Archaeology News Online

In saliva, scientists have found hints that a "ghost" species of archaic humans may have contributed genetic material to ancestors of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa today. In saliva, scientists have found hints that a "ghost" species of archaic human may have contributed genetic material to  ancestors of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa today. The finding comes from a University at Buffalo-led research project  that examined the evolutionary history of MUC7, a gene that codes for an important salivary protein of the same name  [Credit: Bob Wilder/University at Buffalo] The research adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that sexual rendezvous between different archaic human species may not have been unusual. Past studies have concluded that the forebears of modern humans in Asia and Europe interbred with other early hominin species, including Neanderthals and Denisovans. The new research is among more recent genetic analyses indicating that ancient Af

By analyzing the DNA of two prehistoric dogs from Germany, an international research team led by Krishna R. Veeramah, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolution in the College of Arts & Sciences at Stony Brook University, has determined that their genomes were the probable ancestors of modern European dogs. The finding, to be published in Nature Communications , suggests a single domestication event of modern dogs from a population of gray wolves that occurred between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. The 5000 year old Late Neolithic CTC dog skull in the lab before it underwent whole genome sequencing  [Credit: Amelie Scheu] Dogs were the first animal to be domesticated by humans. The oldest dog fossils that can be clearly distinguished from wolves are from the region of what is now Germany from around 15,000 years ago. However, the archaeological record is ambiguous, with claims of ancient domesticated dog bones as far east as Siberia. Recent analysis of genetic data from mode

Ciliates, just like humans, are colonized by a vast diversity of bacteria. Some ciliates and their bacterial symbionts have become friends for life, as researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen demonstrated by comparing a group of these single-celled ciliates and their bacterial partners from the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Seas. The bacteria provide their ciliate hosts with nutrition by oxidizing sulfur. Surprisingly, they found that this partnership originated once, from a single ciliate ancestor and a single bacterial ancestor, although a whole ocean separates the sampling sites. Several Kentrophoros ciliates from the Mediterranean Sea under the microscope. The sulfur in the bacteria reflects the  light and makes them appear white. One of the objects is not a ciliate, but an intruder, a multicellular flatworm.  Each ciliate is up to three Millimeter in length [Credit: MPI f. for Marine Microbiology/O. Jackle] Ciliates are minute, single-celled o

The copepod species Calanus finmarchicus schedules its day using a genetic clock that works independently of external stimuli. The clock shapes the copepod's metabolic rhythms and daily vertical migration. This, in turn, has an enormous influence on the entire food web in the North Atlantic, where Calanus finmarchicus is a central plankton species. Wherever the high-calorie copepod is found determines where its predator species are. The results of the study will be published in the journal Current Biology . Calanus finmarchicus is a central plankton species with an enormous influence on the entire food web  in the North Atlantic [Credit: Alfred Wegener Institute] The world's oceans are home to a massive vertical migration. At dusk, countless plankton species, like copepods and krill, rise to the surface, where they gorge themselves on single-celled algae that can only thrive where there is sufficient sunlight. The cover of night offers the plankton protection from predators lik

In the very earliest stages of life, mammalian cells multiply and form the embryo. New research from the University of Copenhagen suggests that this process might be much simpler than we thought. The development of the embryo can be cut down to the cell’s ability to count their neighbouring cells. 4.5 days after fertilization the early mammalian embryo consists of approximately 100 cells. At this stage the cells  form a structure consisting of a fluid-filled cavity and three different cell types. The yellow cells develop into  the placenta, the red cells become the yolk sac and the green cells develop into the embryo proper  [Credit: University of Copenhagen] One of the things that make human beings and other mammals unique in the animal kingdom is our cells’ ability to remember how to make an embryo. Development is the process by which a single cell, a fertilised egg, makes a complex body with head, tail, arms and legs. Mammalian cells can begin this process without any apparent exter

DNA in a fossil from a young girl has revealed that a mysterious extinct human lineage occupied the middle of Asia longer than previously thought, allowing more potential interbreeding with Neanderthals, a new study finds. Photographs of the Denisova 2 lower second molar in (A) occlusal, (B) mesial, (C) buccal, (D) lingual, (E) distal, and  (F) apical views. Scientists estimate the molar found in the Denisova Cave in Siberia is older than previously  studied Denisovan fossils [Credit: Slon et al. Sci. Adv. 2017; 3: e1700186] Although modern humans are the only surviving human lineage, other hominins — which include modern humans, extinct human species and their immediate ancestors — once lived on Earth. These included Neanderthals, the closest extinct relatives of modern humans, as well as the Denisovans, who lived across a region that might have stretched from Siberia to Southeast Asia. In 2010, researchers analyzed DNA from fossils to reveal the existence of the Denisovans, suggestin

New biological information gleaned from the red vizcacha rat, a native species of Argentina, demonstrates how genomes can rapidly change in size. Red vizcacha rat, a rare species found in Argentina [Credit: McMaster University] Researchers from McMaster University set out to study this particular species because its genome, or its complete set of DNA, is the largest of all mammals, and appears to have increased in size very rapidly. The rat's genome is roughly two-and-a-half times as large as the human genome, including 102 chromosomes versus 46 for humans, and is about twice as large as one of its closest relatives, the mountain vizcacha rat. The most recent common ancestor of these species existed only about five million years ago. "This genomic transformation is striking because it happened over a very short period of time in evolutionary terms," says Ben Evans, a biologist at McMaster and lead author of the new research published in the journal Genome Biology and Evol

A  global team of researchers has published the first-ever Wild Emmer wheat genome sequence in Science magazine . Wild Emmer wheat is the original form of nearly all the domesticated wheat in the world, including durum (pasta) and bread wheat. Wild emmer is too low-yielding to be of use to farmers today, but it contains many attractive characteristics that are being used by plant breeders to improve wheat. Wild Emmer wheat [Credit: © Energin.R Technologies 2009 LTD] The study was led by Dr. Assaf Distelfeld of Tel Aviv University's School of Plant Sciences and Food Security and Institute for Cereal Crops Improvement, in collaboration with several dozen scientists from institutions around the world and an Israel-based company, NRGene, which developed the bioinformatics technology that accelerated the research. "This research is a synergistic partnership among public and private entities," said Dr. Daniel Chamovitz, Dean of TAU's George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences,

Throughout the history of life, new groups of species have flourished at the expense of earlier ones and global biodiversity has varied dramatically over geologic time. A new study led by the University of Turku, Finland, shows that completely different factors regulate the rise and fall of species. Tree ferns still occupy the tropical moist forests in Australia, even though  they shared their 'golden age' with dinosaurs  [Credit: Samuli Lehtonen] "Previously, the debate has been about whether biodiversity is regulated mainly by the interaction between species or the external environment," explains researcher and leader of the study Samuli Lehtonen from the Biodiversity Unit of the University of Turku. In order to test these competing views, Lehtonen compiled a group of top researchers from Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. The researchers focused on the diversity of ferns and the factors that influenced it during the past 400 million years. Ferns ha

The evolution of plants has been punctuated by major innovations, none more striking among living plants than the flower. Flowering plants account for the vast majority of living plant diversity and include all major crops. All flowers share a history of genome duplication, which may have contributed to their spectacular diversity  [Credit: James Clark, University of Bristol] The discovery that all flowering plants underwent a doubling of their genome at some point during their evolution has led to speculation that this duplication event triggered the diversification of this spectacular lineage, but the timing of this event has remained difficult to pin down. Genome duplications provide a second copy of every single gene on which selection can act, potentially leading to new forms and greater diversity. This process leads to the formation of large families of genes - we can examine the history of duplication in gene families in the genomes of all major groups of plants and then look to

A major effort is underway to conserve the last remaining 60 individual paintbrush lilies (Haemanthus pumilio) in the Duthie Nature Reserve in Stellenbosch, South Africa, as well as increase the population through micropropagation. Only 10-15 centimetres high, Haemanthus pumilio is one of the smallest paintbrush lilies. The plants usually flower during  March and April, before the leaves develop. This species prefers to flower after fire, when there is less competition  from other vegetation [Credit: Dr Gary Stafford] Martin Smit, curator of the Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden, says more than a thousand of the paintbrush lilies once grew in the Duthie reserve. But the reserve is now less than a third of its original size, and the lilies have all but disappeared from previously known locations including Wellington and Klapmuts. "The main reasons for its decline are the destruction of its original habitat (rhenosterveld) and invasives like Port Jackson (Acacia saligna). But

By analyzing the DNA of two prehistoric dogs from Germany, an international research team led by Krishna R. Veeramah, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolution in the College of Arts & Sciences at Stony Brook University, has determined that their genomes were the probable ancestors of modern European dogs. The finding, to be published in Nature Communications , suggests a single domestication event of modern dogs from a population of gray wolves that occurred between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago. The 5000 year old Late Neolithic CTC dog skull in the lab before it underwent whole genome sequencing  [Credit: Amelie Scheu] Dogs were the first animal to be domesticated by humans. The oldest dog fossils that can be clearly distinguished from wolves are from the region of what is now Germany from around 15,000 years ago. However, the archaeological record is ambiguous, with claims of ancient domesticated dog bones as far east as Siberia. Recent analysis of genetic data f

In saliva, scientists have found hints that a "ghost" species of archaic humans may have contributed genetic material to ancestors of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa today. In saliva, scientists have found hints that a "ghost" species of archaic human may have contributed genetic material to  ancestors of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa today. The finding comes from a University at Buffalo-led research project  that examined the evolutionary history of MUC7, a gene that codes for an important salivary protein of the same name  [Credit: Bob Wilder/University at Buffalo] The research adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that sexual rendezvous between different archaic human species may not have been unusual. Past studies have concluded that the forebears of modern humans in Asia and Europe interbred with other early hominin species, including Neanderthals and Denisovans. The new research is among more recent genetic analyses indicating that ancient Af

Ciliates, just like humans, are colonized by a vast diversity of bacteria. Some ciliates and their bacterial symbionts have become friends for life, as researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen demonstrated by comparing a group of these single-celled ciliates and their bacterial partners from the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Seas. The bacteria provide their ciliate hosts with nutrition by oxidizing sulfur. Surprisingly, they found that this partnership originated once, from a single ciliate ancestor and a single bacterial ancestor, although a whole ocean separates the sampling sites. Several Kentrophoros ciliates from the Mediterranean Sea under the microscope. The sulfur in the bacteria reflects the  light and makes them appear white. One of the objects is not a ciliate, but an intruder, a multicellular flatworm.  Each ciliate is up to three Millimeter in length [Credit: MPI f. for Marine Microbiology/O. Jackle] Ciliates are minute, single-celled o

The copepod species Calanus finmarchicus schedules its day using a genetic clock that works independently of external stimuli. The clock shapes the copepod's metabolic rhythms and daily vertical migration. This, in turn, has an enormous influence on the entire food web in the North Atlantic, where Calanus finmarchicus is a central plankton species. Wherever the high-calorie copepod is found determines where its predator species are. The results of the study will be published in the journal Current Biology . Calanus finmarchicus is a central plankton species with an enormous influence on the entire food web  in the North Atlantic [Credit: Alfred Wegener Institute] The world's oceans are home to a massive vertical migration. At dusk, countless plankton species, like copepods and krill, rise to the surface, where they gorge themselves on single-celled algae that can only thrive where there is sufficient sunlight. The cover of night offers the plankton protection from predators lik

In the very earliest stages of life, mammalian cells multiply and form the embryo. New research from the University of Copenhagen suggests that this process might be much simpler than we thought. The development of the embryo can be cut down to the cell’s ability to count their neighbouring cells. 4.5 days after fertilization the early mammalian embryo consists of approximately 100 cells. At this stage the cells  form a structure consisting of a fluid-filled cavity and three different cell types. The yellow cells develop into  the placenta, the red cells become the yolk sac and the green cells develop into the embryo proper  [Credit: University of Copenhagen] One of the things that make human beings and other mammals unique in the animal kingdom is our cells’ ability to remember how to make an embryo. Development is the process by which a single cell, a fertilised egg, makes a complex body with head, tail, arms and legs. Mammalian cells can begin this process without any apparent exter

DNA in a fossil from a young girl has revealed that a mysterious extinct human lineage occupied the middle of Asia longer than previously thought, allowing more potential interbreeding with Neanderthals, a new study finds. Photographs of the Denisova 2 lower second molar in (A) occlusal, (B) mesial, (C) buccal, (D) lingual, (E) distal, and  (F) apical views. Scientists estimate the molar found in the Denisova Cave in Siberia is older than previously  studied Denisovan fossils [Credit: Slon et al. Sci. Adv. 2017; 3: e1700186] Although modern humans are the only surviving human lineage, other hominins — which include modern humans, extinct human species and their immediate ancestors — once lived on Earth. These included Neanderthals, the closest extinct relatives of modern humans, as well as the Denisovans, who lived across a region that might have stretched from Siberia to Southeast Asia. In 2010, researchers analyzed DNA from fossils to reveal the existence of the Denisovans, suggestin