2008-APR-03: Earliest proven appearance of humans in North America pushed
back a millennium: A scientific report in the journal Science states that
DNA analysis and carbon dating of ancient human feces shows that humans were in
Oregon about 12000 BCE. This is 1,000 years earlier than
previous estimates that were based on bones from the Clovis culture in
southwestern United States. The feces samples were found in Paisley Caves, about
350 km (miles) southeast of Eugene OR on the eastern side of the Cascade
mountain range.
The date when humans first arrived in the Americas is controversial. Many Native
American religions state that humans have always been here. Linguistic and
genetic studies have dated a migration from Siberia over a land bridge between
Russia and Alaska about 15,000 years ago. This fits well with the date when
glaciers would have receded to the point that people could pass them.1
2008-JUN-28: Another missing link discovered:
In 2006, a major "missing link" was found of a Tiktaalik --
a species of animal that was almost exactly halfway between ancient fish and the
early tetrapods (four-legged animals with limbs in the place of fins). Now,
another "missing link" fossil has been found of an animal species called
Ventastega. It is about halfway between the Tiktaalik and the early tetrapods.
It has a lower jaw that is tetrapod-like, but fangs that are more fish-like.
2
References used:
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