@profmercader.bsky.social
Professor Bernard Wood discusses Homo and Paranthropus evolution, the Sahelanthropus femur, the taxonomy of H. naledi and H. floresiensis, and the importance of fossil access and data sharing in human origins research:
Bernard Wood | Hominin Taxonomy, Paranthropus Evolution, and Interpreting the Fossil Record
YouTube video by Our Primate Past
youtu.be
Coupled, decoupled, and abrupt responses of vegetation to climate across timescales | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Coupled, decoupled, and abrupt responses of vegetation to climate across timescales
Climate and ecosystem dynamics vary across timescales, but research into climate-driven vegetation dynamics usually focuses on singular timescales. We developed a spectral analysis–based approach that...
science.org
15 days to go! Proud to keep advancing research + training #OldupaiGorge 🙏 University of Dodoma + University of Calgary Team's fired up, Some already in-country, others landing soon: Abel Shikoni Maria Soto @aloycem.bsky.social Raquel Hernando AbdallahMohamed StephenMagohe Ayoola Oladele
Starch is biodegradable, so why do we assume it survives for millennia? Our new study shows rapid microbial decay, even in dry soils. Time for archaeology to rethink what “ancient” starch really means. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
HOUSE OF CARDS? A Call for Paradigm Shift in Archaeological Starch… | Julio Mercader Florín
HOUSE OF CARDS? A Call for Paradigm Shift in Archaeological Starch Research Could decades of ancient starch research be built on a house of cards? Archaeologists have long recovered microscopic sta...
linkedin.com
Joint research at Oldupai Gorge unites palaeoanthropology with Masai-led stewardship. A new MOU formalizes co-design in science, education, tourism and heritage. A model for collaborative futures. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
Collaborative Research and Joint Management at Oldupai Gorge: A… | Julio Mercader Florín
Collaborative Research and Joint Management at Oldupai Gorge: A long-term partnership at Oldupai Gorge in Tanzania between palaeoanthropologists and the Maasai Advisory Council demonstrates how co...
linkedin.com
Excited to see the University of Dodoma leading research at Oldupai Gorge (Tanzania), collaborating globally to explore the origins of humanity #UNESCO #WorldHeritageSite Cheers to a new chapter of discovery 🎉 @udomofficial #HumanOrigins #Paleoanthropology
Paper alert, @nature.com. Our study reveals 8 million years of #GreenArabia. We document environmental variability - ranging over the entire course of human evolution. Arabia is a key bridge at the cross-roads of continents. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Big thanks to University of Dodoma and University of Calgary for backing our project and permit to uncover early human life at the cradle of humankind in Eastern Africa #OldupaiGorge Stay tuned for discoveries ahead! #Paleoanthropology #HumanEvolution
Aloyce Mwambwiga defended his doctoral thesis today! He is a scholar I respect for his consistency and integrity, even as we navigated the most extreme challenges There’s now a new phytolith lab in Tanzania, equipped. He will be directing it, for the science to be practiced locally Cheers!!
Direct effects of mountain uplift and topography on biodiversity | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Direct effects of mountain uplift and topography on biodiversity
Biodiversity hotspots in Earth’s mountain ranges suggest a strong connection between topographic development and biological processes. However, it remains unclear whether high biodiversity in mountain...
science.org
A structured coalescent model reveals deep ancestral structure shared by all modern humans www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A structured coalescent model reveals deep ancestral structure shared by all modern humans - Nature Genetics
The cobraa model extends the pairwise sequentially Markovian coalescent to identify structured population history by examination of the model transition matrix. Applied to human polymorphism data, cob...
nature.com
Our new paper 🥲 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The earliest human face of Western Europe - Nature
A Homo aff. erectus individual dated to 1.4 million to 1.1 million years ago found at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) does not display the modern-human-like aspect of Homo antecess...
nature.com
The Tai Chimpanzee Project is making available microCT scans from their collections on human-fossil-record.org. All proceeds are used to support their mission of conservation and non-invasive research in Tai National Park (taichimpproject.org).
The Human Fossil Record: A Digital Resource for Research and Education
The Human Fossil Record: A Digital Resource for Research and Education
human-fossil-record.org
Another fascinating study on the broader knock-on effects of megafaunal extinctions
Zoognosis with Joy!@zoognosisjoy.bsky.social · last yr.Megafauna disperse pathogens and ectoparasites. The End Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions led to an 85% reduction of pathogen dispersal, causing surviving species to become immunonaieve. This led to the rise of zoonotic disease and epizootics 🧪 nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Unfortunately few academics realise the power they have to change the system, when they reach the points where they can begin to bear pressure. The UKRI has shifted focus from individuals to academic teams in the next Research Assessment Exercise. Here is my take docs.google.com/presentation...
Research_Excellence_UK
What is Research Excellence? REF (Research Excellence Framework) The last decade has established the study of ancient proteins as a significant and useful addition to the arsenal of biomolecular metho...
docs.google.com
Luke Gamon@lgamon.bsky.social · 2y agoReally feel like it’s getting worse, not better. Though perhaps it took me a while to really feel it. I could write a whole separate thread just on being a technical scientist in a medical faculty
Paper alert! We use polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (🔥) biomarkers at staggered scales relative to Palaeolithic archaeological sites to argue for deep antiquity (600 to 400 ka) to land management practices in 🇹🇯 Central Asia. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Biomarker evidence on early Paleolithic human-environment interactions from loess records in Tajikistan, Central Asia
The loess-paleosol sequences of Khovaling, southern Tajikistan preserve signatures of prehistoric human settlement during the Early Paleolithic. Archa…
sciencedirect.com
The third of our series of papers on this topic, in which I had a minor part: 🧪 🏺 "Auto-fluorescent #phytoliths : can we detect past fires in tropical and subtropical contexts?" 𝑉𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐻𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑒𝑜𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑦. #plantscience link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Auto-fluorescent phytoliths: can we detect past fires in tropical and subtropical contexts? - Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
To understand human practices and landscape evolution it is crucial to be able to trace evidence of past fires, notably in tropical environments. In such anthromes, phytoliths are generally well prese...
link.springer.com
Just starting our fieldwork at Pegwell bay for Palaeo-Thaw project. Sampling the Late Pleistocene Loess sequence
Potentially significant 1st independent replication of sequenced dinosaur 🦕 collagen. 41 peptides in Edmontosaurus bone, identical sequences in Brachylophosaurus. Minimal PTMs suggest exceptional preservation #teammassspec #ZooMS. Now to explore the data... Data on PRIDE PXD048810 (but not yet)
Evidence for Endogenous Collagen in Edmontosaurus Fossil Bone
Reports of proteins in fossilized bones have been a subject of controversy in the scientific literature because it is assumed that fossilization results in the destruction of all organic components. I...
pubs.acs.org
Groundbreaking research on Homo erectus www.nature.com/articles/s43... #OldupaiGorge BED III: Using sedimentology, geochemistry, Ar/Ar dating, biome simulations, fire history, paleobotany, fauna, and lithics, we reveal how hominins navigated extreme environments in northern Tanzania 1 Ma
Space exploration has expanded the realm of geoscience to the outermost Solar System. A new generation of missions shines the way www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Outer planet frontier of geoscience - Nature Geoscience
Space exploration has expanded the realm of geoscience to the outermost Solar System. A new generation of missions shines the way.
nature.com
🏺 Massive new isotope database drops! NARIA (North American Repository for Archaeological Isotopes) just launched with 28k+ measurements spanning 12,000 years of human history across North America 🗺️ pandoradata.earth/organization...
NARIA - Communities - Pandora
pandoradata.earth
ISBA @isbarchaeology.bsky.social heads to Turin! 🇮🇹 Call for abstracts for biomolecular archaeology's premier conference, @isba11.bsky.social. Spotlight on ancient biomolecules, isotopes & their stories of the past 🧬 Human-environment interactions foodways, mobility & more 🏛️ Deadline: Jan 20, 2025
Human migration from the Levant and Arabia into Yemen since Last Glacial Maximum www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Human migration from the Levant and Arabia into Yemen since Last Glacial Maximum - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Human migration from the Levant and Arabia into Yemen since Last Glacial Maximum
nature.com
Confirming previous age estimates at the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary, this fascinating study provides precise dating of Australasian tektites (glass formed by meteorite impacts) at 788,000 years ago, offering insights into the Acheulean in SE Asia www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
High-precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of Australasian tektites associated with bifacial tools in the Bose Basin (Xiaomei and Fengshudao sites), South China and in Vietnam (Go Da and Roc Tung 1 sites)
Bifacial tools discovered at about a hundred Lower Palaeolithic sites in the Bose Basin, southern China, have been previously dated to around 800,000 …
sciencedirect.com
Chauvet Cave was discovered on the 18th December 1994. 30 years ago today. To many it is the most arresting expression of cave art in the archaeological record & it is one of the oldest examples in Europe. Here are four of my highlights. archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/chauvet/en #AncientSky 🦣🏺
A transformative initiative to foster capacity building in Paleosciences! Eastern African Network for PaleoBioGeoChem (PaleoBGC): 🔬 Nairobi: Raman (May 5-6) 📊 Addis Ababa: XRF (May 12-13) 🔍 Dodoma: Thin-sectioning (May 20-21)
This is the first of four papers building the case that hominins practiced landscape fire management in Central Asia (dating to 600 ka). This paper establishes the preservation context for biomarkers at the sites. Later papers will evaluate the broader ecological and evolutionary implications.
Occurrence and distribution of biomarkers in loess-paleosol sequences of Tajikistan (Central Asia): Implication for archaeo-ecological studies
Finding biomarkers preserved in loess-paleosol sequences is challenging and rarely undertaken in the archaeological studies that occur in these settin…
sciencedirect.com
