Tag

Miocene

All articles tagged with #miocene

science10 days ago•5 min saved

Egypt’s 17-Million-Year-Old Ape Fossil Reframes the Origins of Modern Apes

Scientists describe Masripithecus moghraensis, a new Early Miocene ape from Wadi Moghra, Egypt—the first definite North African ape—reconciling a geographic gap and suggesting North Africa was a key cradle for crown Hominoidea. The jaw shows a versatile, fruit-based diet with the ability to process harder foods. Bayesian analyses place Masripithecus closer to living apes than East African Miocene apes, positioning North Africa/Middle East as the likely home of the common ancestor of all living apes and highlighting the region as a corridor for dispersal into Europe and Asia. More fossils from the area could further illuminate ape origins.

via SciTechDaily|

#anthropology #evolution #miocene

paleontology10 days ago•9 min saved

New Skull Reframes Early Saber-Toothed Cat Evolution

A nearly complete Arizona skull of Adelphailurus kansensis reveals it was a cougar-sized, early-diverging machairodontine with less exaggerated upper canines and a mosaic of features between Metailurus and Yoshi. The find clarifies its place on the saber-toothed lineage, supports the idea that longer fangs emerged and then persisted (a macroevolutionary ratchet), helps untangle its taxonomic history from Pseudaelurus, and suggests a separate primitive saber-toothed migration into North America. The study, published online June 19, 2026 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, advances understanding of the origins and diversification of saber-toothed predators.

via Sci.News|

#adelphailurus-kansensis #machairodontinae #miocene

science28 days ago•8 min saved

Catalan Fossils Uncover Primitive Bear-Dog Paludocyon moyasolai

Paleontologists have named Paludocyon moyasolai, a new Middle Miocene amphicyonid (bear-dog), from els Casots in the Vallès-Penedès Basin near Barcelona. The two fossils—a partial skull with teeth and a separate lower molar—show unique molar proportions (second upper molar broader than the first; third upper molar exceptionally large), identifying it as the basal-most Paludocyon and the most primitive member yet described. Phylogenetic analysis also indicates Cynelos is paraphyletic, with three North American Cynelos species appearing closer to Paludocyon but remaining unresolved, and possibly tracing to Asian or endemic North American lineages. The discovery, reported in the Journal of Mammalian Evolution, sheds light on amphicyonid evolution and early North American–Eurasian connections.

via Sci.News|

#amphicyonidae #miocene #paludocyon-moyasolai

geology1 month ago•59 min saved

Miocene Rivers Merge to Create the Euphrates, Paving Civilization’s Cradle

Geoscientists reconstruct the Euphrates’ origin, showing it formed when the Paleo-Karasu and Paleo-Murat rivers merged after tectonic shifts in the Miocene (roughly 3.6 million and 2.8 million years ago). The combined waterway then flowed toward the Persian Gulf by about 1.6 million years ago, leaving offshore river deposits that reveal the two rivers were larger than the modern Nile. This birth of the Euphrates helped shape the Fertile Crescent and the civilizations that arose there, illustrating how major shifts in water distribution sculpt landscapes and life on Earth.

via Live Science|

#euphrates #fertile-crescent #geology

paleontology1 month ago•8 min saved

Miocene Pakistan Yields New Hyaenodont Species

Paleontologists in Pakistan identified three Miocene hyaenodont species from the Chinji and Nagri Siwalik deposits, including Metapterodon_anari, a newly described species about 15 kg; a second giant form tentatively placed as Megistotherium or Hyainailouros (potentially up to 500 kg); and Hyaenodon remains that may represent a distinct regional species. The finds shed light on late-surviving hyaenodonts, indicate possible Africa–Europe connections and Miocene migration, and reveal how hypercarnivorous predators coexisted with emerging carnivorans in South Asia; the study is published in PalZ.

via Sci.News|

#hyaenodont #metapterodonanari #miocene

science2 months ago•7 min saved

Ancient Seas, Modern Cliffs: New Study Rewrites the Twelve Apostles’ Origin

A new study in the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences shows the Twelve Apostles formed from Miocene-era seabed rocks, with the Port Campbell Limestone deposited roughly 14 to 8.6 million years ago and a warm interval around 14.1–13.8 million years ago recorded by abundant foraminifera fossils. Tectonic uplift began about 8.6 million years ago, lifting the rocks above sea level and enabling coastal erosion to sculpt headlands, arches, and eventually the sea stacks—an ongoing process following the last ice age. The rocks are ancient, but the iconic formations are geologically recent, highlighting how long-term tectonics and coastal dynamics shape the landscape.”

via Indian Defence Review|

#coastal-erosion #earth-science #foraminifera

environment2 months ago•3 min saved

Twelve Apostles Reveal a 14-Million-Year Geological History

Microfossil dating places Victoria’s Twelve Apostles between 8.6 and 14 million years old, revealing a tilted, multi-layer record from the Miocene climate transition and showing how erosion created the current sea stacks.

via The Guardian|

#australia #earth-sciences #environment

science2 months ago•9 min saved

Ancient Coccoliths Reveal a Cooler Miocene North Atlantic Than Expected

A Nature Communications study applies clumped-isotope geochemistry to exceptionally well-preserved fossil coccoliths to reconstruct 16 million years of North Atlantic temperatures, finding temperatures about 9°C cooler than previous alkenone-based estimates and closer to climate model simulations, challenging the view of extreme Miocene warmth and highlighting the need to re-evaluate climate proxies.

via SciTechDaily|

#clumped-isotope-geochemistry #coccolithophores #miocene

science2 months ago•5 min saved

Ancient Anacondas Stayed 4–5 Meters Long for 12 Million Years

Fossils from Venezuela show ancient anacondas were about 4–5 meters long soon after appearing ~12.4 million years ago, and their size stayed largely unchanged through the Miocene, unlike other giants that disappeared; researchers used vertebrae measurements and ancestral state reconstruction to confirm the finding.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#anaconda #fossils #miocene

science2 months ago•5 min saved

Magnetic Clues Reframe the Americas’ Collision Timeline

New magnetic data from Colombian volcanic rocks shows that the collision between Central and South America began well before the previously accepted timeline, mainly during the Oligocene to middle Miocene, implying a gradual deformation rather than a late, abrupt event and potentially shifting the timing of the Isthmus of Panama with broad implications for ocean circulation, climate, and biodiversity.

via Indian Defence Review|

#geology #magnetic-evidence #miocene

science2 months ago•32 min saved

Egyptian jaw fossil prompts rethink of ape origins

A fossilized lower jaw from Sinai’s Wadi Maghara, attributed to a new genus and species Masripithecus moghraensis and dated to the Early Miocene (~17–18 million years ago), suggests apes may have originated farther north than East Africa, challenging the long-held East African origin model.

via Yahoo|

#ape-origins #egypt #masripithecus-moghraensis

science3 months ago•9 min saved

Sinai fossil hints apes may have North African roots

A 17–18 million-year-old ape jaw from Sinai’s Wadi Maghara is named Masripithecus moghraensis and suggests apes may have originated in North Africa rather than East Africa; the incomplete fossil sits before the great-ape/lesser-ape split, potentially reshaping origin stories, but more complete fossils are needed to confirm.

via The Jerusalem Post|

#apes #masripithecus-moghraensis #miocene

science3 months ago•5 min saved

Egypt fossil hints northern Africa as cradle of ape origins

Researchers describe Masripithecus moghraensis, a newly identified fossil ape from northern Egypt dating to about 17–18 million years ago, as a close stem hominoid to the lineage that gave rise to all living apes. Using Bayesian tip-dating, the find suggests northern Afro-Arabia could be a cradle for ape origins and underscores the role of Afro-Arabia as a Miocene biogeographic crossroads, challenging the East Africa–centered view while acknowledging gaps in Africa’s fossil record.

via ScienceDaily|

#afro-arabia #early-apes #hominoid-evolution

science4 months ago•6 min saved

Arctic 23-Million-Year-Old Rhino Fossil Rewrites Rhino Evolution

A 23-million-year-old hornless rhino, Epiaceratherium itjilik, was unearthed in Canada’s High Arctic at Haughton Crater, with about 75% of its skeleton remarkably well preserved. The find offers new insights into Arctic ecosystems, rhino evolution, and long-distance migration via a North Atlantic land bridge, while recent advances in paleontology include recovering partial proteins from enamel in 2025, expanding methods for studying ancient mammals.

via Indian Defence Review|

#arctic #fossil #migration

science4 months ago•6 min saved

Brazil Reveals 6.3-Million-Year Meteor Impact Through New Tektite Field

Brazilian researchers identified a new tektite field, geraisites, from a 6.3-million-year-old meteor impact that spread tektites over roughly 900 km in Minas Gerais and neighboring states; analyses of silica content, low water, lechatelierite inclusions, and argon-argon dating place the event in the late Miocene, with a buried São Francisco Craton crater likely as the source.

via Indian Defence Review|

#brazil #geraisites #meteor-impact