prehistoric mammals news stories on Newser

Climate Change, Not Humans, Killed Mammoths

Rob Quinn — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:46:01 CDT

British scientists believe climate change did more than spear-wielding humans to wipe out the woolly mammoth in Europe, the Guardian reports. New tests have revealed that the mammoths roamed northern Europe until 14,000 years ago, much later than had been thought. Researchers believe the animals died out as the...

Baby Mammoth Gives Up Secrets

Mary Papenfuss — Sun, 03 May 2009 08:50:38 CDT

A nearly perfectly preserved 37,000-year-old baby mammoth is giving up tantalizing secrets about her species, scientists report. The creature, dubbed Lyuba by researchers, still sports clumps of hair and eyelashes, according to the Telegraph . Scientists have been able to examine stomach contents and the mineral makeup of the bones...

Skull Hints at Caveman Compassion

Matt Cantor — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:02:51 CDT

Scientists have pieced together the skull of an ancient human who appears to have been deformed, but survived to at least age 5—suggesting he or she was cared for in spite of the handicap. That’s evidence for the existence of compassion in early humans, a trait other primates don’t...

Horses Tamed Earlier Than We Thought

Harry Kimball — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:13:43 CST

Horses were domesticated 1,000 years earlier than thought, a finding that could prompt a rethinking of ancient human history, the BBC reports. A team from Exeter University found evidence of the use of harness bits on teeth—as well as horse meat and horse milk beverages—in Kazakhstan that...

B.C. a Mammoth Waste of Time

Marcia Greenwood — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:58:10 CST

The prehistoric adventure 10,000 B.C. isn't just a spectacle of cutting-edge effects, it's "a tedious bore in which grubby people stand around muttering in a variety of badly chosen accents," writes Josh Tyler in Cinema Blend. Unfortunately for writer/director Roland Emmerich ( Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow...

BC Movie Critters Strong on Terror, Not Accuracy

Sam Gale Rosen — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:42:38 CST

The computer-generated critters in the movie 10,000 BC —due out Friday—all actually existed at some point, but their portrayal in the film is scientifically sketchy. Saber-toothed tigers and woolly mammoths weren't as big as portrayed, and the film's huge terror birds died out 40 million years ago. One...