ScienceDaily: Fossils & Ruins News

Excavation reveals ancient town and burial complex in Diros Bay, Greece Posted: 04 Mar 2015 12:26 PM PST Recent research has uncovered the remains of an ancient town and burial complex that date to the Neolithic and Bronze Age. In addition to the Neolithic 'spooning' couple that has been highlighted in recent news articles, the team also uncovered several other burials and the remains of an ancient village that suggest the bay was an important center in ancient times.

Deadly frog fungus dates back to 1880s, studies find Posted: 04 Mar 2015 12:26 PM PST A pair of studies show that the deadly fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, responsible for the extinction of more than 200 amphibian species worldwide, has coexisted harmlessly with animals in Illinois and Korea for more than a century. The research will help biologists better understand the disease caused by Bd, chytridiomycosis, and the conditions under which it can be survived.

Discovery of 2.8-million-year-old jaw sheds light on early humans Posted: 04 Mar 2015 11:14 AM PST For decades, scientists have been searching for African fossils documenting the earliest phases of the Homo lineage, but specimens recovered from the critical time interval between 3 and 2.5 million years ago have been frustratingly few and often poorly preserved. However, a fossil lower jaw found in the Ledi-Geraru research area, Afar Regional State, Ethiopia, pushes back evidence for the human genus -- Homo -- to 2.8 million years ago.

Grand tree of life study shows a clock-like trend in new species emergence and diversity Posted: 04 Mar 2015 04:54 AM PST Researchers have assembled the largest and most accurate tree of life calibrated to time, and surprisingly, it reveals that life has been expanding at a constant rate. The study also challenges the conventional view of adaptation being the principal force driving species diversification, but rather, underscores the importance of random genetic events and geographic isolation in speciation, taking about 2 million years on average for a new species to emerge onto the scene.

Animal functional diversity started out poor, became richer over time Posted: 04 Mar 2015 04:54 AM PST The finding refutes a hypothesis by the famed evolutionary biologist Stephen J. Gould that marine creatures underwent an 'early burst' of functional diversity during the dawn of animal life.

Genetic study revives debate on origin and expansion of Indo-European languages in Europe Posted: 04 Mar 2015 04:53 AM PST Researchers have identified a massive migration of Kurgan populations (Yamna culture) which went from the Russian steppes to the center of Europe some 4,500 years ago, favoring the expansion of Indo-European languages throughout the continent.