Earth and Planetary Sciences · Paleontology
A study of the Ediacaran fossil Charniodiscus suggests it contained densely aligned, collagen-like fibres and a load-bearing stem. The findings support the view that this frond belonged to a broad early animal lineage rather than being a sponge, placozoan or other non-animal organism.
A computer-based analysis of sauropod thigh bones suggests that the largest dinosaurs did not all use the same mechanical design to support their weight. Differences in bone shape, internal architecture and joint cartilage were linked to how the bones handled stress and stiffness.
A new analysis combining chromosome-level genomes from 103 bat species with fossils revises relationships among bat families. It indicates that bats, and therefore powered flight, probably originated in Europe in the late Palaeocene, while laryngeal echolocation predates the diversification of modern bats.
Fossil collections from Lebanon reveal that productive Mediterranean woodlands persisted along the central Levantine coast for much of the period from about 400,000 to 100,000 years ago. The findings also suggest that ancient hominins hunted seasonally in different coastal habitats.
Researchers identified three Denisovan bone fragments and two teeth from Bianfu Cave in Southwest China. The remains, dated to about 167,000–134,000 years ago, add evidence from a region missing from the known Denisovan record.
A reexamined glyptodont skull from Lagoa Santa, Brazil, has been proposed as a new species, Glyptotherium deuterophractum. The fossil had been assigned to other species for decades, but its combination of anatomical features distinguishes it from related glyptodonts.
