Orangutans instinctively use hammers to strike and sharp stones to cut
PLOS ONE study by the University of Tübingen suggests that untrained, captive orangutans can complete two major steps in the sequence of stone tool use: striking rocks together and cutting using a sharp stone.
Before horses, ass hybrids were bred for warfare
The 4,500-year-old iconography and texts from Mesopotamia show that the elite used equids for travel and warfare; however, the nature of these animals remained mysterious.
Medieval warhorses were surprisingly small in stature
Medieval warhorses are often depicted as massive and powerful beasts, but in reality many were no more than pony-sized by modern standards, a new study shows.
Lost world gives glimpse of planet before last Ice Age
A lost world in Mexico has offered scientists a glimpse of the planet before the last Ice Age.
Prehistoric people were farming “the world’s most dangerous bird” as early as 18,000 years ago
Researchers studying two prehistoric sites in Papua New Guinea suggest that ancient people were 'farming' cassowaries as early as 18,000 years ago.
Ancient humans traded dogs for their usefulness
Humans’ oldest companion, the dog, was first domesticated at least 20,000 years ago. The ancient dogs were an essential part of life, and they were used for hunting, herding and sledding among other activities.
Modern snakes evolved from a few survivors of dino-killing asteroid
A new study suggests that all living snakes evolved from a handful of species that survived the giant asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs and most other living things at the end of the Cretaceous.
Thousands of human and animal bones hoarded by hyenas in lava tube system
Archaeologists conducting research in Arabia’s longest lava tube system, has found thousands of bones deposited by hyenas.
DNA from 1,600-year-old Iranian sheep mummy brings history to life
A team of geneticists and archaeologists from Ireland, France, Iran, Germany, and Austria has sequenced the DNA from a 1,600-year-old sheep mummy from an ancient Iranian salt mine, Chehrābād.
Researchers figured out how the ancestors of modern horses migrated
An international research team determined that ancestors of modern domestic horses and the Przewalski horse moved from the territory of Eurasia (Russian Urals, Siberia, Chukotka, and eastern China) to North America (Yukon, Alaska, continental USA) from one continent on another at least twice.
Scientists Pinpoint Our Most Distant Animal Relatives
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin believe they have pinpointed our most distant animal relative in the tree of life and, in doing so, have resolved an ongoing debate. Their work finds strong evidence that sponges - not more complex comb jellies - were our most distant relatives.
Ancient Megafaunal Mutualisms & Extinctions as Factors in Plant Domestication
By clearing forests, burning grasslands, plowing fields and harvesting crops, humans apply strong selective pressures on the plants that survive on the landscapes we use.
Early Neolithic Sheep-Breeders Had High Levels of Mortality Among Young Animals in Their Herds
A study of ancient bones shows that Early Neolithic sheep-breeders were faced with high levels of mortality among young animals in their herds.
Woolly Mammoths May Have Shared the Landscape With First Humans in New England
Woolly mammoths may have walked the landscape at the same time as the earliest humans in what is now New England, according to a Dartmouth study published in Boreas.
How Did Dogs Get to the Americas?
The history of dogs has been intertwined, since ancient times, with that of the humans who domesticated them.
