Afarensis

Science Daily has an interesting article, based on research to be published in the Journal of Human Evolution, on the relationship between brain size and food resources among orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra. The money quote is:

The findings "suggest that temporary, unavoidable food scarcity may select for a decrease in brain size, perhaps accompanied by only small or subtle decreases in body size,"

Which leaped off the page accompanied by the words "Homo floresiensis"

*snip*

"The study suggests that animals facing periods of uncontrollable food scarcity may deal with that by reducing their energy requirement for one of the most expensive organs in their bodies: the brain," van Schaik added.

"This brings us closer to a good ecological theory of variation in brain size, and thus of the conditions steering cognitive evolution," he said. "Such a theory is vital for understanding what happened during human evolution, where, relative to our ancestors, our lineage underwent a threefold expansion of brain size in a few million years."

The study compared 226 specimens from four distict populations in Borneo and Sumatra - which came from museums and other collections. The Science Daily article concludes with:

Similar evolutionary pressures within resource-poor environments also may explain the smaller-than-normal brain size of a controversial 18,000-year-old skull recently found on the Indonesian island of Flores, Taylor and van Schaik said in their article.

In announcing the find in 2004, the skull's discoverers suggested that the small-brained specimen represented a new dwarf early human species that somehow survived until fairly recently. Critics argue that it actually is a modern human afflicted with microcephaly, a genetic disorder characterized by an abnormally small head and an underdeveloped brain.

Evidence Of Gut Parasite Found In Dinosaur:

Assistant Professor Karen Chin of CU-Boulder's geological sciences department and former graduate student Justin Tweet identified more than 200 suspected parasite burrows in 17 samples of gut material from the dinosaur that most likely were made by tiny worms similar to annelids and nematodes that infest animals today, she said.

Paleontological Parasitology, I love it...The traces were found in the stomach contents of a brachylophosaur - a type of duck-billed dinosaur:

The gut contents of "Leonardo" consists of a mix of fingernail-sized plant fragments mixed in a clay-rich matrix of sediment, said Tweet. Tiny white burrows visible throughout the gut-contents material were analyzed with microscopes connected to computer screens to chart their size and routes, he said.

The CU-Boulder researchers counted at least 10 cases of "paired burrows" sharing a common burrow wall in the dinosaur gut, and in several cases such burrows even match changes in direction, suggesting they were made by two individuals at the same time, said Chin. The parallel routes suggest short periods of sustained contact, which could be related to a social interaction such as mating, she said.

In addition, collaborator Dennis Braman of the Canadian Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, has discovered pollen from 40 distinct plant species in the gut region of the dinosaur carcass, said Chin.

National Geographic has an interesting article on Zahi Hawass:

"I believe that the return of stolen artifacts is important not only to Egypt but also to everyone all over the world," Hawass said.

"These artifacts belong to everyone, and their return is of the utmost importance, because the past is important to our future."

It even mentions the St. Louis Art Museum issue...

Back in Egypt, illegal digs are a continuing problem for Hawass in a land with many valuable artifacts and many poor citizens.

"Many people dig inside houses to find antiquities, since many of the modern cities [and villages] are built above ancient ones," Hawass said.

*snip*

Richard Leventhal, director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, agrees that many objects up for sale have dubious origins.

"There is a trade going on," he said. "One only has to look at the catalogs from Sotheby's, Christie's, and other auction houses to see that there are still large amounts of materials on the market without a clear provenance."

These two quotes show in stark contrast the problems faced in preserving and protecting evidence of human history. They could be uttered by any archaeologist in any part of the world...

Finally, and just because, a picture of "Lucy" on display in Ethiopia. From BBC:

Via the Dallas Morning News:

The six-year tour will also go to Washington, New York, Denver and Chicago. Officials said six other U.S. cities may be on the tour, but would not release the names, saying all the details had not been ironed out.

(Hat tip to Hawks)