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Extreme fires caused by ancient humans wiped out Californian megafauna

A series of catastrophic fires killed off many large mammals in southern California by 13,000 years ago, and they were largely due to the arrival of humans

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Professor Lee Berger, palaeontologist, explorer and member of The National Geographic Society, gestures as he explains the scientific relevance of discovering Homo Naledi in the Rising Star caves system in The Cradle of Human Kind, on May 11, 2023. The news shakes the foundations of human evolution: world-renowned paleontologist Lee Berger announced on Monday that he had discovered the oldest graves ever found in South Africa, pushing back the first traces of mortuary practices by some 100,000 years . The oldest tombs discovered so far were found in Israel and Egypt at the beginning of the 20th century. They date from around 100,000 years before our era and house the remains of Homo sapiens, the direct ancestor of man. The burials unearthed in South Africa date from -200,000 to -300,000 years. (Photo by Luca Sola / AFP) (Photo by LUCA SOLA/AFP via Getty Images)

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Cave of Bones review: Lee Berger on the discovery of Homo naledi

Culture

The newly discovered Perucetus colossus, an ancient species of whale, is thought to be one of the largest and heaviest animals on record, reports a study published in Nature. Estimates of its size and weight, based on a partial skeleton, rival those of the blue whale, which was previously thought to be the heaviest animal ever to exist. The findings suggest that the trend towards gigantism in marine mammals may have begun earlier than previously thought. Reconstruction of Perucetus colossus in its coastal habitat. Estimated body length: ~20 meters. Credit: Alberto Gennari

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Ancient whale might have been the heaviest animal that ever lived

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Amazing fossil hints mammals hunted dinosaurs three times their size

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Fossil of pregnant ground sloth discovered with fetus inside

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Bone disease in sabre-toothed tigers may be a sign of inbreeding

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Ancient reptiles' long necks made them vulnerable to decapitation

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Extinct lizard was a bizarrely supersized version of modern skinks

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Woolly mammoths had testosterone surges like those of male elephants

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Broad-nosed ancient shark was one of earliest fish to smell in stereo

Fossils found in Morocco show the sensory specialisation of a 365-million-year-old shark, given the species name Maghriboselache mohamezanei

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Longest dinosaur neck on record was six times longer than a giraffe's

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Oldest ichthyosaur fossil hints they evolved before mass extinction

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Fossil thought to be earliest bryozoan animal may actually be seaweed

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Spine of early crawling fish was becoming more like a land animal's

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