Head-Ramming Dino Had 'Gears' in Skull. The new Texas dino featured a skull with a domed top and side bones that may have allowed its skull bones to mesh on impact. - A new species of dinosaur that likely engaged in head-to-head combat has been found in Texas. - Texas dinosaurs were distinct from those found in Canada and the northern U.S. - The new dinosaur's skull was domed and appears designed to absorb impact. A new species dinosaur found in Texas featured flanges on the side of its skull that may have allowed its skull bones to mesh like gears -- a useful feature when it likely rammed heads with other dinosaurs, say researchers. "It's possible that this would prevent the skull bones from dislocating under stresses," speculated Nicholas Longrich, a postdoctoral associate in Yale University's Department of Geology and Geophysics who was project leader for a study about the find published in the latest issue of the journal Cretaceous Research.
"Another possibility is territory," said Longrich. Microbes Galore in Seas; "Spaghetti" Mats Pacific.
Ancient Hominids Had Humanlike Grip. - Prehistoric hominids may have evolved opposable thumbs earlier than once thought. - A tiny fossil suggests hominids had a human-like grip at least 6 million years ago. - That's well before the earliest evidence of stone toolmaking, about 2.6 million years ago. A tiny fossil thumb bone provides a gripping look at the early evolution of human hands, according to a study presented April 16 at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
An upright gait and a relatively sophisticated ability to manipulate objects apparently evolved in tandem among the earliest hominids at least 6 million years ago, said Sergio Almécijaof the Autonomous University of Barcelona. That's well before the earliest evidence of stone toolmaking, about 2.6 million years ago, arguing against the idea that fine motor skills for toolmaking drove the evolution of opposable thumbs. Almécija and his colleagues studied a bone from the tip of a thumb belonging to Orrorin tugenensis. Prehistoric Jewelry Reveals Neanderthal Fashion Sense : Discover.
Even Neanderthals knew how to accessorize. Pigment-stained seashells, likely worn as necklaces by Neanderthals, suggest these early Europeans were not only stylish, but that they were also just as smart and crafty as humans in Africa were, according to a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The colorful mollusk shells, which date to 50,000 years ago, were recently found in Murcia Province, Spain. Since the shells were painted 10,000 years before modern humans are believed to have settled in Europe, this leaves little doubt that Neanderthals made the still eye-catching pieces.
Humans in Africa at the time created comparable objects, so lead author Joao Zilhao and his team believe both groups of hominids were on equal intellectual footing. Neanderthal "intelligence was no different from ours," Zilhao, a professor of paleolithic archaeology at the University of Bristol, told Discovery News. Clever New Caledonian crows can use three tools. Clever crows can use three tools New Caledonian crows have given scientists yet another display of their tool-using prowess. Scientists from New Zealand's University of Auckland have found that the birds are able to use three tools in succession to reach some food. The crows, which use tools in the wild, have also shown other problem-solving behaviour, but this find suggests they are more innovative than was thought.
The research is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The team headed to the South Pacific island of New Caledonia, the home of Corvus moneduloides. They are the only birds known to craft and use tools in the wild. The discovery that they whittle branches into hooks and tear leaves into barbed probes to extract food from hard-to-reach nooks astounded scientists, who had previously thought that ability to fashion tools was unique to primates. The seven birds were split into two groups. A second group of birds was presented with a less familiar situation. Science & Environment | Clever rooks repeat ancient f. Aesop's rook: The birds raise the water by dropping stones into a tube so they can reach a floating worm One of Aesop's fables may have been based on fact, scientists report.
In the tale, written more than 2,000 years ago, a crow uses stones to raise the water level in a pitcher so it can reach the liquid to quench its thirst. Now a study published in Current Biology reveals that rooks, a relative of crows, do just the same when presented with a similar situation. The team says the study shows rooks are innovative tool-users, even though they do not use tools in the wild. Another paper, published in the journal Plos One, shows that New Caledonian crows - which like rooks, are a member of the corvid group, along with ravens, jackdaws, magpies and jays - can use three tools in succession to reach a treat. Floating feast The crow and the pitcher fable was used by Aesop to illustrate that necessity is the mother of invention. The birds were shown a clear tube containing a small amount of water.