here Image courtesy of Kristina Killgrove]]>
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Nature Geoscience, can be found online here Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user: Carole Raddato]]>
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The Siberian Times as the White Lady, a priestess who guarded “the umbilical cord of the Earth.” He went on to say, “She stood as a guard at the gates of the underworld, preventing the penetration of evil from the lower worlds. However, after archaeologists removed the mummy, it has lost its strength and can no longer perform its protective function. So evil started to penetrate, natural disasters and human conflicts began.” In a region where the influence of shamans still exists, many of the local residents in Altai were nervous when these remains and others were removed from the sacred burial mounds (kurgans), despite their scientific value. In Altai, her removal has been blamed for most misfortunes, natural and otherwise; high winds, forest fires, suicides and illnesses, even an increase in the number of earthquakes in the region. One local was quoted as saying, “There are places here that it is considered a great sin to visit, even for our holy men. The energy and the spirits there are too dangerous. Every kurgan has its own spirit – there is both good and bad in them – and people here have suffered much misfortune since the Ice Princess was disturbed. It is nothing short of sacrilege to pour hot water on the remains of ancients who have survived in the permafrost for thousands of years,” he said. The move to rebury the princess is opposed by both state officials and the academics who have been involved in researching the remains. Developments in technology continue to divulge new information about the mummy. In 2014 for example, an MRI scan revealed the woman had breast cancer and that she had used marijuana to help ease the suffering. Additionally, the mummified woman has helped researchers make great advances in understanding the Pazyryk culture. Her tattoos show extraordinary artistry and skill and the items found with her in the burial chamber, including beauty products found in a “cosmetic bag”, help to recreate the life of a woman dead for two millennia.]]>
L.hadrosaurs and R.atopcranion, as both animals had a herbivorous diet and lived in herds. However, the similarities between R. atopcranion and L.hadrosaurs don’t extend much further than that save for their identical nose; the habitat of the former was dry savanna, while L.hadrosaurs were at home in tropical rainforests. The scientists do have some ideas about the purpose of such a nasal cavity, although reaching these conclusions proved difficult as the fossilized remains of these animals have left behind no soft tissue to examine. Researchers turned to the closest living cousins of the younger animal – antelopes and wildebeests – leading the team to believe that R. atopcranion at least used the hollow cavity, which looks as if it connected to the vocal tract as part of the mammal’s respiratory system, in order to vocalize. O’Brien says that the early wildebeest cousin would have been a highly social animal in life, as they would have lived in herds. The likelihood of using vocalization to communicate was high, the lead researcher said, adding that there’s little else that such a unique nasal cavity would be helpful for in R. atopcranion. By extension, L. hadrosaurs might have used this unique capability in the same way, to create ultra-low frequency bellows that only they would have been able to hear. These frequencies, known as infrasound, are used by other large herbivores such as elephants today for a similar function. The research study can be found online at www.cell.com Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user: Chad Rosenthal]]>
Australopithecus sediba; a species first discovered at the archaeological site of Malapa in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, South Africa, in 2008. A.sediba‘s phylogenetic relationships have been a source of debate since its initial discovery. Some have hypothesized that A.sediba was close to the genetic ancestry of the Homo genus, while others have suggested that it was in fact a phylogenetic relative of A.africanus. Although not answering the question of whether A.sebiba is a close evolutionary relative of the Homo genus, the new study does provide insights into the evolution of early human species. A 2012 study argued that A.sediba lived off a woodland diet, including hard foods mixed in with tree bark, fruit, leaves and other plant products. This conclusion was based on dental microwear data, which seemed to show tooth damage indicative of a diet of hard to chew foods. The authors of the new paper have used mechanical tests on a model of A.sediba’s skull to show that in fact the creature did not have the requisite tooth and jaw structure to survive on a diet of hard foods. Indeed, the study suggests that if A.sediba had bitten down as hard as possible with its molar teeth, it would have dislocated its jaw. To test the biomechancial properties of the A.sediba skull model, the team used techniques similar to those deployed by engineers to test whether airplanes, vehicles, and mechanical devices will break during use. Significantly, these new findings seem to distinguish A.sediba from other members of the Australopithecus genus. “Most australopiths had amazing adaptations in their jaws, teeth and faces that allowed them to process foods that were difficult to chew or crack open. Among other things, they were able to efficiently bite down on foods with very high forces,” said Professor David Strait, team leader and anthropologist from Washington University in St. Louis, US, in a press release. It is widely believed that humans are descended from an australopith ancestor. Since its discovery, A.sediba has been considered a possible candidate for that ancestor, or at least a close relative to it. The limitation in biting force discovered by the team is something A.sediba shares with modern humans. “Humans also have this limitation on biting forcefully and we suspect that early Homo had it as well, yet the other australopiths that we have examined are not nearly as limited in this regard,” said co-author Dr. Justin Ledogar, from the University of New England in Australia, in the press release. “This means that whereas some australopith populations were evolving adaptations to maximize their ability to bite powerfully, others (including A. sediba) were evolving in the opposite direction.” Ultimately, the new study shows the impact of diet and ecology on the development of the Homo genus’ ancestors. The difference in jaw strength among australopiths revealed by the study suggests ecological factors disrupted their eating patterns and behaviours, thus causing different evolutionary adaptations. As the study explains, “Thus, even if A.sediba and Homo were descended from different gracile australopith ancestors, it is evident that one must understand the dietary selective pressures that influenced the ancestors that preceded the earliest members of Homo if one is to understand the origin of the genus.” For more information: www.nature.com Image courtesy of Brett Eloff provided courtesy of Lee Berger and the University of the Witwatersrand.]]>