McGraths Flat is an incredible fossil site in New South Wales that reveals Australia’s rich tropical past. In a new study, scientists discover what caused the area’s exceptional fossilization—and where similar fossil sites might be unearthed. #Paleontology #Lagerstatte 🧪🏺 New for @science.org

Scientists are turning to tree rings from ancient coffins to glean novel insights into our past. Beyond withered corpses and grave goods, the buried woods reveal unparalleled details about historic temperatures, droughts, and floods. #Dendrochronology #Paleoclimatology New at @science.org 🧪🏺

Science Bluesky has the juice. 🧃🧪

Mushrooms from the genus Psilocybe can provoke psychedelic experiences thanks to compounds including psilocybin. A new study finds that within another genus of “magic” mushrooms, psilocybin is synthesized using a completely different chemical pathway. https://scim.ag/47hEBv1

An analysis of over 5,000 fossils found dung beetles developed a taste for fetid meat significantly earlier than previously believed. The 37-million-year-old discovery suggests fierce fecal competition drove some species to start eating flesh. #Paleontology #FossilFriday 🧪🏺 New for @science.org

Scientists just found several fossil bumblebees covered in pollen that directly matches fossil flowers nearby. The 24-million-year-old discovery reveals the oldest known evidence connecting pollinators to the pollinated. #Paleontology #NationalFossilDay 🧪🏺 New at @sciencenews.bsky.social

About 120 million years ago, a pterosaur fell from the sky and died in a pond. A layer of sediment washed over it, preserving not only its skeleton, but also its stomach. The resulting fossil is the first pterosaur ever found with a belly full of plants. #NationalFossilDay https://scim.ag/4hbaedc

ok this is fucking awesome

Scientists recently found two evolutionarily distinct mushrooms converged to produce the same psychedelic molecule—psilocybin. The “surprising” results underscore the significance of the hallucinogen but leave questions about its ultimate purpose. #Psilocybe #MagicMushrooms New at @science.org 🧪🏺

Hunter-gatherers may have used engravings to find water in the parched deserts of the Arabian Peninsula 12,000 years ago. https://scim.ag/4nql413

Large stone fragment of a monumental building at Eleusis, Greece. The Ancient Greeks hosted a festival here every September to celebrate the return of Persephone to her mother Demeter, goddess of agriculture. 🧪🏺 The festival lasted until 395 CE. 📷: me #AncientGreece #EleusinianMysteries

New research finds that 12,000-year-old camel art in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud Desert once marked ancient water sources. Hunter-gatherers may have used the ephemeral water bodies to penetrate deeper into the barren landscape. #RockArt #Archaeology New for @science.org 🧪🏺

An exquisite fossil of a 240-million-year-old marine reptile reveals it had partially webbed fingers and toes. The exceptional preservation also hinted at underlying limb muscles that suggest it swam like seal. #Paleontology #MonteSanGiorgio 🧪🏺 New for @sciencenews.bsky.social

A carved figure found in northern France, dated to 27,000 years ago, may reflect how hair was styled in a culture that disappeared during the last glacial maximum

Four new fossil species from New Zealand illustrate the striking diversity of the earliest penguins, which possessed long dagger-like beaks they may have used to skewer prey.

Scientists uncovered several extreme droughts that helped undermine the authority of “divine kings” and trigger widespread collapse across the Maya world. One 13-year drought is the longest recorded in Yucatán history over the past 2,000 years. #Archaeology #Paleoclimatology New at @science.org 🧪🏺

Move over Tiktaalik, a new semi-terrestrial fish just dropped. #Devonian #TraceFossils #Paleontology New at @science.org 🏺🧪

“This is a once-in-a-hundred-years discovery.” scim.ag/4lPz3MX

Submerged fossils are revealing long-held secrets from a region known as Sundaland. scim.ag/3TRZRQG

Ancient Romans had a strong fascination with fossils, often viewing them as protective talismans. Archaeologists just unearthed the first trilobite fossil linked to the Roman world—and it was likely worn as jewelry. #Archaeology #AncientHistory #RomanHistory New at @science.org 🧪🏺

A new species of Velociraptor-like dinosaur from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia had giant claws and exceptionally thickset hands, which may have enabled it to take down larger prey.

A Roman mosaic panel stolen from Pompeii by a German Nazi captain during the second world war has been returned to the site of the ancient Roman ruins.

New research uncovered the first human and other vertebrate remains from the now-sunken Sundaland. The 140,000-year-old fossils reveal a late-surviving group of Homo erectus that ate fat-rich cow tongue and cracked open bones for marrow. #archaeology #paleontology New at @science.org 🏺🧪

Ancient human ancestor emerges from sunken Southeast Asian landmass | Science www.science.org/content/arti...

“This is a once-in-a-hundred-years discovery.” scim.ag/4lPz3MX

A 140,000-year-old hominin skull from Israel probably belonged to a hybrid child of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens parents, according to an analysis of its anatomy.

Do you ever stop and think about how there used to be pterosaurs? A fun new study shows that pterosaurs used to eat plants (they'd been expected to be carnivores) & like modern birds, they had stones in their gullets called gastroliths that help break down plants 🧪 @science.org

New research finds that an exceptionally preserved pterosaur fossil from northeast China had a belly full of plants. The “once-in-a-hundred-years” discovery is the first of its kind, settling a longstanding debate among paleontologists. #paleontology #jeholbiota #atavismus New at @science.org 🏺🧪

A provenance analysis has shown that the Matarrubilla stone, a 2-tonne megalith in Spain, was transported by boat more than 5300 years ago.

With all the news coming in, it's clear that it's a dire time for science. It's a very dire time for higher education. It's an especially dire time for archaeology Archaeology has been facing funding cuts for years, and now it is being decimated www.science.org/content/arti...

🚨Sen. Mike Lee's proposal to sell off up to more than a million acres of public land in Western states is OFF. The provision was removed from the reconciliation bill last night after facing bipartisan blowback. www.latimes.com/environment/...

I spoke with several leading archaeologists to better understand the impact recent federal funding cuts will have on archaeology in the US. The future doesn’t look good. #NSF #NEH #archaeology #paleoanthropology #heritage New at @science.org 🏺🧪

A new study at Dinosaur Ridge in Colorado uncovered dozens of fossilized scrape marks, which researchers interpret as evidence of an elaborate dance dinosaurs used to attract mates. 🧪🏺 #Paleontology #Cretaceous #Dinosaurs #Dance #Paleosky New for @science.org

The exquisite Hindsgavl Dagger. A masterpiece of flint knapping from Late Neolithic Denmark, c. 1900-1700 BC. Found in 1876 by a young boy out walking with his mother on the Danish island of Fænø. 📷 National Museum of Denmark. #FindsFriday #Archaeology

Archaeological looting is a common consequence of war. Recently I spoke with several experts to better understand this relationship at Khirbet Keila, a 4,000-year-old archaeological site in Palestine’s West Bank. New at @science.org 🧪🏺 #Archaeology #Gaza #Paleosky #AntiquesTrafficking #Heritage

How bad will it be? Catastrophic. Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come. But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget. Speak up now before it is too late. (inflation adjusted $-s below)

It’s Mary Anning’s birthday, so time to share @katebeaton.bsky.social’s brilliant cartoon again.

Several 5000-year-old Maltese temples seem to have been oriented toward specific stars, suggesting the temples could have been schools for celestial navigation.

Neandertals invented bone-tipped spears all on their own A newfound bone point predates tool-toting Homo sapiens’ arrival in Eastern Europe www.sciencenews.org/article/nean...

Scientists recently unearthed a modified bone point that may have been the tip of a spear made by Neanderthals.🏺🧪 🦣 The pointed bone artifact is ~80,000 years old, suggesting Neanderthals made projectile weapons long before Homo sapiens arrived in Europe. New from me @sciencenews.bsky.social

Pangaea plans to fully incorporate the NOAA data into its own archive, which will ensure that scientists globally have access in future www.nature.com/articles/d41...

An open-air site in Austria occupied by humans during the coldest part of the last glacial period may have been dedicated to hunting reindeer for pelts, showing how people adapted to extreme temperatures in Europe.

In a new study, researchers describe novel evidence that the Toba volcano “super-eruption” did not create a volcanic winter. 🏺🧪 🌋 An eruption formerly thought responsible for mass extinctions and a catastrophic human bottleneck continues to get reimagined. New from me @newscientist.com

In Southern Austria, scientists found a camp they think was primarily dedicated to skinning reindeer for pelts. 🧪🏺🦌 The 24,000-year-old site contains an abundance of eyed needles and several large stone caches likely used to store excess meat. #archaeology #paleosky New from me @newscientist.com

Bites on gladiator bones prove combat with lion www.bbc.com/news/article...

Or, instead of relying on a bullshit machine that will dry up a lake to tell you stupid lies, you could simply read a book, watch a documentary, or see a film. www.techradar.com/computing/ar...

Scientists recently investigated a 16,000-year-old Paleolithic dog discovered within a French cave. 🏺🧪 🐕 The specimen is one of the most complete ever discovered and shows signs it may have been cared for and then ultimately killed by humans. New from me @newscientist.com

#MosaicMonday - Mosaic depicting the She-Wolf looking after Romulus and Remus. From Aldborough (Britain), about 300-400 AD. Leeds City Museum. Happy 2,778th birthday, Rome! #NatalediRoma 🐺

🧪 I just saw a specific NSF grant termination letter and it is FUCKING WILD. The letter said "not subject to appeal", which is a **blatant** violation of NSF's own policies and broader cross-agency regulations (regulation below): www.ecfr.gov/current/titl... NSF just opened itself up to lawsuit.

Scientists just recreated a bronze ram like those used on Ancient Greek and Roman warships to smash and sink enemy vessels. 🧪🏺 🏛️ ⚓️ #AncientRome #AncientGreece #RomanHistory #Archaeology #Paleosky New from me @newscientist.com