It has been commonly held that when dinosaurs walked the earth was a generally warm planet. New evidence to the contrary has been introduced. In the north-east region of modern China, fossils covered with filamentous structures similar to bird feathers have been found.

Using teeth and bones from dinosaurs, mammalian reptiles, crocodiles, turtles, and freshwater fish, a team of paleontologists have been investigating the air temperatures of the region during the Early Cretaceous. It is thought that the air temperature varied little from how it is today; meaning dinosaurs living back then would have faced harsher winters. Dinosaurs with feathers probably were better insulated and could remain active during the winter months, while their reptile counterparts likely hibernated. Dinosaur fossil reproduction allows scientists from around the world to evaluate, at least superficially, the fossils from this region and others.

Are archeology and paleontology related sciences? This BLOG has referred to both in some of the same articles and it was assumed that everyone knows what criteria are involved. However, for the benefit of those who may not know, we need to examine and define both fields a little more.

Archeology is the discovery, careful excavation and analysis of cultural artifacts, structures and societal data, including prehistoric homonins, to understand the development of humans. Paleontology is the study of all prehistoric and ancient organisms and life forms through the careful excavation and analysis of fossils to understand the evolution of Earth. Consequently, both sciences are not related but their disciplines are interrelated and both are essential for mankind to make critical plans for the future.

Last summer a team of researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Arizona discovered the oldest human remains of the far north. On the very last day of the dig, graduate students came across a human molar while sifting through an ancient fire pit. Artifacts found from that level had been dated at 11,500 years old.

The significance of this small piece of mammal skull is actually quite profound. Isotopic testing will reveal what the child’s diet may have been. Tests will also reveal how closely these ancient peoples are related to modern natives of the region. Currently, it is believed that the people who lived at the camp where the molar was found lived during the end of the last great ice age.

What ocean creature grew to about 75 feet in length, weighed upwards of 52 tons and had a voracious appetite? The answer is the prehistoric C. megalodon, the huge extinct ancestor of the Great White Shark. These very efficient food processors existed from around 25 million years ago to 1.5 million years ago.

Like modern sharks, the megalodon’s skeletal structure was primarily cartilage. Consequently, the megalodon animal fossils that have been recovered are predominantly teeth. The sizes of some of those teeth are more than 7 inches in slant height. With such large predators patrolling the sea in addition to the giant land predators, it must have been extremely difficult for smaller animals to avoid being an entree on the menu for the day and survive during those prehistoric times.

A new documentary has been filmed for the History Channel and Discovery Canada discussing the elusive missing link. Some people call it Sasquatch, others call it Bigfoot. Whatever it is, it seems that the more we uncover about the past, the more likely these myths could be real.

Primate fossils show that as recent as 20,000 years ago there were four or more other species of Homo living across Asia. There were also a number of species of large apes, according to some of the members of the panel partaking in the documentary filming. The panel members discussed the science of the missing link and evaluated the likelihood that a large ape or hominid continues to survive in the presence. Whatever your beliefs on the matter, the documentary should be interesting to watch.

A new study has found that early human ancestors stopped swinging in trees and started walking on the ground between 4.2 and 3.5 million years ago. This change coincides with increased cooling and defined seasonality on our planet. “With the trees being farther apart, it became energetically advantageous for hominids to cross the gaps bipedally,” said Gabriele Macho, author of the study published in Folia Primatologica.

Macho, a paleoanthropologist, figured out this new find by studying wrist bones of hominid fossils. The two hominid relatives studied were the Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis (“Lucy” fossils). CT scans of the central wrist bones from the fossils when compared to modern chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans show that full-time tree swingers load more force on the outsides of their hands. In comparison, modern humans put more pressure towards the thumbs on their hands. The Australopithecus afarensis bones had stress on their hands similar to modern humans.

It was more than 160 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Although they have long since been extinct, we have uncovered thousands of dinosaur fossils that help us to piece together the many mysteries of these enormous lizards. Dozens of different dinosaurs have been discovered through archeological digs – and sometimes by accident – which are then displayed in natural science and history museums worldwide.

From various forms of the dinosaur skull to each vertebra, archeologists have unveiled all kinds of dinosaur fossils and are still working to uncover other remains. Most famous for their display of ancient dinosaur bones are the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. However, almost every museum of this type in any of our nation’s major cities – Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and so forth – are bound to have dinosaur fossils on display.

My cousin Nate is passionate about archeology. Ever since he was 5 years old and his mom took him to the natural history museum and he stared up in wonder at his very first dinosaur, he has been obsessively interested in dinosaur fossils as well as all archaic and buried things. Now, as a young adult getting ready to head off to his first year of college, he is one step ahead of his soon-to-be classmates because he already knows what career path he wants to pursue.

I visited him last weekend to help him pack his room and personal belongs into boxes as he prepared for his college departure. Among many other dinosaur-themed accessories in his bedroom, Nate owned many reproduction fossils of various dinosaur bones. And as we filled each box he told me stories from his summers at archeology camp and how he loved the delicate discovery of new things that are in fact very old. I just love how deeply passionate his is about dinosaurs, even if they’re not of much interest to me.

Although baboons are primates, they have tails and are therefore monkeys, not hominidae, the family of which gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans are members. There are five species of baboons, the smallest of which attains a height of 20 inches and weighs 30 pounds in contrast to the largest, which is 47 inches tall and weighs 90 pounds. The baboon skull has a long snout with pronounced canine teeth thereby giving it a dog-like appearance.

These Old World monkeys are indigenous to Africa and have an omnivorous diet, which is mostly vegetation that is supplemented with insects and small animals. They coexist and travel in troops, a term referring to the familial and social groups they formulate. Their foraging for food has been known to include raiding people’s homes. How would you like to have 50 uninvited guests for dinner?

The amount of information we can get from animal fossils is almost limitless. Aside from providing us the means to speculate on the conditions on our planet thousands, even millions of years ago, fossils provide a unique glimpse into the evolution of life on Earth. The way that ancient people and animals lived and worked aids in the development of theories about how the modern human came to be. The driving forces behind our own evolution and the evolution of our surroundings helps us make better decisions about how to conduct ourselves as a species in relation to the planet that sustains us.

Whether it’s an animal skull, bones or the remains of an ancient civilization we can learn an almost unlimited amount about not just the planet’s past inhabitants but also about ourselves. Armed with this knowledge we’re well-equipped to understand the circumstances that led to the fall of a civilization or the extinction of a species. The role of these findings in modern preservation efforts cannot be overstated. The more we learn from our natural history the more we’re able to make wise decisions about how to maintain the health of our environment.