Scientists reexamine 47-year-old fossil and discover a new Jurassic sea monster A new long-necked marine reptile, Plesionectes longicollum, has been identified from a decades-old fossil found in Germany’s Posidonia Shale. The remarkably preserved specimen rewrites part of the Jurassic marine story, revealing unexpected diversity during a time of oceanic chaos. It is now the oldest known plesiosaur from Holzmaden.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2025/08/2508

4,000-year-old teeth reveal the earliest human high — Hidden in plaque Scientists have discovered the oldest direct evidence of betel nut chewing in Southeast Asia by analyzing 4,000-year-old dental plaque from a burial in Thailand. This breakthrough method reveals invisible traces of ancient plant use, suggesting psychoactive rituals were part of daily life long before written records.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2025/08/2508

A 500-million-year-old fossil just rewrote the spider origin story Half a billion years ago, a strange sea-dwelling creature called Mollisonia symmetrica may have paved the way for modern spiders. Using detailed fossil brain analysis, researchers uncovered neural patterns strikingly similar to today's arachnids—suggesting spiders evolved in the ocean, not on land as previously believed. This brain structure even hints at a critical evolutionary leap that allowed spiders their infamous speed, dexterity, and web-spinning prowess. The findings challenge long-held assumptions about arachnid origins and may even explain why insects took to the skies: to escape their relentless, silk-spinning predators.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2025/07/2507

A dusty fossil drawer held a 300-million-year-old evolutionary game-changer A century-old fossil long mislabeled as a caterpillar has been reidentified as the first-known nonmarine lobopodian—rewriting what we know about ancient life. Discovered in Harvard’s museum drawers, Palaeocampa anthrax predates even the famous Cambrian lobopodians and reveals that these soft-bodied ancestors of arthropods once lived not only in oceans, but in freshwater environments too.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2025/07/2507

Ancient recipes or rituals? Neanderthal bones reveal a prehistoric culinary mystery Neanderthals living just 70 kilometers apart in Israel may have had different food prep customs, according to new research on butchered animal bones. These subtle variations — like how meat was cut and cooked — hint at cultural traditions passed down through generations. The findings challenge the idea that Neanderthal life was purely practical, suggesting instead a richer, more social layer to their culinary habits.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r....eleases/2025/07/2507