Researchers spot rare evidence of how two baby #pterosaurs died 150 million years ago.

A violent storm may have sent two baby pterosaurs spiraling to their deaths in a lagoon about 150 million years ago, based on a new analysis of the tiny, astonishingly well-preserved fossils. This latest research also provides fresh clues that may unravel a broader enduring mystery surrounding the site where the specimens were found.

The prehistoric flying reptiles, nicknamed Lucky and Lucky II by the authors of a new study published in the journal Current Biology on September 5, were likely a few days to weeks old when they died in what is now southern Germany.

The fossils, which dated to between 153 million and 148 million years ago during the Jurassic Period, are among the smallest pterosaur specimens ever found, with wingspans of less than 8 inches (20 centimetres). Small bones don’t often preserve well in the fossil record because they break so easily — especially ones as delicate as lightweight, hollow pterosaur bones.

At first glance, the skeletons appear pristine, seemingly representing how the pterosaurs would have appeared when they were alive. But each one bears a similar injury. Lucky’s left upper arm bone, or humerus, and Lucky II’s right upper arm bone both show a clean, slanted fracture, suggesting they were twisted by powerful wind gusts.

The researchers believe that after sustaining their injuries, the pterosaurs fell into the lagoon and drowned in the waves, falling to the seabed where mud stirred up by the storm rapidly buried them. Ironically, the very storm responsible for their deaths is likely what preserved their skeletons so well, the researchers said.

“The odds of preserving (a pterosaur) are already slim and finding a fossil that tells you how the animal died is even rarer,” said lead study author Rab Smyth, a paleontology researcher at the American Museum of Natural History, in a statement. Smyth conducted the research as a doctoral student at the University of Leicester’s Centre for Palaeobiology and Biosphere Evolution in the United Kingdom.

In addition to shedding light on how the pterosaurs died, the fossils may reveal why researchers have uncovered the remains of hundreds of small pterosaurs, but few large ones, within the Solnhofen Limestone of southern Germany.
Islands of discovery

About 150 million years ago, Europe looked completely different, Smyth said.

“The continent was broken into a complex chain of small islands,” he wrote in an email. “Southern Germany, among the last specks of land before the vast Tethys Ocean stretching toward Africa, consisted of semi-arid islands covered in low, shrub-like vegetation.”

The Solnhofen lagoons were part of an archipelago, with the nearest landmasses just a few miles away, he said.

Researchers have regularly recovered well-preserved small pterosaur fossils for the past 240 years from the lagoon deposits at Solnhofen, Smyth said. In contrast, scientists have found only fragments, such as skulls or limbs, of larger adult pterosaurs. The lack of complete adult specimens is unusual because larger animals tend to fossilize better, the researchers said.

The fossils recovered from the Solnhofen Limestone, including 500 specimens representing 15 different species, have “long underpinned and continues to dominate much of our understanding of these flying reptiles,” the authors wrote in the study.

Knowledge of just how the specimens became fossilized in the region has remained limited.

Smyth and his colleagues studied the two fossils, held at the Museum Bergér in Harthof and the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology in Munich, using Ultraviolet Fluorescence Photography, to search for clues.

The technique revealed details difficult to see in visible light alone, like areas of soft tissue preservation, the condition of the limestone in which the fossils were preserved, and the thickness of the hollow walls of the bones. The fossils are also distinctive in that they show evidence of bone trauma, unlike the other small pterosaur remains found in Solnhofen.

“When Rab spotted Lucky we were very excited but realised that it was a one-off,” said study coauthor Dr. David Unwin, reader in paleobiology in the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, in a statement. “A year later, when Rab noticed Lucky II we knew that it was no longer a freak find but evidence of how these animals were dying. Later still, when we had a chance to light-up Lucky II with our UV torches, it literally leapt out of the rock at us — and our hearts stopped. Neither of us will ever forget that moment.”

Some of the fossils found in the limestone belong to the pterosaur species Rhamphorhynchus muensteri and Pterodactylus antiquus, and both Lucky specimens belong to the latter. But the researchers thought it was unusual to find hatchling and juvenile P. antiquus within the lagoon, since the species didn’t appear to have any adaptations for a marine lifestyle.

Rhamphorhynchus muensteri, on the other hand, had long, gull-like wings and jaws suited for catching fish and squid. There are also many examples of specimens ranging from young to adult pterosaurs, as expected of a local population, Smyth said.

Instead, Smyth believes the Lucky pterosaurs and other juvenile Pterodactylus antiquus specimens lived on the landmasses near the lagoons.

“These islands and coastal areas were likely semi-arid, with sparse forest or scrub,” Smyth said. “They supported a variety of invertebrates and small reptiles, as well as Archaeopteryx, one of the earliest known birds. We know this because these plants and animals are occasionally found washed into the lagoons.”

Researchers are still recovering a variety of pterosaur specimens from the Solnhofen Limestone, allowing scientists to study pterosaur growth, variation and anatomy in much greater detail, Smyth said.
A lucky find

Studying the Lucky pterosaurs helped the researchers realize how prehistoric tropical storms led to a bias in the fossil record.

Much of the time, the lagoons would have been calm, with shallow waters. But they were ticking time bombs, Smyth said. The water column contained specific layers, with an oxygenated surface above a super-salty, oxygen-free bottom.

“Sudden storms could churn the lagoon, bringing the toxic bottom water to the surface and causing mass die-offs of marine life,” Smyth said. “At the same time, the storms could sweep other animals into the lagoons, including young pterosaurs, which were quickly buried in fine sediment.”

The fact that so many of the young pterosaur fossils are so complete suggests they were buried shortly after the storms occurred before scavengers could disturb them, he said.

But how did nonlocal pterosaurs end up in the lagoon? The young hatchlings were likely unable to escape the strong stormy winds, unlike adult pterosaurs.

“For centuries, scientists believed that the Solnhofen lagoon ecosystems were dominated by small pterosaurs,” Smyth said. “But we now know this view is deeply biased. Many of these pterosaurs weren’t native to the lagoon at all. Most are inexperienced juveniles that were likely living on nearby islands that were unfortunately caught up in powerful storms.”

Meanwhile, adult pterosaurs, better able to withstand the storms, likely died of natural causes and floated for days or weeks on the lagoon surface, with pieces of their remains slowly falling to the bottom.
Flight of the baby pterosaurs

Now, Smyth and his colleagues want to better understand how hatchling pterosaurs were able to fly so early in life, which is something almost no modern flying animal can do, he said.

Scientists have previously debated the flying capabilities of baby pterosaurs, but the study suggests that the Lucky pterosaurs sustained flight-related injuries similar to those seen in birds, especially inexperienced juveniles that fly through marine storms, the authors wrote in the study.

David Martill, professor emeritus at the Institute of the Earth and Environment at the University of Portsmouth, was fascinated by the study and UV images. Martill did not participate in the research and has some reservations about the injuries having been caused by storms. The injuries tend to occur when animals are bashed against rocks, and there were no cliffs present in the lagoons, he suggested.

“So, I welcome this study as an extremely interesting hypothesis that requires deeper study,” Martill wrote in an email.

Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland who was also not involved in the research, called the study “paleontological detective work of the highest caliber,” providing rare evidence of how animals died and fossilized.

“When you think about it, each fossil is a tragedy,” Brusatte wrote in an email. “It’s part of a plant or animal that has died and gotten buried and turned into rock. This study is a haunting window into the lives of pterodactyls. I can actually envision in my head, a dark and stormy night in the Jurassic, when the winds of fate took down these pterodactyls, turning them into the fossils that we celebrate 150 million years later.”

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Ancient temple could reveal secrets of a lost society that predates the Inca Empire. Archaeologists say they have discovered the ruins of what they believe are the boundaries of an ancient temple belonging to the mysterious Andean society of Tiwanaku that disappeared around AD 1000.

The research team unearthed the immense temple complex in the highlands of what is now Bolivia’s municipality of Caracollo. The site is southeast of Lake Titicaca, a different region than where researchers had previously focused their search for clues that might help unravel the secrets of this lost society.

The extraordinary find is roughly 130 miles (about 210 kilometres) south of the established archaeological site of Tiwanaku, the capital of the powerful empire that preceded the Incas. The latest findings were described in a study published on June 24 in the journal Antiquity.

Called Palaspata after the native name for the region, the temple lies outside the borders of where Tiwanaku was previously known to have expanded, said Dr. José Capriles, a Bolivian archaeologist and associate professor of anthropology at Pennsylvania State University.

Capriles, who was the lead author of the study, noted that the building’s architectural elements, including a terraced platform and sunken courtyard, have a striking resemblance to the Tiwanaku style found in other parts of the Lake Titicaca region. “We don’t expect it in this particular place and the fact that it exists there is remarkable,” he said.

The temple, which has a trail cutting through it from repeated travel by locals, is near a long-used Bolivian travel route, now called the La Paz–Cochabamba Highway, which connected three trade routes used by other societies that followed, like the Inca.

The discovery of the ceremonial temple is shedding light on the interconnectivity of the lost society’s various territories and how Palaspata could have served as a gateway for Tiwanaku society to expand its power in the region, according to the researchers.
Who were the Tiwanaku?

Archaeological investigations of Tiwanaku sites began in the 1860s, but researchers still have scant knowledge of the society. Most of what experts know has been deduced from studying ceramics, camelid remains, and other religious sites, such as Akapana, that dot the Andean highlands.

Tiwanaku communities first emerged in an altiplano, or high plain, of the Andes called the Titicaca Basin, named after Lake Titicaca.

Due to its location, farming crops, like maize, was difficult, so the people relied on llama caravans to connect the communities in the region and facilitate trade. The capital city of Tiwanaku, also called Tiwanaku, managed trade, commerce and interregional interaction, according to the study.

“Tiwanaku was what we call a primary state formation, meaning that it was a complex society that had complex social stratification,” Capriles said. The empire developed without external influence and “emerged out of a series of prior agricultural societies.”,

Evidence of Tiwanaku objects, like pottery, suggests Tiwanaku people began to settle in that area around AD 700, as well as farther west in a valley that’s now southern Peru, according to Dr. Nicola O’Connor Sharratt, associate professor of anthropology at Georgia State University. She was not involved in the study.

Tiwanaku populations are also suspected to have lived in what is now northern Chile and in Cochabamba, Sharratt added.

The Tiwanaku constructed Palaspata to further exert its sociopolitical influence over other societies in the area by controlling trade between regions, the new study suggests.

“The placement of this site is strategically located between two major geographic zones of the Andean Highlands,” Capriles said.

“This might have been sort of a nice strategic control outpost that not only controlled flow of goods in an economic and political sense, but it also did so through religion, and this is why it is a temple,” he said. “The alignment of religious, political and economic institutions, which is how many of these institutions emerge, is something that I think people were kind of surprised about.”
Uncovering a lost temple

The temple Palaspata is only visible by its perimeter wall, which is outlined with red sandstone.

While working on an unrelated archaeology project near the highway, researchers noticed the structure and decided it “seemed significant,” Capriles said.

They investigated the area further on foot and with drones. From the initial findings, Capriles was able to use 3D rendering to create a digital reconstruction of the temple.

The structure is 125 meters long and 145 meters wide (410 by 475 feet) — about the size of a city block — with 15 modular enclosures that were likely rooms surrounding an inner courtyard.

The building’s main entrance faces west, aligned with the solar equinox and indicative of the temple’s religious role in the society. While not much is known of Tiwanaku’s spiritual practices, archaeologists have previously found stone monoliths and ceramics with plant- and animal-based symbolism that may allude to traditions known to be part of other pre-Inca societies. Researchers on past expeditions related to Tiwanaku commonly uncovered religious structures designed to highlight the landscape’s natural features and align with key events in the solar cycle.

Archaeologists have also found Tiwanaku pottery at the site, such as keru cups, typically used to drink some form of maize-based alcohol. This suggests that the building was likely used for parties or large gatherings, Sharratt said.

Compared with other ancient societies, Tiwanaku remains enigmatic, and researchers have a limited, patchwork understanding of the civilization, according to Sharratt.

Archaeological theories suggest that Tiwanaku collapsed because of a drought or environmental degradation. Others experts believe that both of these factors may have led to social tension and unrest, ultimately giving rise to a populist uprising.

Why don’t researchers know much about this cryptic society? Tiwanaku “didn’t fit some early archaeologists’ ideas about what a state should look like or where you could have a thriving city,” Sharratt said. “It hasn’t necessarily met all of our expectations, so I think that’s partly why.”

By Gina Park, CNN

#DNA analysis of two burials from 1,000 years ago reveals West African heritage.

#Archeologists studied two separate burials on the southern coast of England from more than 1,000 years ago, suggesting they had recent ancestors, likely grandparents, from West Africa.

Researchers from universities based in the U.K. conducted ancient DNA analysis on individuals buried at two seventh-century AD cemeteries in England – Updown in Kent and Worth Matravers in Dorset – to explore migration patterns in early medieval Europe, according to research published in Antiquity on Wednesday.

“Migration and its direction, scale and impact have been much debated in European archeology,” the authors said in a news release. “Archeogenetic research can now provide new insight, even identifying individual migrants”.

Duncan Sayer, lead author of the Updown research article and a professor at the University of Lancashire, told CTVNews.ca Monday that at first, the researchers were trying to understand kinship patterns.

“Initially, we were exploring ancient DNA to look at early medieval migrations into Britain from continental Europe in the early Middle Ages – specifically if we could see an early Anglo-Saxon migration in the genetics," he said.

In the news release, Sawyer called Kent a “conduit for influence from the adjacent continent” of Africa, which was particularly seen in the sixth century, also known as Kent’s “Frankish Phase.”

“Updown is also located near to the royal centre of Finglesham, indicating that these connections were part of a wider royal network,” Sayer said.

Sawyer also brought up the diversity of the region, adding that people with different accents or ways of life would not have been uncommon at the time.

The Updown grave contained several goods, according to Sawyer: a pot, possibly from Frankish Gaul; a spoon that could indicate Christian faith and exotic gold, silver, and garnet items, often left as gifts or possessions of the buried.

‘The boy from Worth Matravers’

Meanwhile, Dorset “sat on the fringes of continental influence” compared to Updown, according to Ceiridwen J. Edwards, lead author of the Worth Matravers article from the University of Huddersfield.

“The archeological evidence suggests a marked and notable cultural divide between Dorset and areas to the west, and the Anglo-Saxon influenced areas to the east,” Edwards said in the news release.

“The difference is in the context and part of why this is so important,” Sawyer said. “In Dorset, this is a costal community who relied on the sea and consumed costal shellfish.”

“The boy from Worth Matravers” was buried in a double grave, but the children in both cases were a part of the fabric of their community, Sawyer said.

His grave contained a local limestone anchor, which links the site or the occupants to the sea or seafaring travel, he added.

Most of the individuals buried at the cemeteries were either northern European descendants, or had western British and Irish ancestry, both of which were prevalent in England at the time. However, one individual at each cemetery had a recent ancestor from West Africa, the paper read.

The mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited from the mother, was northern European. But the researched indicated that autosomal DNA, which comes from both parents, showed non-European ancestry, connecting them to present-day Yoruba, Mende, Mandenka, and Esan groups from sub-Saharan West Africa.

That means both individuals had genetic and geographical mixed descent, further suggesting that both had one paternal grandparent from West Africa, the research article said.

According to Sawyer, the genetics place the two individuals’ maternal grandparents around Nigeria, Tongo, Gambia, Senegal or Sierra Leone.

“In both cases, the DNA points to long distance connections. The movement not just of exotic goods, but of people seen in their DNA,” Sawyer explained. “The Byzantines used this as a way to get to new gold supplies from sub-Saharan Africa to mint coins.”
‘Cosmopolitan nature of England’

The route into Europe could have been across east Africa to the Nile, up north into Alexandra in Egypt, over the Mediterranean to Byzantium Rome, over the Alps into France and Germany, then eventually, the U.K., Sawyer added.

Despite the lack of written literature that can point out migration patterns of the early Middle Ages, DNA has proven helpful in understanding how people from long distances may have travelled and integrated into communities in England, the research paper said.

“Our joint results emphasise the cosmopolitan nature of England in the early medieval period, pointing to a diverse population with far-flung connections who were, nonetheless, fully integrated into the fabric of daily life,” Edwards said.

“Britian was quite bohemian, even in the sixth and seventh centuries,” Sawyer added.

Hochosterwitz Castle, Austria 🇦🇹

Funerary Bronze Illyrian-Style Helmets with Gold Attachments (6th Century BC) :

These funerary bronze helmets, of the Illyrian type, date back to 6th Century BC and were discovered in the Archontiko necropolis in northern Greece 🇬🇷. Now housed at the Archaeological Museum of Pella, these helmets are notable for their exquisite craftsmanship and rich ornamentation. They are made of bronze, with intricate gold attachments that adorn the helmets, reflecting the high status of the individuals they were meant to honor.

The Illyrian-style helmet, which features a high crest and protective cheek guards, was a common form used by warriors during this period. These helmets not only served as protective gear but also as ceremonial objects, symbolizing the warrior’s status and strength. The fine gold detailing adds a touch of grandeur, showcasing the artistry and wealth of the elite in ancient Greece. This set of helmets provides a glimpse into the funerary practices of the time and the military culture that shaped the region.

In 19th Century, the warriors of Kiribati 🇰🇮 donned an extraordinary piece of headgear known as te barantauti—helmets fashioned from the dried skins of porcupinefish.

These unique puffer fish, adorned with their formidable spikes, transformed into natural armor, imbuing the helmets with both protection and a striking presence.

It is fascinating to witness how the ingenious people of Kiribati harnessed the resources of their environment, blending practicality with the inherent defensive traits of local wildlife to create such formidable designs.

Uruk - the initial city of human civilization that changed the world with its advanced knowledge :

The cuneiform tablets discovered at Nineveh include fascinating information about giants, weird beasts, and enigmatic flying ships.
Of all these, most striking is that of Gilgamesh, considered oldest epic of mankind. A 5000 years ago, he ruled Uruk despotically, and that certain historical texts show him as someone who really existed, but with a fantastic and unknown origin. Unfortunately, its complete history has not survived over time, but what can be perceived in the rest of the tablets found, shows a history of struggle, life and death. Sumerians considered Gilgamesh to be “the man (entity or being) for whom all things were known (unlimited knowledge)”. They said it was a hybrid between gods “who came from heaven” and humans.

Uruk continues to hold many human mysteries, shocking traditional archaeology with each new dig with stories that have been concealed from us for decades. Uruk is a clear example of this, along with his stories about gods that make us wonder if there really was no “influence” beyond what we know.

Uruk was a city that flourished south of the river valley, on the banks of the Euphrates, and its civilization expanded throughout Mesopotamia to become the world’s earliest and most significant metropolis. Cradle of mythical rulers such as Gilgamesh.

A God who was far far from what we recognise as “human” and more akin to a mystery creature. But, before we get to Gilgamesh, we must first discuss the beginnings of one of antiquity’s most mysterious civilizations. It was discovered in 1849 thanks to William Loftus, despite the fact that the most renowned archaeologists did not reach it until the following century; 1912-1913. Julius Jordan together with the East German Society discovered the Ishtar temple at that time, surprising it with its adobe mosaics and bricks. But what surprised him most were the ruins of the ancient wall that covered the entire city for more than 3,000 years BC, which, according to later studies, reached more than 15 meters in height and was more than 9 kilometers long wall built by King Gilgamesh.

In 1950s, Heinrich Lenzen found some tablets written in Sumerian dialect and dated 3300 BC and that described Uruk as first urban center that used writing as a common means of communication in everyday life. All of these discoveries demonstrated, quite contrary to what everyone believed at the time, that Uruk became, not only first urban human settlement, but also nucleus of society, with a flourishing economic power superior to anyone. In addition, it stands out in the succession of temples crowned in ziggurats and palaces, at least 80,000 inhabitants, making it the first city on the planet.

Throughout its history, Uruk has also lived through different stages, its foundation being a Neolithic settlement around 5000 BC, making it a powerful city, significantly advanced and considerably influential between 4000-3000 BC, until its fall after 700 AD. Even so, Uruk’s influence was so powerful, that it takes a period of time to bear his name, making it most influential metropolis of human societies. However, it is not yet known how Uruk came to be the epicenter of society and had so much dominance. His economic power was known, the perfect lands that existed in the valley of the two rivers, which certainly made him grow the best food in the region.

Possibly this attracted more people who joined urban planning, creating business with different regions, making people not need to fight for their livelihood, giving them the opportunity to dedicate themselves other tasks, creating all kinds. But it is also believed in theoretical circles (theorists of ancient astronauts, alternative theorists and others who do not believe in history as we were told) that he had a “divine” influence, which did not belong to this planet.