-28-gk7yku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C41%2C6989%2C4872&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Witton</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Picture a <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em>, that ferocious yet one of the most beloved dinosaurs. Most people will probably imagine a scaly giant with enormous fangs, visible even when its mouth is closed. </p>
<p>This is the image of toothy predatory dinosaurs that popular culture has perpetuated for over 30 years.</p>
<p>But our new study, <a href="http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo7877">published in Science</a>, suggests that even the giant teeth of <em>Tyrannosaurus</em> would have been sheathed in scaly lips.</p>
<p>Palaeontologists and artists have held different opinions on how dinosaur faces looked since we began <a href="https://theconversation.com/crystal-palace-dinosaurs-how-we-rediscovered-five-missing-sculptures-from-the-famous-park-182573">recreating their form in the 1830s</a>. From the 1980s onwards, artists and scientists have <a href="https://www.nhbs.com/paleoart-visions-of-the-prehistoric-past-1830-1980-book">mostly shown theropod dinosaurs</a> (the lineage that includes <em>Tyrannosaurus</em>, <em>Velociraptor</em> and birds) with lipless mouths and exposed teeth. </p>
<p>This look became deeply rooted in popular culture thanks to the 1993 film Jurassic Park and its iconic depiction of <em>T. rex</em>. Jurassic Park’s creators deliberately exaggerated the size and visibility of their tyrant’s teeth, despite being an otherwise accurate recreation of <em>Tyrannosaurus</em> for the time. No specific study or fossil discovery inspired this look. The widespread adoption of the lipless dinosaur reflected a preference for a new, ferocious-looking aesthetic rather than a scientific re-think.</p>
<p>This is not to say that lipless theropods are scientifically baseless. Living cousins of dinosaurs, <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/obl4he/vertebratediversity/crocodilians.html">the crocodylians</a> (crocodiles and alligators), and the only surviving dinosaur group, birds, both have hard, immobile tissue around their jaws rather than the scaly lips of lizards. So it was reasonable to infer that extinct animals related to crocodylians and birds (including all predatory dinosaurs) had lipless faces. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Series of Tyrannosaurus portraits: a skull, a green lipless face, a brown lipped face, and a grey-green face with open mouth partially gum-covered teeth." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518034/original/file-20230328-5475-muzfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518034/original/file-20230328-5475-muzfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518034/original/file-20230328-5475-muzfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518034/original/file-20230328-5475-muzfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518034/original/file-20230328-5475-muzfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518034/original/file-20230328-5475-muzfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518034/original/file-20230328-5475-muzfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The varying faces of <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em>. The bottom picture is the most accurate, according to new research.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark P. Witton</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our new study, 11 years in the making, brings new data to this conversation. My team analysed theropod fossils and compared them with living reptiles. We found that predatory dinosaurs probably had lips like those you’d find on a lizard.</p>
<p>One part of our research looked at tooth damage. Exposed teeth show greater wear than those behind lips – for example, crocodylians have <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2014/may/museum-opens-wide-giant-crocodile-tooth.html">significant abrasion on their outer teeth</a>. But when we examined theropod teeth using microscopes and compared them with crocodylian teeth, we found theropod teeth were considerably less damaged. </p>
<p>This is not the only difference between theropods and crocodylians. All reptiles have small holes <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/reptile/Skull-and-dentition">in their jaw bones</a> that house blood vessels and nerves for their oral skin and gums, usually just millimetres wide. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518436/original/file-20230330-23-ymidnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A T-Rex with closed lips" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518436/original/file-20230330-23-ymidnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518436/original/file-20230330-23-ymidnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518436/original/file-20230330-23-ymidnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518436/original/file-20230330-23-ymidnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518436/original/file-20230330-23-ymidnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518436/original/file-20230330-23-ymidnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518436/original/file-20230330-23-ymidnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t be fooled by those lips.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Witton</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lipped reptiles, lizards and <a href="https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/tuatara">tuataras</a> (the last survivors of a group of lizard-like reptiles from the age of dinosaurs), have relatively few of these holes and they are mostly positioned close to their teeth. <a href="https://core.ac.uk/reader/81671420">Crocodylian skulls</a>, however, are covered in hundreds of tiny openings that are related to their sensitive, tight facial skin.</p>
<p>We found theropod jaw bones are more like lizards’ and have a low number of openings close to their jaw margins. This is also true of crocodylians’ ancient, extinct relatives. This implies that the unusual facial anatomy of living crocodylians evolved within their own lineage, not as a shared feature with the dinosaur/bird line.</p>
<p>We also looked at tooth size, because some predatory dinosaurs had much bigger teeth than any living reptiles, and this might have prevented them from being enveloped inside lips. We calculated a ratio of tooth height and skull length for theropods. Then we compared this with the same value for monitor lizards, the lipped group that includes the only living animal comparable to large theropods in its feeding habits, the komodo dragon. </p>
<p>Our comparisons revealed that no predatory dinosaurs – even the big-toothed <em>T. rex</em> – had teeth larger than living lizards. Indeed, species like the crocodile monitor have proportionally larger teeth than any theropod, so there’s no reason to think dinosaur teeth were too big to be covered by lips.</p>
<p>Finally, we modelled the mechanics of how lipless theropod jaws would close, and found it impossible for some theropods to seal their mouths without lips. The best we could manage was a gappy smile. Forcing jaws into a full seal either crushed jaw-supporting bones or dislocated the jaw joint. With permanently open mouths, these theropods would have faced issues with their oral health and risked dehydration. </p>
<p>Collectively, these studies point to the same conclusion: that theropod mouth anatomy and functionality seems more like that of lizards than crocodiles. This suggests that lizard-like lips covered their teeth.</p>
<p>If we’re right, and lizards are our best model for theropod mouths, dinosaur lips were probably not muscular, <a href="https://theses.gla.ac.uk/77121/">like mammal lips</a> are. So, dinosaurs probably couldn’t snarl like they sometimes do in the movies. </p>
<p>In further contrast with Hollywood’s dinosaurs, we also need to give theropods bigger gums. Unlike crocodiles or even mammals, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3458625/">lizard-line reptiles</a> tend to have large gums that cover some or all of their tooth crowns, even when their teeth are adapted for ripping flesh. This has the effect of making their teeth look smaller or even invisible in their open mouths.</p>
<p>Combined with scaly lips, our findings suggest that predatory dinosaurs may have had softer-looking faces and mouths than we’re used to. But don’t let this fool you. Behind those lips and gums were the same formidable, flesh-rending teeth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark P. Witton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Although we’re used to seeing lipless dinosaur carnivores, our new data suggests they had lizard-like lips and probably couldn’t snarl.Mark P. Witton, Research Fellow in Palaeontology, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2018052023-03-17T13:15:30Z2023-03-17T13:15:30ZBones like Aero chocolate: the evolution adaptation that helped dinosaurs to fly<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515189/original/file-20230314-2324-mvidfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5488%2C2874&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dinosaurs once dominated Earth's landscapes</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dinosaurs-park-by-lake-1094368226">AmeliAU/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s sometimes difficult to imagine how the planet we call home, with its megalopolis cities and serene farmlands, was once dominated by dinosaurs as big as buses and five-storey buildings. But <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-25067-8">recent research has helped deepen our understanding</a> of why dinosaurs prevailed: the answer may lie in their special bones, structured like Aero chocolate. </p>
<p>Brazilian palaeontologist Tito Aureliano found that hollow bones filled with little air sacs were so important to dinosaur survival, they evolved independently several times in different lineages. </p>
<p>According to the study, aerated bones evolved in three separate lineages: <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/pterosaurs">pterosaurs</a>, technically flying reptiles, and two dinosaur lineages <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/saurischia/theropoda.html">theropods</a> (ranging from the crow-sized Microraptor to the huge <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em>) and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/dinosaur/Sauropodomorpha">sauropodomorphs</a> (long-necked herbivores including Brachiosaurus). The researchers focused on the <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/the-triassic-period-the-rise-of-the-dinosaurs.html">late Triassic period</a>, roughly 233 million years ago, in south Brazil. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515192/original/file-20230314-26-r9ixvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A macro close-up shot of an opened bar of Aero chocolate, with the corner broken off, exposing the unique bubble texture from which it gets it name." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515192/original/file-20230314-26-r9ixvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515192/original/file-20230314-26-r9ixvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515192/original/file-20230314-26-r9ixvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515192/original/file-20230314-26-r9ixvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515192/original/file-20230314-26-r9ixvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515192/original/file-20230314-26-r9ixvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515192/original/file-20230314-26-r9ixvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hollow dinosaur bones, structured a bit like this chocolate, proved to be a major advantage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chatteris-cambridgeshire-uk-june-26-2016-1645850281">Kev Gregory/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Every time an animal reproduces, <a href="https://biologydirect.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/1745-6150-8-24.pdf?site=biologydirect.biomedcentral.com">evolution throws up random variants</a> in genetic code. Some of these variants are passed on to offspring and develop over time. </p>
<p>Charles Darwin believed evolution created “<a href="https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin/endless-forms-most-beautiful/from-so-simple-a-beginning">endless forms most beautiful</a>”. But some adaptations emerge spontaneously time and time again, a bit like getting the same hand of cards on multiple occasions. When <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/convergent-evolution">the same hand keeps cropping up</a>, it’s a sign that evolution has hit upon an important and effective solution.</p>
<p>The variant the Brazilian team studied was aerated vertebrae bones, which would have enhanced the dinosaurs’ strength and reduced their body weight. </p>
<h2>Light but mighty</h2>
<p>Your regular deliveries from Amazon or other online retailers come packed in corrugated cardboard, which has the same advantages as aerated bones. It is light, yet tough. </p>
<p><a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/354552924.pdf">Corrugated cardboard</a> or as it was first known, pleated paper, was a man-made design experiment that was hugely successful and is now part of our everyday lives. It was patented in England in 1856 and was initially designed to support top hats which were popular in Victorian England and the US at the time. </p>
<p>Three years later, Darwin published his <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin/On-the-Origin-of-Species">On the Origin of Species</a> which outlined how evolutionary traits that create advantages are more likely to be passed on to future generations than variants which don’t.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Close up of stacked brown recycled carton" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515191/original/file-20230314-26-r6hck4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515191/original/file-20230314-26-r6hck4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515191/original/file-20230314-26-r6hck4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515191/original/file-20230314-26-r6hck4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515191/original/file-20230314-26-r6hck4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515191/original/file-20230314-26-r6hck4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515191/original/file-20230314-26-r6hck4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cardboard is strong and light.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-stacked-brown-recycled-carton-53962123">Shawn Hempel/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/30/getting-under-a-fossils-skin-how-ct-scans-have-changed-palaeontology-dinosaur-lizard">CT scan technology</a> allowed Aureliano and his colleagues to peer inside the rock-hard fossils they studied. Without the modern technology, it would have been impossible to look inside the fossils and detect the air sacs in the spinal columns. </p>
<p>The study found no common ancestor had this trait. All three groups must have developed air sacs independently, and each time in slightly different ways. </p>
<p>The air sacs probably enhanced oxygen levels in the dinosaurs’ blood. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Triassic-Period">Triassic period</a> had a scorching hot and dry climate. So more oxygen circulating in the blood would cool dinosaur bodies more efficiently. It would also allow them to mover faster. </p>
<p>The air sacs would have buttressed and reinforced the internal structure of the dinosaurs’ bones while creating a greater surface area of attachments for large, powerful muscles. This would have enabled the bones to grow to a far larger size without weighing the animal down. </p>
<p><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2010.0117">In living birds</a> aerated bones reduce overall mass and volume, while enhancing bone strength and stiffness – essential features for flight.</p>
<p>Palaeontology not only tells the story of what might have been for Earth, had it not been for that infamous asteroid, but also helps us learn about the evolution of still living creatures.</p>
<h2>Prehistoric connections</h2>
<p>Echoes of this dinosaur legacy lie in many animals alive today. It is not only long-dead animals which found this type of adaptation useful. Many <a href="https://www.varsity.co.uk/science/23161">bird species</a> living today rely on hollow bones to fly. Others animals use the air sacs to buttress and strengthen their large bones and skulls, without weighing them down. </p>
<p>An excellent example of this is the elephant skull. Inside <a href="https://oro.open.ac.uk/71257/1/dis20a-sub2587-i8.pdf">elephant skulls</a> are large air sacs which allow the animal to move its massive head and heavy tusks without straining the neck muscles. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515224/original/file-20230314-3238-u8rn6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515224/original/file-20230314-3238-u8rn6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515224/original/file-20230314-3238-u8rn6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515224/original/file-20230314-3238-u8rn6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515224/original/file-20230314-3238-u8rn6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515224/original/file-20230314-3238-u8rn6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515224/original/file-20230314-3238-u8rn6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515224/original/file-20230314-3238-u8rn6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anatomy of a flat bone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:621_Anatomy_of_a_Flat_Bone.jpg">OpenStax College</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The human brain is also protected by two layers of hard, compact, bone (inner and outer tables) which sandwich a layer of softer, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25514483/">spongey and aerated bone</a> in between, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/veterinary-science-and-veterinary-medicine/diploe#:%7E:text=diplo%C3%AB%20%5Bdip%E2%80%B2lo%2De,Dictionary%20(Fifth%20Edition)%2C%202021">known as the diploe</a>. This allows our skulls to be light, but strong and able to absorb shocks to cranium.</p>
<p>These are examples of convergent evolution in which animals are faced repeatedly with the same problem, evolving similar – but not always identical – solutions each time. Animals today are playing by the same evolutionary playbook as the dinosaurs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201805/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally Christine Reynolds does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hollow bones were essential for dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex.Sally Christine Reynolds, Principal Academic in Hominin Palaeoecology, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1982652023-01-30T11:58:23Z2023-01-30T11:58:23ZPrimates colonised the Arctic during a period of ancient global warming – their fate offers a lesson as climate change speeds up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506318/original/file-20230125-16-h6irfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5455%2C3620&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers have found evidence that primates colonised northern Canada 52 million years ago.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hammer-tool-excavated-fossils-imprinted-on-711804889">Kaca Skokanova/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two new species of prehistoric primate were recently <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0280114">identified</a> by scientists studying fossils from Canada’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellesmere_Island">Ellesmere Island</a> in the high Arctic. The primates are closely related and likely originated from a single colonisation event, following which they split into two species: <em>Ignacius dawsonae</em> and <em>Ignacius mckennai</em>. </p>
<p>At 52 million years old, they represent the most recent known members of their genus.</p>
<p>The primates colonised the high latitudes during a period of historic global warming called the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X22002254">early Eocene climatic optimum</a> (EECO). During this period, the high Arctic, now cold and inhospitable, had a climate similar to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_dome">cypress swamps of the southeastern USA</a>. The primates shared the landscape with species that are today associated with warmer climates, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crocodilians">crocodilians</a> and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/tapirs">tapirs</a>.</p>
<p>This warmer period had a major impact on biodiversity. But it also has important implications for our understanding of climate change today. Human impact on the climate is so dramatic that scientists are calling for the acknowledgement of a new geological period called the <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-the-anthropocene.html">Anthropocene</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dawn-of-the-anthropocene-five-ways-we-know-humans-have-triggered-a-new-geological-epoch-52867">Dawn of the Anthropocene: five ways we know humans have triggered a new geological epoch</a>
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<h2>New Arctic primate fossils</h2>
<p>The Ellesmere <em>Ignacius</em> species are known only from teeth and jaw fragments. But other species of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacius"><em>Ignacius</em></a> for which additional skeletal materials are available indicate a tree-living lifestyle similar to modern <a href="https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dermoptera/">colugos</a>, a gliding mammal native to southeast Asia. The new primates likely evolved from ancestral <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/345340a0">paromomyids</a> (extinct gliding primates) from North America’s southerly latitudes. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A green Colugo hanging upside down from a branch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505710/original/file-20230122-8930-qchj1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505710/original/file-20230122-8930-qchj1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505710/original/file-20230122-8930-qchj1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505710/original/file-20230122-8930-qchj1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505710/original/file-20230122-8930-qchj1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505710/original/file-20230122-8930-qchj1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505710/original/file-20230122-8930-qchj1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Colugo, a gliding mammal native to southeast Asia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Garbutt/ARKive</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Based on tooth size, <em>Ignacius dawsonae</em> at 1.17 kg was twice as large as <em>Ignacius clarkforkensis</em>, the biggest mid-latitude member of the genus (0.47 kg). <em>Ignacius mckennai</em> at 1.98 kg may have been four times as large as its biggest southern cousin. The new Ignacius were roughly the <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/mammals/rabbit">size of a rabbit</a>.</p>
<p>These results support <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergmann%27s_rule">Bergmann’s Rule</a>, a theory that links the climate to animal anatomy. It states that the colder the climate, the larger the animal. While the high Arctic was warmer during the EECO than it is today, its climate was still cooler than the ancestral range of <em>Ignacius</em> species.</p>
<p>As a shape gets bigger, its relative surface area to volume ratio gets smaller. This means the surface area over which heat is lost is relatively smaller for larger animals. To minimise heat loss, animals that live in colder climates tend to be bigger than similar species in warmer climates.</p>
<p>Penguins, for example, broadly follow Bergmann’s rule. The <a href="https://www.penguins-world.com/emperor-penguin/">large emperor penguin</a> lives near the south pole, while smaller species such as the <a href="https://www.penguins-world.com/humboldt-penguin/https://www.penguins-world.com/emperor-penguin/">Humboldt penguin</a> inhabit regions closer to the equator.</p>
<p>The Ellesmere <em>Ignacius</em> also exhibits large teeth and jaw muscles. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomechanics">biomechanics</a> indicate a high bite force with relatively low and serrated molars. This suggests a diet that included harder objects such as seeds and nuts that provided a food source during the long dark winters of such northerly latitudes. </p>
<h2>The science of discovery</h2>
<p>The fossils were excavated at multiple locations over several decades before being examined and photographed using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_microtomography">micro-computed tomography</a>. This is a modern technique that allows scientists to digitally map the anatomy of fossils embedded inside rocks.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506320/original/file-20230125-20-12692e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Images of teeth and jaw fragments of the new primates against a black background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506320/original/file-20230125-20-12692e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506320/original/file-20230125-20-12692e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506320/original/file-20230125-20-12692e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506320/original/file-20230125-20-12692e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506320/original/file-20230125-20-12692e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506320/original/file-20230125-20-12692e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506320/original/file-20230125-20-12692e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Micro-computed tomography images of the teeth and jaw fragments of Ignacius Dawsonae.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280114">Miller, Tietjen & Beard (2023)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The researchers then conducted <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylogenetics">phylogenetic analysis</a> of the teeth and jaw fragments to determine identity and evolutionary relatedness to previously described species. They also compared tooth topography (a 3D landscape map of the tooth surface) with living and other fossil primates to determine the new species’ likely diet. </p>
<h2>Implications for future evolution</h2>
<p>The EECO will have seen a turnover of animal species. As local climates warm, individual organisms have two options: move or die. At the species level, animals have a third option, to <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/evolution-78/">evolve</a> over generations to adapt to changing environmental conditions. </p>
<p>The fact that mammals living in warmer climates colonised the changing Arctic habitat is likely because their own ancestral range was becoming too hot. This indicates the potential for migration, followed by <a href="https://www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/evolution/macroevolution/evolutionary-radiations/">evolutionary radiation</a>, to fill opening <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/niche">ecological niches</a> created by climate change. </p>
<p>But the colonisation was selective. Several mammal species, including deer, antelope, horses and small herbivore groups lived in warmer regions further south but did not inhabit such northerly latitudes. A much greater variety of primitive primates also did not make Ellesmere their home during the EECO. Biodiversity in the High Arctic therefore <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-abstract/124/1-2/3/125757/Life-at-the-top-of-the-greenhouse-Eocene-world-A?redirectedFrom=fulltext">remained lower</a> than at more southerly latitudes. </p>
<p>The researchers suggest that temperature was not the main barrier to successful colonisation. Instead it was probably the long winter darkness and the resultant effect on the availability of plant materials as food. Some mammal species were not capable of the transition.</p>
<p>History shows us that various mammals can move northwards and adapt, and that <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/biodiversity">biodiversity</a> can increase. But evolution needs two things: <a href="https://www.studysmarter.us/explanations/biology/genetic-information/genetic-diversity/">genetic diversity</a> and time. </p>
<p>However, expanding human populations are having increasingly destructive effects on nature. Persecution and habitat loss have, for example, reduced population sizes and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/eva.12810">genetic diversity</a> across species. Pollution also means that the climate is changing <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/climate-change/what-is-climate-change">faster than ever before</a>. It is thus harder for species to adapt. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A polar bear cub standing on a patch of ice overlooking a melting snow landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506057/original/file-20230124-23-3wea8p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506057/original/file-20230124-23-3wea8p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506057/original/file-20230124-23-3wea8p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506057/original/file-20230124-23-3wea8p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506057/original/file-20230124-23-3wea8p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506057/original/file-20230124-23-3wea8p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506057/original/file-20230124-23-3wea8p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The climate is changing faster than ever before.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/polar-bear-standing-on-rests-ice-2000477978">foto.t-kress.de/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ironically, climate change may also explain why the Arctic <em>Ignacius</em> species went extinct. As Arctic temperatures again cooled, <em>Ignacius</em> likely found itself maladapted to the cold and unable to migrate south or compete with mid-latitude species that were better adapted to their environment. </p>
<p>Humans cheat the climate by <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-humans-havent-evolved-to-cope-with-the-cold-yet-we-dominate-northern-climates-heres-why-195621">using technology</a> to evade environmental challenges. Air conditioning, central heating and clothes enable humans to survive in places that we would otherwise be unable to tolerate. </p>
<p>But we are vulnerable to climate change. If human-induced climate change continues, it is not just other animals that will experience the same fate as <em>Ignacius</em>. We will too.</p>
<hr>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Gilchrist does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Close relatives of primates adapted to life in the High Arctic 52 million years ago – this may offer insight into future changes in the Arctic.Jason Gilchrist, Ecologist, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1769522023-01-24T06:16:06Z2023-01-24T06:16:06ZHow we cracked the mystery of Australia’s prehistoric giant eggs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505414/original/file-20230119-20-rbmop2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1488%2C927&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The giant bird Genyornis went extinct in Australia around 50,000 years ago.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Trusler</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s a long-running Australian detective story. From the 1980s onwards, researchers found eggshell fragments, and on rare occasions whole eggs, exposed in eroding sand dunes within the country’s arid zone (which covers most of Australia’s landmass).</p>
<p>A proportion of shells matched eggs laid by emus, but the rest belonged to a mystery species. Researchers initially identified the eggshells as belonging to a giant, extinct bird called <em>Genyornis</em>. But more recently, a group of scientists challenged this view.</p>
<p>With the help of artificial intelligence software, our team has now resolved this scientific controversy, showing that <em>Genyornis</em> was indeed the bird that laid these eggs. With colleagues based around the world, we have published the findings in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2109326119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>. </p>
<p><em>Genyornis</em> was a flightless bird between two metres and 2.5 metres tall that once roamed the Australian landmass. The eggshell fragments are an important line of evidence about this extinct creature, so being certain about the identity of the bird that laid them is vital.</p>
<p>Some of the shell fragments are 400,000 years old, while the youngest are about 50,000 years old. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms10496">Previous work</a> showed that some of the youngest eggshells had been burned, but not in the way a wildfire would. Instead, scientific tests point to humans cooking the eggs for food.</p>
<p>The time period where <em>Genyornis</em> shells disappear (50,000 years ago) coincides with what’s thought to be the first arrival of humans in Australia. The discovery therefore raises the possibility that our species contributed to its extinction.</p>
<h2>Narrowing the candidates</h2>
<p>The eggshell fragments were first recognised by Dom Williams, a geologist and vertebrate palaeontologist from Flinders University in Adelaide, in 1981. He made the case that the fragments <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03115518108565426">came from <em>Genyornis</em></a>, which belonged to a group of extinct creatures known as thunderbirds.</p>
<p>In the 1990s, a team including John Magee, at Australian National University, and Gifford Miller, one of the authors of this article, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.283.5399.205">provided firm dates</a> for similar shell fragments collected at thousands of arid zone sites. <em>Genyornis</em> was one of many large animals – known as “megafauna” – that once roamed Australia and vanished at around the same time. The work by Miller, Magee and others pinned a clear date of 50,000 years ago on this extinction event.</p>
<p>The association of the eggshells with <em>Genyornis</em> was widely accepted from the 1980s until recently, when it was <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027737911530192X">challenged by a team of scientists</a> from Flinders University in Australia. Based upon the size and structure of the eggshells, they argued for a different parent. Their favoured candidate was <em>Progura</em>, a 10kg extinct relative of modern birds such as the brush turkey and malleefowl. </p>
<p>Living birds belonging to this group - known as megapodes – build earthen mounds to incubate their eggs. <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-case-of-mistaken-identity-for-australias-extinct-big-bird-52856">The scientific debate</a> was fought out in academic journals, with neither side conceding.</p>
<h2>Chasing a solution</h2>
<p>Attempting to find a resolution, scientists who thought the eggs belonged to Genyornis turned to DNA. Despite <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2009.2019">the successful extraction</a> of genetic information from eggs of New Zealand’s extinct Moa bird, state-of-the-art DNA sequencing technology drew a blank in this case. The molecules were too degraded after 50,000 years under the hot Australian sun.</p>
<p>However, proteins – the molecular building blocks of cells – can provide similar information and can last for longer than DNA. In our study, we used a technique called amino acid racemisation to identify the shell fragments with the best-preserved proteins.</p>
<p>As part of the work, our team was able to retrieve partial protein sequences from the Australian eggshells. We then used software called AlphaFold, from the Google-owned AI lab DeepMind, to generate predicted structures for the molecules – the first time this has been done for ancient proteins.</p>
<p>Two of us, Matthew Collins and Beatrice Demarchi, contacted the <a href="https://b10k.genomics.cn">Bird 10,000 Genomes (B10K) Project</a>. This has set itself the ambitious goal of sequencing the genomes of all bird species.</p>
<p>B10K project member Josefin Stiller took the reconstructed protein sequences and <a href="https://unfolded.deepmind.com/stories/unlocking-the-mystery-of-the-demon-duck-of-doom">placed them within a “family tree”</a> showing how proteins differ between bird species. The proteins were complete enough to resolve the position of the mystery eggs within the deep branches of this tree of protein sequences, but not sufficiently diagnostic to uniquely identify what the parent bird was.</p>
<p>However, as <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2109326119">detailed in our latest paper</a>, the protein sequences were able to conclusively rule out that the parent was a megapode. As there are no other candidate birds, we concluded – as Williams had first proposed in the 1980s – that the eggshells belonged to <em>Genyornis</em>.</p>
<p>This means we can confidently interpret other evidence locked in the shells with implications for how <em>Genyornis</em> went extinct and why the emus that lived alongside it survived. </p>
<h2>Picky eater</h2>
<p>Isotopes are different forms of chemical elements that can record information about factors such as diet and climate. Carbon isotopes within the eggshell fragments provide information on the birds’ diets and show that <em>Genyornis</em> was a pickier eater than the emu. Oxygen isotopes can be used to track aridity and show that conditions were increasingly dry around the time <em>Genyornis</em> eggshells disappear.</p>
<p>In previous work, Miller and his colleagues <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379116302815">analysed the same isotopes in emu eggshells</a> across the time window of <em>Genyornis’</em> extinction and found that summer-season grasses abruptly disappear from the birds’ diets. This is consistent with a dramatic reduction in monsoon rains.</p>
<p>These findings suggest that <em>Genyornis</em> was already somewhat vulnerable to a changing environment, but another factor may have proved important to its ultimate fate. </p>
<p>When coupled with the lack of evidence from <em>Genyornis</em> skeletons for direct predation, the burnt eggshells suggest that – as is so common elsewhere in the world – human pressure was likely to have been a factor that finally drove these impressive birds to extinction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176952/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew James Collins receives funding from The Danish National Research Foundation. He is affiliated with The University of Copenhagen. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beatrice Demarchi receives funding from the Italian Ministry of University and Research </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gifford Miller receives funding from the US National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>A puzzle over the identity of an extinct bird that laid eggs across Australia has been solved.Matthew James Collins, Professor of Palaeoproteomics, University of CambridgeBeatrice Demarchi, Associate professor, Università di TorinoGifford Miller, Distinguished Professor of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1922002022-12-22T06:13:17Z2022-12-22T06:13:17ZSabretooth cats hunted on South Africa’s coast 5 million years ago: this old one was in pain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491015/original/file-20221021-25-zjgu31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Skeletal reconstruction of the Langebaanweg sabertooth, with highlighted elements to indicate the bones examined in this study. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adapted from Mauricio Antón (2013)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over five million years ago, before our ancestors dominated the landscape, southern Africa’s west coast was home to a diverse array of prehistoric beasts. <a href="https://theconversation.com/gigantic-wolverines-otters-the-size-of-wolves-fossils-offer-fresh-insights-into-the-past-140752">Among them</a> were hyenas, small felines, giant civets, small mongooses, rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses.</p>
<p>Today, just 120km north of Cape Town, the Langebaanweg fossil area offers a window into this rich natural history. <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/9221/">Various finds</a> from Langebaanweg have allowed researchers to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab022/6288410?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false">piece together</a> what the region looked like during the Mio-Pliocene about 5.2 million years ago.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1463">new research</a> adds another piece to that picture: a large sabretooth cat whose long, curved canines made it a powerful predator. It was already known that several genera of sabretooth cat roamed the area around Langebaanweg – now we can add another, previously undescribed species. </p>
<p>This new research not only refines our knowledge about the sabretooth cats that lived and hunted at Langebaanweg. An abnormality we identified in the bones may also shed further light on the big cats’ hunting behaviour.</p>
<p>These findings are important because knowing where and when extinct species lived, and what other organisms they interacted with at the time, helps to build an ever-clearer picture of past ecosystems. Understanding the changing biodiversity of past ecosystems helps scientists to study long-term patterns of ecosystem development and species evolution. This, in turn, can help with predictive modelling to respond to the current climatic shifts and ecosystem collapses being seen around the world.</p>
<h2>A new species?</h2>
<p>The Langebaanweg fossil locality <a href="https://fossilpark.org.za/about">was discovered</a> when phosphate miners broke ground in the 1950s. Continuous excavation efforts between 1960 and the late 1980s, spearheaded by palaeontologist Brett Hendey from the <a href="https://www.iziko.org.za/museums/south-african-museum/">Iziko South African Museum</a>, yielded a vast array of fossils. Many of them have yet to be thoroughly studied and are held in the Iziko Museum’s collections.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490313/original/file-20221018-14-geef36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490313/original/file-20221018-14-geef36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490313/original/file-20221018-14-geef36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490313/original/file-20221018-14-geef36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490313/original/file-20221018-14-geef36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490313/original/file-20221018-14-geef36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490313/original/file-20221018-14-geef36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Caitlin Rabe examines one of the Langebaanweg bone beds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nazley Liddle</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was there, in 2020, that palaeobiologist Alberto Valenciano uncovered a peculiar set of large bones. They differed in size and shape from the bones of other carnivores from Langebaanweg like large primitive hyaenids or the African bear. He concluded that the bones probably belonged to a sabretooth felid.</p>
<p>At least three genera of sabretooth cats – <em><a href="https://prehistoric-fauna.com/Metailurus-major">Metailurus</a></em>, <em><a href="https://prehistoric-fauna.com/Amphimachairodus-giganteus">Amphimachairodus</a></em> and <em><a href="https://www.maropeng.co.za/news/entry/dinofelis_hominid_hunter_or_misunderstood_feline">Dinofelis</a></em> – were already known from Langebaanweg. </p>
<p>Working with palaeobiologist Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan at the University of Cape Town, we set about uncovering which genus is represented by the large bones from Iziko. This involved detailing the anatomy of the bones, taking numerous measurements and comparing these to those of other sabretooth cats from around the world, as well as similar extant species like the African lion.</p>
<p>Our results suggest the bones belong to a species of sabretooth that’s similar to two previously described sabretooths: <em>Lokotunjailurus</em> from Kenya, and <em>Machairodus</em> from Spain. More work will need to be done to confirm its exact classification. But this is made difficult because we haven’t found the animal’s teeth, which are often the most useful feature in identifying extinct species.</p>
<p>There’s another interesting element to our findings: we think the animal whose bones we studied had osteoarthritis.</p>
<h2>An achy animal</h2>
<p>While studying the fossilised bones we noticed deformities. Certain areas of bone were eroded; there were abnormal body growths on others. Some articular surfaces – the part of the bone where two joints meet – showed deep grooves. This indicates that cartilage had worn away until the bones scraped together. </p>
<p>All together, these deformities suggest the animal had <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/osteoarthritis.htm">osteoarthritis</a>, a degenerative disease that we are familiar with in modern animals and humans. </p>
<p>Damage to the bones was particularly bad in the hind foot and lower back. The severity of the disease suggests that this sabretooth cat was an old individual who likely suffered with arthritis for some time. Drawing on veterinary work, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981718300160">other research</a> on palaeopathologies, we suggest that the animal would have experienced pain and limited mobility in the hindlimbs. </p>
<p>This has interesting behavioural implications. There is much debate about whether sabretooths were lone animals or stalked across the plains in prides like lions. This research adds to a growing <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982220314214">body of evidence</a> indicating that some sabretooths may, like lions, have relied on a social group when their hunting ability was impaired. Alternatively, if the Langebaanweg sabretooth was a lone animal, it may have dealt with its aching back and feet by resorting to scavenging rather than hunting.</p>
<p>Our diagnosis underscores the value of studying fossil bones. Doing so can lead to ecological and behavioural discoveries that help to construct a comprehensive understanding of a prehistoric animal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192200/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlin Bianca Rabe receives funding from GENUS through the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alberto Valenciano Vaquero received/recives funding from (GENUS (COE2018-09POST and COE2019-PD07), the R+D+I project PID2020-116220GB-I00, funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/), the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER funds (Research Projects PGC2018-094122-B-100), the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (‘Juan de la Cierva Formación’, ref. FJC2018-036669-I for AV), E33_20R (Gobierno de Aragón), and the Research Group UCM 910607). </span></em></p>A closer look at these fossil bones revealed more than the suggestion of a previously undescribed species - it pointed to the individual animal having suffered with osteoarthritis.Caitlin Bianca Rabe, PhD Candidate, University of Cape TownAlberto Valenciano Vaquero, Postdoctoral fellow, Universidad de ZaragozaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1900322022-09-15T17:15:58Z2022-09-15T17:15:58ZA fossil baby helped scientists explain how mammals thrived after the dinosaur extinction - new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484595/original/file-20220914-16-hzlr2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C35%2C2991%2C2480&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artist's impression of the _Pantolambda bathmodon_</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">H Sharpe</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sixty-two million years ago, a mother gave birth to a baby. Overcoming the shock of birth in a matter of minutes, the baby began to explore the world around it. The baby started to suckle from its mother, a natural instinct shared by all animals of its kind, the mammals. </p>
<p>Each day it grew, and after a month or two, it began feeding for itself on a diet of shoots and leaves. It would have become independent shortly after, but tragedy struck. After only two-and-a-half months, it died. </p>
<p>But this baby’s story doesn’t end there. Because 62 million years later, its distant cousins (humans) would discover its skeleton, fossilised in the harsh desert of New Mexico, in the south west of the US. </p>
<p>It’s classified as a species of early mammal, a bear-like animal called <em>Pantolambda bathmodon</em>. The group to which the species belongs (Pantodonta) went extinct in the Eocene era, some 10 million years after the fossil baby was born, leaving no living descendants. </p>
<p>An international team of scientists and I used its bones and teeth to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05150-w">reveal its life in unprecedented detail</a>. And our results may help to explain how mammals like <em>Pantolambda</em> took over the world after the dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago. </p>
<h2>Traces of history</h2>
<p>Your skeleton tells the story of your life. Trapped inside the dense minerals of your pearly smile, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/bies.202000298">tiny lines mark</a> each day of the growth of your teeth, which continue to grow inwards throughout most of your life. </p>
<p>Their <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12169">chemistry reveals your diet</a>. Elemental building blocks from your diet are recycled to build your tissues, retaining their original chemical fingerprints. Your bones grow like trees, <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0383">leaving annual rings</a>. </p>
<p>So your skeleton acts as a kind of journal, recording some of the major events you experience, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10764-006-9051-2">like birth, starvation, or injuries</a>. Scientists can reveal this calendar by cutting the bones and teeth into paper-thin slices – so thin that light can shine through.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484086/original/file-20220912-2404-dzzz5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484086/original/file-20220912-2404-dzzz5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484086/original/file-20220912-2404-dzzz5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484086/original/file-20220912-2404-dzzz5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484086/original/file-20220912-2404-dzzz5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484086/original/file-20220912-2404-dzzz5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484086/original/file-20220912-2404-dzzz5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Enamel striations or growth lines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">G Funston</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We did this for the fossil <em>Pantolambda</em> baby, along with several adults. We traced the daily growth of the teeth of the two-and-a-half-month old baby. This told us that its teeth grew rapidly, some forming in two months. Others, like the big molars, took up to six months (<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248405001648">our molars take three years to form</a>). </p>
<p>But its teeth revealed something even more important. Like on so many of our own calendars, there was a big day highlighted: its birthday. A distinct birth line marked the day that this baby was born, and the same line appeared in the teeth of adult <em>Pantolambda</em> too, evidence that the adult teeth began forming before birth. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484085/original/file-20220912-1707-8e73gt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484085/original/file-20220912-1707-8e73gt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484085/original/file-20220912-1707-8e73gt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484085/original/file-20220912-1707-8e73gt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484085/original/file-20220912-1707-8e73gt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484085/original/file-20220912-1707-8e73gt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484085/original/file-20220912-1707-8e73gt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Microscopic image of the fossil tooth, arrow shows birth line.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gregory Funston</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our analysis showed <em>Pantolambda</em> babies were born with a full set of milk teeth, and their adult teeth replaced these within a year after birth. Most mammals today have milk teeth, but they aren’t usually replaced for years. We also looked deeper into the early life of <em>Pantolambda</em> by mapping the changing chemistry of the tooth. To do this, we needed lasers.</p>
<p>We vaporised the tooth bit-by-bit using a microscopic laser. Like a needle on vinyl, the laser played out a record of the chemical changes that our bodies undergo as we’re born, nurse, and wean. Matching this record to our timeline from the daily growth marks, we were able to determine how long <em>Pantolambda</em> mothers were pregnant and how many days the baby suckled.</p>
<h2>What we learned</h2>
<p>Our study, the first of its kind in a fossil mammal, revealed that <em>Pantolambda</em> had a long pregnancy (seven months) and a short nursing period (one to two months). The data also shows the lifespans of <em>Pantolambda</em> would have been quite short, four to five years, with some reaching about ten years. </p>
<p>This lifestyle is similar to placental mammals, the group that includes us. It’s the earliest evidence of this type of lifestyle in the fossil record. </p>
<p>Placentals are special because of, you guessed it, our placentas. While many mammals and even other kinds of animals (<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0195976">fish, for example</a>) have placentas, we and our kin have <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kathleen-Smith-10/publication/305333208_Evolution_of_the_placenta_in_therian_mammals/links/5788f72708ae5c86c99aca42/Evolution-of-the-placenta-in-therian-mammals.pdf">a more developed placenta</a> that provides better nutrition, waste removal, and protection for the fetus. </p>
<p>This last aspect is crucial. Other mammals may not have long pregnancies because the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2407079">mother’s immune system can reject the fetus if it grows too large</a>. Our special placenta prevents this from happening, and our study suggests that <em>Pantolambda</em> must have had it, too. </p>
<p>Longer pregnancies allow placental mammals to give birth to bigger babies, which we hypothesise <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05150-w">was a shortcut for reaching larger sizes in adulthood</a>. They got larger, faster than the other kinds of mammals. </p>
<p>These are the pouched marsupials (including kangaroos and koalas) and the egg-laying monotremes (such as the duck-billed platypus). But the story, as always in science, is not clear cut. A recent study showed that an extinct mammal group, the small, rodent-like multituberculates, also <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/720410">appear to have had placental-like reproduction</a>, or at the very least, short nursing periods like <em>Pantolambda</em>.</p>
<p>We now know <em>Pantolambda</em>’s life history better than pretty much every other fossil mammal. In fact, we probably know the life history of <em>Pantolambda</em> better than some rare mammals that are around today (for example, one of several recently discovered <a href="https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/7249">bat species</a>). And it’s to early placental species like <em>Pantolambda</em> that we owe our thanks for the stunning diversity of mammals around us today. </p>
<p>Although the mammals living at the same time as <em>Pantolambda</em> evolved so rapidly that we struggle to trace their family tree, we do know they established the first mammal-dominated ecosystems. These meek survivors who inherited the Earth made the best of the opportunity, founding one of the greatest dynasties the planet has ever seen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190032/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregory Funston receives funding from The Royal Society (United Kingdom) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Palaeontologists studied Pantolambda fossils in forensic detail to learn about its lifestyle.Gregory Funston, Banting Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of EdinburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1885622022-08-22T14:51:34Z2022-08-22T14:51:34ZAncient frogs in mass grave died from too much sex – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480360/original/file-20220822-76732-9t0pw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C26%2C6000%2C3961&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The author looking at fossil specimens from the Geiseltal collection in Germany</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Falk</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Frogs once lived alongside dinosaurs. It’s incredible to think these little creatures <a href="https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/03/535383841/how-frogs-benefited-from-the-dinosaurs-extinction#:%7E:text=But%20scientists%20say%20they've,vacuum%20other%20animals%20left%20behind">survived the dinosaurs’ extinction.</a> But a lower level mass death did take place in what is now called the Geiseltal region in central Germany and the cause has long remained a mystery. </p>
<p>Hundreds of frog <a href="https://www.booklooker.de/B%C3%BCcher/Angebote/titel=Das+eoz%C3%A4ne+Geiseltal">fossils</a> were found in a mass grave in Geiseltal’s 45-million-year-old swampy coastlands, and their reason for being there has confounded scientists for decades. But my team’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1453">study</a> found an explanation: they died from exhaustion while mating. </p>
<p>We also found evidence the mating behaviour of modern frogs and toads dates back at least 45 million years as mass grave frog fossils from <a href="https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2010.p10-126r">other sites</a> show similar features on the skeletons as the Geiseltal specimens. </p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>My Irish-German research team studied the fossil frog skeletons. We palaeontologists took photos, made drawings and analysed the fossils. We checked how many bones were still in place and which bones and joints were still attached. </p>
<p>With this data we were able to reveal what happened to the frog skeletons after their death and to interpret the reason for their death. Our research also found many skeletins in one sediment layer which showed that most of the fossilised frogs died in mass mortality events (recurring events during which many hundreds of frogs died in a short time). </p>
<p>Other scientists thought the Geiseltal frogs and toads died when lakes dried up and oxygen levels <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1453">decreased rapidly</a>. But our research showed this was unlikely as the frogs could have easily made their way to nearby water bodies. We also found evidence the frog carcasses floated in the water for some time before they sank to the lake bottom. So the lake didn’t dry out. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1204&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1204&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479392/original/file-20220816-2693-vyi0qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1204&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ancient Geiseltal frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Falk</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our comparisons of Geiseltal skeletons with modern frogs revealed most Geiseltal frogs were actually toads. Toads follow a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1564675?origin=crossref#metadata_info_tab_contents">land based lifestyle</a>, except when they return to ponds to mate. They mated with numerous other toads during the very short mating season which, in some <a href="https://bmcecol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12898-019-0243-y">modern tropical species</a>, lasts for just hours. </p>
<p>Sex can be a death trap for modern toad and frog species. Individuals are regularly overcome by exhaustion and drown. Female frogs and toads are at higher risk of drowning as they are often submerged underwater by one or more males. Even today, mass toad graves are found on migration routes and near or in mating ponds. This was likely to be the same situation for the Geiseltal specimens. </p>
<p>The carcasses were moved by light currents in the swampy lakes and sank to the bottom in the cold, deep, and undisturbed regions of the lake. The cold temperatures (probably about 8°C) prevented decay and kept many skeletons in good condition. In some skeletons even small bones such as finger bones or toe bones are still well defined. </p>
<p>Some frogs may have <a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/31/23/jcli-d-18-0129.1.xml?tab_body=abstract-display">frozen to death,</a> died from diseases or from old age. That’s information the frogs took to the grave with them as these three causes of death are difficult to verify. But after months of studying these fossils and analysing what we know about their lifestyles my team came to an astonishing conclusion. </p>
<p>The most likely explanation for why there are several groups of frogs, each numbering in the hundreds, that died almost at the same time in different ponds, is that their enthusiastic mating killed them. It explains why similar mass graves have been found in different parts of the world. </p>
<p>The German <a href="https://www.naturkundemuseum.uni-halle.de/sammlungen/geiseltal_sammlung/">Geiseltal fossil collection</a> was closed for decades but recently reopened to the public and scientists. It is an incredible time capsule of over 50,000 fossils from a former lignite (brown coal) opencast mine in the Geiseltal. </p>
<p>The fossils include crocodiles, huge snakes, flightless giant birds and dog-sized primeval horses. Many of the Geiseltal fossils are so well preserved they show remarkable details including bones, scales, skin, internal organs and gut contents. </p>
<p>The mine was flooded to create a recreational area in the early 2000s and is a giant lake now. </p>
<h2>Don’t take frogs for granted</h2>
<p>While these mating deaths sound extreme, a far more common cause of frog and toad mortality is humans destroying their homes, polluting water sources and spreading disease. </p>
<p>Frogs and toads survived several climate changes and extinction events on earth. However, some species have gone extinct. In 2021 one of the <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2021/may/extinction-of-frog-is-a-huge-blow-to-the-diversity-of-life.html">few remaining frog species</a> of an ancient lineage of amphibians was declared likely extinct, having not been seen in 60 years. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://ipbes.net/">2019 UN report</a> showed amphibians, particularly frogs, are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/frogs-amphibians-dying-6th-mass-extinction-photos-2019-6?r=US&IR=T">among the hardest hit</a> by the nature crisis. Frogs can migrate short distances if environmental conditions in their pond change. But they are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/16/disease-causing-mass-deaths-frogs-reaches-britain-aoe">vulnerable to disease</a>, which can be <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aav0379">driven by human impacts on nature</a>. </p>
<p>Frogs and toads live nearly everywhere including on <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Amphibians/Tree-Frogs">trees</a>, <a href="https://naturebackin.com/2017/02/16/against-the-odds-finding-tree-frogs-in-flowers/">in flowers</a>, in the jungle and <a href="https://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/articles/meet-frogs-live-desert">in the desert</a>. Some look almost as colourful as a rainbow and others <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/facts/wallaces-flying-frog">can even fly</a>. Imagine these creatures <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1704632114">feeding next to a T-Rex</a>. It would be a tragedy if we lost any more species.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188562/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Falk receives funding from the Government of Ireland-Irish Research Council (IRC) Postgraduate Scholarship GOIPG/2018/3354. He is a PhD cancidate in the University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. The project is a collaboration of UCC and the Natural Sciences Collections of the Martin-Luther-University Halle (Saale), Germany.</span></em></p>Millions of years on. modern frogs and toads still haven’t learnt you can have too much of a good thing.Daniel Falk, Geology / Palaeontology PhD candidate, University College CorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1884622022-08-10T23:50:34Z2022-08-10T23:50:34ZA key feature contributed to sauropods getting so enormous, new dino foot study reveals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478606/original/file-20220810-24-kt8n30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C2%2C994%2C562&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Herschel Hoffmeyer/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the first time, we have shown that a soft heel pad was crucial to how sauropod dinosaurs supported their immense weight, according to a new digital reconstruction of their feet.</p>
<p>Sauropods, which weighed up to 50 tonnes and dominated the world’s ecosystems for around 100 million years, appear to have developed soft heel pads early in their evolution, and it was likely a key step that allowed sauropods to become the largest animals to have ever walked the earth. Our work appears this week in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm8280">Science Advances</a>.</p>
<h2>‘Thunder lizards’</h2>
<p>One of the most notable things about sauropods is the immense size of some species: the feet of sauropod dinosaurs would have shaken the earth as they walked. Indeed, the name of one of the first described sauropods to gain popular appeal, <em>Brontosaurus</em>, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brontosaurus-is-back1/">means “thunder lizard”</a>.</p>
<p>Sauropods had long necks and tails, and walked on four long, pillar-like legs, but they didn’t start out gigantic. Around 230 million years ago, the ancestors of these dinosaurs were small, two-legged animals that would have looked very much like their saurischian cousins, <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/saurischia/theropoda.html">the theropods</a>; most probably wouldn’t have weighed more than an ostrich.</p>
<p>But starting around 210 million years ago, sauropod ancestors increased in size, with an estimated body mass approaching one tonne. The largest sauropods such as <em>Argentinosaurus</em>, <em>Patagotitan</em> and <em>Australotitan</em> probably reached <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2017.1219">adult sizes in excess of 50 tonnes</a> more than ten times the size of the largest living terrestrial animal today, the African elephant. </p>
<p>It goes without saying that animals of that size had immense feet. Some sauropod footprints found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia are more than 1.7 metres long – big enough for most people to bathe in! </p>
<p>But what did sauropod feet really look like, and how did they support the titanic adult body weight of their owners?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/necks-question-how-did-the-biggest-dinosaurs-get-so-big-19641">Necks question ... how did the biggest dinosaurs get so big?</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A rocky landscape of orange soil with a curved trail of large dents" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478472/original/file-20220810-20-gry7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478472/original/file-20220810-20-gry7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478472/original/file-20220810-20-gry7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478472/original/file-20220810-20-gry7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478472/original/file-20220810-20-gry7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478472/original/file-20220810-20-gry7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478472/original/file-20220810-20-gry7nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An accumulation of sauropod tracks in the Lower Cretaceous Broome Sandstone, Walmadany area, Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steven W. Salisbury</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>On the trail of sauropods</h2>
<p>Having spent many years <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39405167">tracking sauropods in the Kimberley</a>, I [Steve Salisbury] have long pondered what their feet might have looked like in life. The front feet appear to have been like those of elephants, with the bones arranged in a near-vertical, semi-circular column, with greatly reduced finger bones except for the thumb. The “hand” prints of most sauropods are typically rounded or “bean-shaped”.</p>
<p>Despite their commonly portrayed columnar look, however, sauropod feet were very different to those of elephants. Sauropods had long, flexible toes, as evidenced by the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2019/05/high-heeled-dinosaur">mobility between the bones</a>. Fossilised tracks show they could spread their toes, adjusting the splay of the foot as they walked across different surfaces – this is not what we find in elephants today.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478460/original/file-20220810-590-egjuqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustration of a sauropod overlaid with several models of sauropod foot bones" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478460/original/file-20220810-590-egjuqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478460/original/file-20220810-590-egjuqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478460/original/file-20220810-590-egjuqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478460/original/file-20220810-590-egjuqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478460/original/file-20220810-590-egjuqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478460/original/file-20220810-590-egjuqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478460/original/file-20220810-590-egjuqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Computer modelling shows sauropod feet had a soft tissue pad.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andreas Jannel</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It has long been assumed that like other dinosaurs, sauropods walked on their toes, with the ankle joint elevated off the ground. Yet many sauropod tracks include the impression of a large “heel”.</p>
<p>This has led <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.20989">many palaeontologists to speculate</a> that sauropods had some kind of “heel pad”. But apart from tracks, definitive evidence of a heel pad in sauropods has remained just that – academic speculation. Our work aims to change that.</p>
<h2>Walking in the feet of giants</h2>
<p>Armed with knowledge of what the foot skeleton of various sauropods looked like, along with information about their tracks, Andréas Jannel went about trying to figure out how their feet may have worked, as part of his PhD at The University of Queensland. We also teamed up with <a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/olga-panagiotopoulou">Olga Panagiotopoulou</a>, an expert in the foot mechanics of modern animals, and elephants in particular.</p>
<p>Andréas generated 3D digital models for the foot skeleton of various sauropods and sauropod precursors. He and Olga then went about testing the strength of these models using a technique known as finite element analysis. They compared how different postures influenced the mechanical behaviour of the foot with and without the addition of a soft-tissue pad.</p>
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<img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/2243/FEA_Model_Side_by_Side_Figure_Design_220810.gif" width="100%">
<figcaption>Forces exerted on sauropod foot bones with and without a soft tissue pad. Andreas Jannel, Author provided</figcaption>
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<p>Regardless of the posture of the foot – toes on the ground, toes partially on the ground, or only the tips of the toes on the ground — none of the models could sustain the magnitude of mechanical forces that sauropods would have encountered in life, unless they also had a soft tissue pad beneath the “heel”.</p>
<p>Our findings indicate that a soft tissue pad would have cushioned the entire foot skeleton, allowing it to absorb mechanical forces during weight bearing. Put simply, without that pad beneath the heel, bones in the feet of sauropods would have crumpled under their immense weight.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Illustration showing comparison of two foot models, one with soft pads and one without" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478473/original/file-20220810-12-jwchpp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478473/original/file-20220810-12-jwchpp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478473/original/file-20220810-12-jwchpp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478473/original/file-20220810-12-jwchpp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478473/original/file-20220810-12-jwchpp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478473/original/file-20220810-12-jwchpp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478473/original/file-20220810-12-jwchpp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The sauropods had soft tissue pads to absorb their enormous weight and enable them to walk on land.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andreas Jannel</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Arrival of the giants</h2>
<p>Sauropod precursors <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/plateosaurus.html">such as <em>Plateosaurus</em></a> have traditionally been reconstructed as having walked with their toes slightly raised off the ground and with no heel pad. Our models now indicate their foot skeleton could not have supported their body weight without some form of additional padding. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478476/original/file-20220810-26-emavvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in dark jeans and a blue shirt lying next to a patch of red rock that is as long as he is" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478476/original/file-20220810-26-emavvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478476/original/file-20220810-26-emavvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478476/original/file-20220810-26-emavvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478476/original/file-20220810-26-emavvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478476/original/file-20220810-26-emavvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478476/original/file-20220810-26-emavvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478476/original/file-20220810-26-emavvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Goolarabooloo Law Boss Richard Hunter alongside a 1.75 metre sauropod track in the Lower Cretaceous Broome Sandstone, Western Australia. The sauropod that made these tracks would have been around 5.4 metres high at the hips. From Salisbury et al. (2017).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Steven W. Salisbury; image Anthony Romilio</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some fossil tracks thought to belong to animals such as <em>Plateosaurus</em> do show evidence of pads starting to coalesce behind the toes. This “incipient” heel pad – one just starting to develop – would be consistent with our models. </p>
<p>The presence of an incipient heel pad in sauropod precursors laid the foundations for the evolution of a more substantial structure. By 170 million years ago, the first “true” sauropods were exceeding 10 metric tonnes, and tracks attributed to them show a well-developed heel pad.</p>
<p>The stage had been set, and within 10 million to 15 million years, titans weighing more than 30 tonnes were walking the earth, and the diversification of giant sauropods had begun. They would dominate world ecosystems for the next 100 million years.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-do-we-know-if-a-dinosaur-skeleton-is-from-a-child-dinosaur-or-an-adult-dinosaur-125562">Curious Kids: how do we know if a dinosaur skeleton is from a child dinosaur or an adult dinosaur?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188462/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven W. Salisbury has received funding from Australian Research Council and the National Science Foundation</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andréas Jannel receives funding from a University of Queensland International Scholarship. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Olga Panagiotopoulou has received funding from Marie Curie EU, NHMRC,FAPESP, BBSRC. </span></em></p>The largest animals to ever walk the earth, giant sauropods dominated world ecosystems for 100 million years. New research indicates soft ‘heel pads’ helped them reach their stature.Steven W. Salisbury, PhD; Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences, The University of QueenslandAndréas Jannel, Postdoctoral researcher, Museum für Naturkunde, BerlinOlga Panagiotopoulou, Senior lecturer PhD, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1847862022-06-14T11:40:55Z2022-06-14T11:40:55ZJurassic World Dominion: a palaeontologist on what the film gets wrong about dinosaurs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468455/original/file-20220613-45569-qfwhh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=85%2C39%2C4316%2C2435&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The T-Rex is a popular Jurassic World character</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.alamy.com/jurassic-world-3-le-monde-dapres-jurassic-world-dominion-2022-de-colin-trevorrow-prod-db-universal-pictures-amblin-entertainment-latina-pictu-image471393876.html?pv=1&stamp=2&imageid=DACA0A26-9535-40CE-A3C6-AA521ACE2749&p=728508&n=0&orientation=0&pn=1&searchtype=0&IsFromSearch=1&srch=foo%3dbar%26st%3d0%26pn%3d1%26ps%3d100%26sortby%3d2%26resultview%3dsortbyPopular%26npgs%3d0%26qt%3djurassic%2520world%2520dominion%26qt_raw%3djurassic%2520world%2520dominion%26lic%3d3%26mr%3d0%26pr%3d0%26ot%3d0%26creative%3d%26ag%3d0%26hc%3d0%26pc%3d%26blackwhite%3d%26cutout%3d%26tbar%3d1%26et%3d0x000000000000000000000%26vp%3d0%26loc%3d0%26imgt%3d0%26dtfr%3d%26dtto%3d%26size%3d0xFF%26archive%3d1%26groupid%3d%26pseudoid%3d%26a%3d%26cdid%3d%26cdsrt%3d%26name%3d%26qn%3d%26apalib%3d%26apalic%3d%26lightbox%3d%26gname%3d%26gtype%3d%26xstx%3d0%26simid%3d%26saveQry%3d%26editorial%3d%26nu%3d%26t%3d%26edoptin%3d%26customgeoip%3dGB%26cap%3d1%26cbstore%3d1%26vd%3d0%26lb%3d%26fi%3d2%26edrf%3d0%26ispremium%3d1%26flip%3d0%26pl%3d">Alamy </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Almost 30 years after Jurassic Park first screened, the beloved franchise is back with its latest film Jurassic World Dominion, released in the UK on Friday. Our favourite characters, such as the <em>Tyrannosaurus-rex</em> and <em>Velociraptor</em>, return and we meet some new ones, like the giant predator <em>Giganotosaurus</em>.</p>
<p>But how accurate is the film’s portrayal of dinosaurs?</p>
<p>In the opening scenes, we are reintroduced to world-renowned palaeontologist Alan Grant, who charmed millions of viewers in the first film. Once again, he is on a dig in Utah, unearthing fossils. We see him casually brush sand away to reveal a perfect dinosaur skeleton. Digs such as these are happening all over the world right now. It’s how palaeontologists learn about dinosaurs. In reality, <a href="https://dinomuseum.ca/2014/02/12/ask-a-palaeo-how-long-does-it-take-to-put-a-dinosaur-skeleton-on-display/">digs are not so easy</a>. They can involve long hours of hacking away using hammers and chisels to remove hard rock chip by chip. Even then, we try to avoid damaging bones, and leave the work of removing fine material from close to the bone until we are back in the lab. It can take several days to remove a single bone from rock.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Alan Grant wearing a lumberjack shirt and broad rimmed hat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468462/original/file-20220613-47433-25le3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468462/original/file-20220613-47433-25le3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468462/original/file-20220613-47433-25le3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468462/original/file-20220613-47433-25le3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468462/original/file-20220613-47433-25le3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468462/original/file-20220613-47433-25le3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468462/original/file-20220613-47433-25le3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant in the 2001 instalment, Jurassic Park III.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-jul-16-2001-hollywood-ca-usa-sam-neill-as-dr-alan-grant-in-from-the-90110391.html?pv=1&stamp=2&imageid=00214AD8-3BE7-4A73-AEC9-6074073E59FF&p=372758&n=0&orientation=0&pn=1&searchtype=0&IsFromSearch=1&srch=foo%3dbar%26st%3d0%26pn%3d1%26ps%3d100%26sortby%3d2%26resultview%3dsortbyPopular%26npgs%3d0%26qt%3dalan%2520grant%26qt_raw%3dalan%2520grant%26lic%3d3%26mr%3d0%26pr%3d0%26ot%3d0%26creative%3d%26ag%3d0%26hc%3d0%26pc%3d%26blackwhite%3d%26cutout%3d%26tbar%3d1%26et%3d0x000000000000000000000%26vp%3d0%26loc%3d0%26imgt%3d0%26dtfr%3d%26dtto%3d%26size%3d0xFF%26archive%3d1%26groupid%3d%26pseudoid%3d%26a%3d%26cdid%3d%26cdsrt%3d%26name%3d%26qn%3d%26apalib%3d%26apalic%3d%26lightbox%3d%26gname%3d%26gtype%3d%26xstx%3d0%26simid%3d%26saveQry%3d%26editorial%3d%26nu%3d%26t%3d%26edoptin%3d%26customgeoip%3dGB%26cap%3d1%26cbstore%3d1%26vd%3d0%26lb%3d%26fi%3d2%26edrf%3d0%26ispremium%3d1%26flip%3d0%26pl%3d">Alamy</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Making progress</h2>
<p>Thanks to the fossils found by palaeontologists on such excavations, we have learned much about dinosaurs since the first Jurassic Park film, including the fact that many dinosaurs in the film, particularly predators, should have <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0229">feathers</a>. This includes the <em>Velociraptor</em> . The film features the young of many predators, many of whom would have likely been covered with downy feathers like fledgling birds today, but none of them are shown with these feathers. </p>
<p>Other dinosaurs in the film do have feathers. Some feathered dinosaurs, particularly early examples, had simple filaments, like the feathers of a chick rather than an adult bird. Later examples (such as raptors) developed more complex and adult bird-like feathers. The mighty herbivore <em>Therezinosaurus</em>, with claws longer than a human child, is covered with downy filaments in the film as it would <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/20670.pdf">have been in life</a>. We do also meet a raptor that is covered from head to toe in fully formed, adult bird-like feathers. In this respect, Dominion is spot on.</p>
<p>Another design quirk Dominion gets almost right is the colour of these feathers. The raptor is mostly red. Palaeontologists have been able to work out the colour of some dinosaur feathers based on <a href="http://doc.rero.ch/record/210394/files/PAL_E4402.pdf">preserved pigments</a>. These dinosaurs were mostly black, brown and red.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Huge velociraptor with red and grey feathers approaches two humans" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468457/original/file-20220613-24084-de5b1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468457/original/file-20220613-24084-de5b1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468457/original/file-20220613-24084-de5b1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468457/original/file-20220613-24084-de5b1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468457/original/file-20220613-24084-de5b1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468457/original/file-20220613-24084-de5b1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468457/original/file-20220613-24084-de5b1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The velociraptor is correctly shown with red feathers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.alamy.com/jurassic-world-dominion-2022-directed-by-colin-trevorrow-credit-amblin-entertainment-universal-pictures-perfect-world-pictures-album-image470566869.html?pv=1&stamp=2&imageid=D12579B1-B68A-41AF-A217-D28241208551&p=697459&n=0&orientation=0&pn=1&searchtype=0&IsFromSearch=1&srch=foo%3dbar%26st%3d0%26pn%3d1%26ps%3d100%26sortby%3d2%26resultview%3dsortbyPopular%26npgs%3d0%26qt%3djurassic%2520world%2520dominion%26qt_raw%3djurassic%2520world%2520dominion%26lic%3d3%26mr%3d0%26pr%3d0%26ot%3d0%26creative%3d%26ag%3d0%26hc%3d0%26pc%3d%26blackwhite%3d%26cutout%3d%26tbar%3d1%26et%3d0x000000000000000000000%26vp%3d0%26loc%3d0%26imgt%3d0%26dtfr%3d%26dtto%3d%26size%3d0xFF%26archive%3d1%26groupid%3d%26pseudoid%3d%26a%3d%26cdid%3d%26cdsrt%3d%26name%3d%26qn%3d%26apalib%3d%26apalic%3d%26lightbox%3d%26gname%3d%26gtype%3d%26xstx%3d0%26simid%3d%26saveQry%3d%26editorial%3d%26nu%3d%26t%3d%26edoptin%3d%26customgeoip%3dGB%26cap%3d1%26cbstore%3d1%26vd%3d0%26lb%3d%26fi%3d2%26edrf%3d0%26ispremium%3d1%26flip%3d0%26pl%3d">Alamy</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unfortunately, there are many elements of dinosaur design the film gets wrong. Take the <em>Giganotosaurus</em>. We see this enormous predator with a series of spines along the back of his neck, and another set in the middle of his back. While <em>Giganotosaurus</em> certainly had a strong backbone, there is absolutely no evidence of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/377224a0.pdf">spines like this</a>, and the design doesn’t look realistic to me.</p>
<h2>Size matters</h2>
<p><em>Giganotosaurus</em> falls victim to the biggest design crime of the franchise: size. So many of the dinosaurs are simply too big. <em>Giganotosaurus</em> looks much larger than <em>T-rex</em> and is able to easily beat it in a fight. While there is some debate about which animal was actually larger, the two were <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/top-5-biggest-and-smallest-theropod-dinosaurs/">similarly sized</a>, and would have been quite evenly matched. The giant ocean predator <em>Mososaurus</em> is also <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.1098/rstb.1995.0019">exaggerated</a> in its size. Near the end of the film it is shown as twice as large as a humpback whale. It would have been slightly smaller than an adult humpback. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The gigantosaurus roams a grassy landscape" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468458/original/file-20220613-45505-vbzdfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468458/original/file-20220613-45505-vbzdfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468458/original/file-20220613-45505-vbzdfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468458/original/file-20220613-45505-vbzdfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468458/original/file-20220613-45505-vbzdfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468458/original/file-20220613-45505-vbzdfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468458/original/file-20220613-45505-vbzdfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Giganotosaurus, prehistoric predator of the cretaceous period.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/3d-rendering-giganotosaurus-prehistoric-predator-cretaceous-2116925585">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another important creature in this film is the locust, genetically engineered with “cretaceous genes” to reach terrifying sizes. Giant insects did exist in the past – including dragonflies of up to one metre across – but during a period called the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/carboniferous">Carboniferous</a>, which was almost twice as long ago as the period in which the oldest dinosaurs lived. Oxygen levels in the Carboniferous era were over <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/110808-ancient-insects-bugs-giants-oxygen-animals-science">50% higher</a> than oxygen levels today. With or without the right genes, locusts this big couldn’t survive in today’s oxygen levels.</p>
<p>Many new beasts are introduced in the film. Our heroes fend off a gang of the <em>Dimetrodon</em> (which has a structure like a sail on its back) and come face to face with a small lizard-like creature bearing large tusks, known as a dicynodont. Contrary to popular belief, these animals were <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14772019.2011.631042?needAccess=true">not actually dinosaurs</a>. They lived in a time called the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/permian#:%7E:text=The%20Permian%20period%2C%20which%20ended,region%20frozen%20under%20ice%20caps.">Permian</a>, more than 30 million years before dinosaurs first appeared. They are actually members of a group called the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/Synapsida">synapsids</a> that includes the ancestors of mammals. They are more closely related to you and me than they are to any dinosaur.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="3D impression of a giant lizard like creature" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468459/original/file-20220613-25540-1yqvu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468459/original/file-20220613-25540-1yqvu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468459/original/file-20220613-25540-1yqvu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468459/original/file-20220613-25540-1yqvu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468459/original/file-20220613-25540-1yqvu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468459/original/file-20220613-25540-1yqvu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468459/original/file-20220613-25540-1yqvu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A dimetrodon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/3d-rendered-illustration-dimetrodon-2114900072">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jurassic World Dominion has some merit. The introduction of feathers and new species show just how much we’ve learned in the last 20 years. However, it is filled with mistakes, speculation, and exaggeration. Museums can be a great place to learn some real facts about dinosaurs in a way Jurassic Park Dominion can never compete with. Watch this mediocre, bland action film by all means, but if you want to learn anything about dinosaurs, I suggest you start elsewhere.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Igielman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The biggest crime of the film was exaggerating the size of dinosaurs.Ben Igielman, PhD student palaeontology , University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1825732022-05-20T13:37:52Z2022-05-20T13:37:52ZCrystal Palace dinosaurs: how we rediscovered five missing sculptures from the famous park<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462264/original/file-20220510-16-x5pdzz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=98%2C0%2C5892%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The iconic _Iguanodon_ sculptures of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Witton and Michel (2022)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This summer sees our love for dinosaurs manifest in two major releases: the David Attenborough documentary Prehistoric Planet, and Jurassic World: Dominion. Such multi-million dollar projects are a far cry from the first attempts to bring dinosaurs to life in people’s imagination. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most famous of these took place almost 170 years ago at Crystal Palace Park, in south-east London, where <a href="https://cpdinosaurs.org/visit/statues/">over 30 life-sized sculptures of prehistoric animals, including dinosaurs,</a> revealed extinct life to the public for the first time. </p>
<p>Much like the unveiling of Jurassic Park’s computer generated dinosaurs in 1993, the <a href="https://cpdinosaurs.org/">Crystal Palace dinosaurs</a> stunned visitors. This historic site still enjoys hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. </p>
<p>Our new book, <a href="https://www.crowood.com/products/art-and-science-of-the-crystal-palace-dinosaurs-by-mark-witton-ellinor-michel">The Art and Science of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs</a>, reveals that neglect of the site allowed seven – almost a fifth – of the original sculptures to disappear. It was thought the original park had 32 sculptures, of which only 29 originals (with one replica, making 30) stand today. We showed 37 once existed. </p>
<p>The lost statues include the tapir-like <em>Palaeotherium magnum</em>, three delicate llama-like <em>Anoplotherium gracile</em>, two Jurassic pterodactyls, and a female giant deer. It’s unknown when and how each vanished, but dereliction, site redevelopment and perhaps vandalism may be responsible. </p>
<p>Built as part of the Crystal Palace Park project, the dinosaurs were unveiled in 1854 and completed in 1855. Although books and magazines brought dinosaurs to the attention of the rich and educated in the early 1800s, fossils were an interest reserved for the upper tiers of society. The sculptures, crafted by a team led by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, aimed to introduce prehistoric life to the wider public. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462265/original/file-20220510-26-x5pdzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462265/original/file-20220510-26-x5pdzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462265/original/file-20220510-26-x5pdzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462265/original/file-20220510-26-x5pdzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462265/original/file-20220510-26-x5pdzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462265/original/file-20220510-26-x5pdzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462265/original/file-20220510-26-x5pdzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462265/original/file-20220510-26-x5pdzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Map of the Geographical Court as originally planned.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image by Mark P. Witton and Ellinor Michel.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Working with geologists David Thomas Ansted and Joseph Campbell, Hawkins created a learning experience one part spectacle and one part enlightenment: the “Geological Court”. This showcase of geological and palaeontological science allowed visitors to walk through geological time. </p>
<p>The largest of Hawkins’ sculptures were the dinosaurs, reaching over 10m long. Mock geological features contained hundreds of tonnes of rocks sourced from all over the UK. This was expensive blockbuster edutainment.</p>
<p>For all the mockery cast on the sculptures for their scientific inaccuracy today, at the time they were <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/the-dinosaurs-of-crystal-palace-among-the-most-accurate-renditions-of-prehistoric-life-ever-made/">cutting edge</a> representations of extinct species – and a major hit with the public. But budget issues saw the site fall into disrepair from 1870 onward. Degraded and patchy records mean the full extent of the original display is uncertain. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464265/original/file-20220519-7016-gxfrws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464265/original/file-20220519-7016-gxfrws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464265/original/file-20220519-7016-gxfrws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464265/original/file-20220519-7016-gxfrws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464265/original/file-20220519-7016-gxfrws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464265/original/file-20220519-7016-gxfrws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464265/original/file-20220519-7016-gxfrws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464265/original/file-20220519-7016-gxfrws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An 1853 image of the Crystal Palace palaeontological sculpture workshed. Several now missing models are indicated by red arrows: the <em>Palaeotherium magnum</em> (left) and three <em>Anoplotherium gracile</em> (right). The surviving <em>A. gracile</em> is marked with a blue arrow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image in public domain, modified by Mark P. Witton and Ellinor Michel.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Virtually no physical remains of the missing sculptures exist. Only archive photographs, illustrations and texts prove their existence. For example, the image above shows several models that no longer exist.</p>
<p>From these sources, we also re-identified one sculpture at the park – an alleged giant deer fawn – as <em>Anoplotherium gracile</em>, which resembles a gazelle and is the sole surviving representative of what was once a group of four statues. </p>
<p>If we know almost 20% of this unique Victorian site was allowed to vanish so quietly, what else might be missing? </p>
<h2>A history at risk of extinction</h2>
<p>While the Victorian artistry and creative engineering that went into creating the Geological Court is celebrated today, the site has long suffered from a lack of conservation. </p>
<p>The unchanging nature of the concrete displays, now numerous generations behind the latest palaeontological findings, gives a sense the they will always be here. But visit the site today and it’s obvious <a href="https://cpdinosaurs.org/blog/post/update-megalosaur">many of the displays are still crumbling</a>. </p>
<p>Weathering, vandalism and redevelopment mean the Geological Court is a blend of originals and replicas of structures destroyed in the mid-20th century. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462268/original/file-20220510-14-7vkirw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462268/original/file-20220510-14-7vkirw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462268/original/file-20220510-14-7vkirw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462268/original/file-20220510-14-7vkirw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462268/original/file-20220510-14-7vkirw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462268/original/file-20220510-14-7vkirw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462268/original/file-20220510-14-7vkirw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462268/original/file-20220510-14-7vkirw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The state of the southern corner of the Geological Court as of 2021. This portion of the site has received some minor maintenance since this photo was taken.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Mark P. Witton</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://cpdinosaurs.org/blog/post/megalosaur-repair">There is hope</a>. The <a href="https://cpdinosaurs.org/">Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs</a> charity was established in 2013, and the entire site is now Grade 1 listed and on the official Heritage At Risk Register by Historic England. </p>
<p>But the Geological Court’s status is a precarious one. Without urgent conservation the sculptures face major deterioration. </p>
<p>As you enjoy the digital descendants of Hawkins’ dinosaurs when they hit our screens this summer, spare a thought for their Victorian ancestors. To lose what remains of these displays, that changed the way many people thought about life on Earth, would be tragic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182573/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark P. Witton is the co-author of The Art and Science of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, out now on Crowood Press.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ellinor Michel is the co-author of The Art and Science of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, out now on Crowood Press.</span></em></p>New research on the Crystal Palace dinosaurs is uncovering truths about these famous Victorian sculpturesMark P. Witton, Research Fellow in Palaeontology, University of PortsmouthEllinor Michel, Scientific Associate, Natural History MuseumLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1792902022-05-17T20:00:28Z2022-05-17T20:00:28ZA fossil tooth places enigmatic ancient humans in Southeast Asia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459634/original/file-20220426-22-rl38zi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C16%2C7491%2C2784&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fabrice Demeter (University of Copenhagen / CNRS Paris)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What do a finger bone and some teeth found in the frigid Denisova Cave in Siberia’s Altai mountains have in common with fossils from the balmy hills of tropical northern Laos? </p>
<p>Not much, until now: in a Laotian cave, an international team of researchers including ourselves has <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29923-z">discovered a tooth</a> belonging to an ancient human previously only known from icy northern latitudes – a Denisovan.</p>
<p>The find shows these long-lost relatives of <em>Homo sapiens</em> inhabited a wider area and range of environments than we previously knew, confirming hints found in the DNA of modern human populations from Southeast Asia and Australasia.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fresh-clues-to-the-life-and-times-of-the-denisovans-a-little-known-ancient-group-of-humans-110504">Fresh clues to the life and times of the Denisovans, a little-known ancient group of humans</a>
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<h2>Who were the Denisovans?</h2>
<p>Little is known about these distant cousins of modern humans, except that they once lived in Asia, were related to and interacted with the better-known Neanderthals, and are now extinct. </p>
<p>The first traces of Denisovans were only found in 2010, with the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09710">discovery</a> of an innocuous finger bone in remote Denisova Cave. The extreme cold of the cave meant some ancient DNA was preserved in the bone – and the DNA revealed the finger had belonged to an unknown species of human.</p>
<p>This discovery changed the course of human evolutionary studies, and the newly discovered humans were named Denisovans after the cave where the fossil was found.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461151/original/file-20220504-14-lmc80h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461151/original/file-20220504-14-lmc80h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461151/original/file-20220504-14-lmc80h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461151/original/file-20220504-14-lmc80h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461151/original/file-20220504-14-lmc80h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461151/original/file-20220504-14-lmc80h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461151/original/file-20220504-14-lmc80h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The first traces of the Denisovans were found at Denisova Cave in Siberia in 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike Morley (Flinders University)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Fossilised teeth from Denisovans were <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1519905112">later discovered</a> in the <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aam9695">same cave</a>. Two upper and one lower molar were found in sediments that were dated to between 195,000 and 52,000 years ago. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, it was found that <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09710">genes from Denisovans survived</a> in modern day people from Southeast Asia and Australasia. This implied that the Denisovans had dispersed over a far larger area than anticipated. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/evolutionary-study-suggests-prehistoric-human-fossils-hiding-in-plain-sight-in-southeast-asia-157587">Evolutionary study suggests prehistoric human fossils 'hiding in plain sight' in Southeast Asia</a>
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<h2>The hunt for more fossils</h2>
<p>The hunt was on to find more evidence of these humans outside Russia, but scientists had no idea what they actually looked like. For the first time in history we knew more about a human’s DNA than their anatomy!</p>
<p>The next twist came when a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1139-x">160,000-year-old Denisovan jawbone</a> surfaced on the Tibetan Plateau, giving the scientific community a tantalising glimpse of what the bodies of these ancient humans were like and where they lived. </p>
<p>But questions remained: just how far did they spread in Asia, and how did their genetic imprint survive in Southeast Asians and Australasians? </p>
<p>Clearly Denisovans could live in the cold environments of Siberia and Tibet, but could they have also occupied a completely different ecological niche and adapted to a tropical climate?</p>
<h2>Tam Ngu Hao 2 (Cobra Cave)</h2>
<p>Enter a new cave found by an international (Laos–French–American–Australian) team in northern Laos in 2018, close to the famous Tam Pa Ling cave where 70,000-year-old <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1208104109">modern human fossils</a> were found. </p>
<p>The site, named Tam Ngu Hao 2 (or Cobra Cave), was found high up in the limestone mountains and contained remnants of old cave sediment packed with fossils.</p>
<p>The cave sediments contained teeth from giant herbivores, such as ancient elephants and rhinos that liked to live in woodland environments. The teeth were likely washed into the cave during a flooding event that deposited the sediments and fossils. </p>
<p>These sediments were covered by a layer of very hard rock called flowstone, which is formed by water flowing over the cave floor. The sediments and fossils were dated by this study to provide an age for the time of deposition in the cave, and by association a minimum age for the death of the animals.</p>
<h2>A young girl’s tooth</h2>
<p>A human tooth (a lower permanent molar) was found in the cave sediments, but we could not initially identify what species of human it came from. The humid conditions in Laos meant that the ancient DNA was not preserved. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461153/original/file-20220504-13-li3i3m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461153/original/file-20220504-13-li3i3m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461153/original/file-20220504-13-li3i3m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461153/original/file-20220504-13-li3i3m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461153/original/file-20220504-13-li3i3m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461153/original/file-20220504-13-li3i3m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461153/original/file-20220504-13-li3i3m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461153/original/file-20220504-13-li3i3m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">This tooth likely belonged to a young Denisovan girl who lived around 150,000 years ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fabrice Demeter (University of Copenhagen / CNRS Paris)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>We did however find ancient proteins that suggested the tooth came from a young, likely female, human – probably between 3.5 and 8.5 years old. </p>
<p>After very detailed analysis of the shape of this tooth, our team identified many similarities to the Denisovan teeth found on the Tibetan Plateau. This suggested the tooth’s owner was most likely a Denisovan who lived between 164,000 and 131,000 years ago in the warm tropics.</p>
<h2>An ancient human hotspot</h2>
<p>This fossil represents the first discovery of Denisovans in Southeast Asia, and shows that Denisovans were at least as far south as Laos. This is in agreement with the genetic evidence found in modern day Southeast Asian populations. </p>
<p>They may have been just at home in the balmy tropical climates of Laos as the icy conditions of northern Europe and the high-altitude environments of the Tibetan Plateau. This suggests the Denisovans were very good at adapting to diverse environments. </p>
<p>It would seem that Southeast Asia was a hotspot of diversity for humans. At least five different species set up camp there at different times: <em>Homo erectus</em>, the Denisovans/Neanderthals, <em>Homo floresiensis</em>, <em>Homo luzonensis</em>, and <em>Homo sapiens</em>. </p>
<p>How many of these species overlapped and interacted? Another fossil discovered in the dense network of Southeast Asian caves could provide the next clue to understanding these complex relationships.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179290/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kira Westaway receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the Leakey Foundation</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike W Morley receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renaud Joannes-Boyau receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC).</span></em></p>The mysterious Denisovans left DNA traces in populations across Southeast Asia and Australasia, but until now no physical signs of their presence outside Eurasia had been found.Kira Westaway, Associate professor, Macquarie UniversityMike W. Morley, Associate Professor, Flinders UniversityRenaud Joannes-Boyau, Associate Professor, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.