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Neanderthal Gene Still Shapes Muscle and Jaws in Some Living Humans

Velazquez-Arcelay et al. found that genetic material from Neanderthal ancestors may have contributed to the propensity of some people today to be early risers, the sort of people who are more comfortable getting up and going to bed earlier. Image credit: Holger Neumann / Neanderthal Museum.

Neanderthals vanished roughly 42,000 years ago, but a piece of their biology appears to be quietly at work in some people today, according to a new study led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

The post Neanderthal Gene Still Shapes Muscle and Jaws in Some Living Humans appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Tiny New Primate Species Emerges from 50-Million-Year-Old Wyoming Sandstone

Tetonius homunculus (colorized) by R. Bruce Horsfall from W.B. Scott’s History of Land Mammals in the Western Hemisphere.

Paleontologists working in southern Wyoming have identified a previously unknown species of omomyid primate, adding a new chapter to the story of one of the best-studied fossil lineages in North America.

The post Tiny New Primate Species Emerges from 50-Million-Year-Old Wyoming Sandstone appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Tiny Triassic Reptile Sheds Light on Early Lizard Evolution

A landscape from the Late Triassic of southern Brazil showing Cargninia enigmatica being observed by the sauropodomorph dinosaur Macrocollum itaquii. Image credit: Marcio L. Castro.

Today, lepidosaurs -- the reptile group that includes lizards, snakes and New Zealand’s tuatara -- are among the most diverse vertebrates on Earth, but their earliest evolutionary history remains poorly understood.

The post Tiny Triassic Reptile Sheds Light on Early Lizard Evolution appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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83-Million-Year-Old Crocodile Lizard Fossil Unearthed in France

Paleoartistic reconstruction of Acutodon villeveyracensis, the oldest known member of the pan-shinisaur lineage ever found in Europe. Image credit: Olivier Jansen.

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of pan-shinisaur lizard from a partial upper jaw discovered in southern France, pushing the presence of its lineage in Europe back by at least 30 million years.

The post 83-Million-Year-Old Crocodile Lizard Fossil Unearthed in France appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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