Temnodontosaurus fossils prove that this large predator fed on small ichthyosaurs. Watch the video below to find out more!
Advanced Ancient Tech & Engineering
In the following video we will be exploring advanced ancient tech and engineering. Enjoy!
The Genes Of This Tribe Carry DNA Of A Third Unknown Human Species
The internet is filled with people looking for the mysterious. They always want to uncover the next big thing. And one of the most mysterious parts of the world are tribes that have been uncontacted or otherwise super elusive. From the Apache, all the way down to the sentinelese, Today we bring you 20 scariest tribes who don't want to meet.
Archaeologists Discover What is Underneath Egypt’s Great Sphinx
Deep within the shadows of the Giza Plateau, the Great Sphinx stood as an eternal guardian, its inscrutable gaze fixed on the horizon. This colossal limestone monument, with the body of a lion and the head of a pharaoh, had confounded scholars for generations, its true purpose and origins shrouded in mystery. Today we dive in right into the Mysterious and Creepy Secrets of the Sphinx!
An Ancient ship full of Gold Coins was Found in the Desert
When we hear the words “ghost ship,” what we usually imagine is an abandoned ship with torn sails somewhere far out in the ocean. But sometimes, these ships get thrown ashore where they stay forever, getting gradually covered with sand.
Scientists follow a ‘yellow brick road’ in a never-before-seen spot of the Pacific ocean
The path to the Emerald City might travel along the ocean’s bottom. The crew (researerchers) of the Exploration Vessel Nautilus caught sight of a strange-looking formation while studying an area called Liliʻuokalani Ridge in the Papahānaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Pacific Ocean.
“The yellow brick road?” a scientist mused in an interview of the discovery in April 2022. Others remarked that the rocks were reminiscent of a very different fictional world: “It’s the road to Atlantis,” one researcher said.
The golden boulders, separated by perfect 90-degree angles, form a small strip that appears to have been chiseled and organized by human hands. The seemingly paved street, however, was merely the natural product of old volcanic activity hundreds of feet below the water’s surface, according to the researchers.
“At the summit of Nootka Seamount, the team spotted a ‘dried lake bed’ formation, now IDed as a fractured flow of hyaloclastite rock (a volcanic rock formed in high-energy eruptions where many rock fragments settle to the seabed),” the researchers said.
“The remarkably brick-like divisions between the rocks are likely the coincidental result of heating and cooling stresses from multiple volcanic eruptions over millions of years”, the team added.
While piloting a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) around the Papahnaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a protected conservation area encompassing approximately 582,578 square miles (1,508,870 square kilometers) of the Pacific Ocean northwest of Hawaii, the researchers took a detour down this eerie undersea road.
The expedition is part of the Ocean Exploration Trust’s Nautilus Exploration Program, and its goal is to examine the ancient seamounts at Liliuokalani Ridge, which is located on the monument’s western boundary.
One of the team’s primary objectives is to gather geological samples from the area’s seamounts, which are underwater mountains generated by volcanic activity, in order to better understand their ages and origins. The crew will also gather microbial samples to see what types of strange creatures have managed to live near the Pacific’s deep, underwater volcanoes.
“Our exploration of this never-before-surveyed area is helping researchers take a deeper look at life on and within the rocky slopes of these deep, ancient seamounts,” the researchers added. Previous expeditions aboard the Nautilus research vessel have unearthed a plethora of eerie aquatic anomalies.
During a trip to the Papahnaumokuakea Marine National Monument in 2018, researchers were taken aback by a wiggling, googly-eyed creature that appeared to change shape in front of the camera.
The species was eventually recognized as a gulper eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides), a gigantic-mouthed fish that can unhinge its enormous jaw to consume anything larger than itself.
The researchers in command of the ROV during that voyage also made a cultural allusion in response to the unexpected scene in front of them. “Looks like a Muppet,” one researcher said.
Underwater ruins of 3,000-year-old castle discovered in Turkey
Archaeologists in Turkey's eastern Van province discovered the ruins of a 3,000-year-old Urartu castle during underwater excavations in lake Van.
The excavation led by Van Yüzüncü Yıl University and Governorship of Turkey's eastern Bitlis Province revealed that the underwater ruins are supposedly from the Iron Age Urartu civilization, also known as the Kingdom of Van, thought to date back to the eighth to seventh centuries B.C.
"There was a rumor that there might be something under the water but most archaeologists and museum officials told us that we won't find anything," the head of the diving team Tahsin Ceylan said, adding that they proceeded with the research and discovered the ancient castle.
The current water level of Van Lake, which has a history of 6,000 years, is reportedly several hundred meters higher than it was during the Urartu civilization.
Civilizations living around the lake set up large villages and settlements while the water level of the lake was low, but they had to leave the area after it increased again, Ceylan said.
The research couldn't determine how much of the walls of the castle are buried, but about three to four meters are seen above the water.
"We will have to hold underwater excavations to find out about that" he added.
The underwater ruins are expected to attract the interest of thousands of tourists due to its unique historical worth.
Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey and the second largest in the Middle East. It's also the biggest sodium water lake in the world. The lake lies on the high grounds of Eastern Anatolian region near the border with Iran. It was formed by a crater caused by a volcanic explosion of Mount Nemrut near the province of Van.
'Extremely rare' fossilized dinosaur voice box suggests they sounded birdlike
A fossilized ankylosaur voice box reveals that these beasts may have sported a far more sophisticated vocal range than scientists originally thought.
The "extremely rare" discovery of an 80 million-year-old fossilized voice box that belonged to an armored dinosaur reveals that the ancient beast may have sounded more birdlike than experts previously thought, new research suggests.
Pinacosaurus grangeri — a squat, armor-plated and club-tailed ankylosaur unearthed in Mongolia in 2005 — was discovered with the first fossilized voice box (larynx) found in a non-avian dinosaur.
Now, a new analysis, published Feb. 15 in the journal Communications Biology, suggests that the creature's vocalizations may have been far more subtle and melodious than its previously assumed crocodilian grunts, hisses, rumbles and roars.
"Our study finds the larynx of Pinacosaurus is kinetic and large, similar to birds that make a variety of sounds," study first author Junki Yoshida, a paleontologist at the Fukushima Museum in Japan, told Live Science. Dinosaurs are archosaurs, a group whose living members include crocodilians and birds. These animals use sound for a variety of purposes, including courtship, parental behavior, defense against predators and territorial calls. "So, these are the candidates for its acoustic behavior," Yoshida said.
At the beginning of the Triassic period roughly 250 million years ago, archosaurs split into two broad groups: a birdlike group that later evolved into dinosaurs, birds and pterosaurs, and a second group that later branched out into crocodiles, alligators and a number of extinct relatives.
Most animals that produce sounds do so through specially adapted organs connected to the lungs by the windpipe. In crocodiles, mammals and amphibians, the larynx — a hollow tube located at the top of the windpipe and crammed with folds of resonating tissues — is adapted to produce sounds. But in birds, the syrinx — a two-piped structure resting near the lungs, at the bottom of the windpipe — creates the foundations for complex melodies.
To assess the range of sounds P. grangeri might have made, the researchers studied two parts of the fossilized larynx that would have worked with muscles to elongate the airway and alter its shape, comparing them with structures in the voice boxes of living birds and reptiles. They found that P. grangeri had a very large cricoid (a ring-shaped piece of cartilage involved in opening and closing the airway) and two long bones that were used to adjust its size — a layout that turned the P. grangeri voice box into a vocal modifier.
This anatomical setup likely meant that the ancient herbivore was capable of making a large array of sounds — including rumbles, grunts, roars and possibly even chirps — while also bellowing them out across vast distances, the researchers said.
That said, it's unlikely that ankylosaurs chirped or warbled like modern-day birds, mainly because they were much bigger and had very different vocal mechanisms.
"It's really hard to even begin to infer what Pinacosaurus sounded like, because this is likely a completely novel vocal organ that produced its own kind of characteristic sound," James Napoli, a vertebrate paleontologist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences who was not involved with the study, told Live Science. "I think chirpy birdsong is unlikely, despite functional similarities to a syrinx, just because of how large ankylosaurs were. In my head, I imagine low, reptile-y rumbles and grunts and roars with an intricate birdsong-like complexity."
The researchers said their future research will focus on narrowing down the possible range of P. grangeri vocalizations while searching for other specimens that may contain preserved larynges or even a syrinx.
"Dinosaur sounds are one of those persistent unknowns that make this paper all the more exciting," Napoli said. "Without fossilized vocal organs, which are extremely rare, it's really hard to even begin to estimate the limits of dinosaur vocal behavior, much less what they really sounded like."
Lasers reveal massive, 650-square-mile Maya site hidden beneath Guatemalan rainforest
While conducting an aerial survey of northern Guatemala, researchers detected a sprawling Maya site.
Geologists in northern Guatemala have discovered a massive Maya site that stretches approximately 650 square miles (1,700 square kilometers) and dates to the Middle and Late Preclassic period (roughly 1000 B.C. to 250 B.C.).
The findings were the result of an aerial survey that researchers conducted via airplane using lidar (light detection and ranging), in which lasers are beamed out and the reflected light is used to create aerial imagery of a landscape. The technology is particularly beneficial in areas such as the rainforests of Guatemala's Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin, where lasers can penetrate the thick tree canopy.
Using data from the scans, the team identified more than 1,000 settlements dotting the region, which were interconnected by 100 miles (160 kilometers) of causeways that the Maya likely traversed on foot. They also detected the remains of several large platforms and pyramids, along with canals and reservoirs used for water collection, according to the study, which was published Dec. 5 in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica.
The lidar data showed "for the first time an area that was integrated politically and economically, and never seen before in other places in the Western Hemisphere," study co-author Carlos Morales-Aguilar, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the University of Texas at Austin, told Live Science in an email. "We can now see the entire landscape of the Maya region" in this section of Guatemala, he said.
So, what made this region so enticing that the Maya would want to settle there in the first place?
"For the Maya, the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin was the 'Goldilocks Zone,'" study co-author Ross Ensley, a geologist with the Institute for Geological Study of the Maya Lowlands in Houston, told Live Science in an email. "The Maya settled in [this region] because it had the right mix of uplands for settlement and lowlands for agriculture. The uplands provided a source for limestone, their primary building material, and dry land to live on. The lowlands are mostly seasonal swamps, or bajos, which provided space for wetland agriculture as well as organic-rich soil for use in terraced agriculture."
Researchers have previously used lidar to scan Maya sites in Guatemala. In 2015, an initiative called the Mirador Basin Project conducted two large-scale surveys of the southern portion of the basin, focusing on the ancient city of El Mirador. That project led to the mapping of 658 square miles (1,703 square km) of this section of the country, according to the study.
"When I generated the first bare-earth models of the ancient city of El Mirador, I was blown away," Morales-Aguilar said. "It was fascinating to observe for the first time the large number of reservoirs, monumental pyramids, terraces, residential areas and small mounds."
Researchers hope lidar technology will help them explore sections of Guatemala that have remained a mystery for centuries.
"Lidar has been revolutionary for archaeology in this area, especially if it's covered in tropical forest where visibility is limited," Marcello Canuto, director of the Middle American Research Institute at Tulane University and an anthropologist who wasn't involved in the study, told Live Science. "While surveying, we tend see a small part of the causeway, but lidar lets us see things that are big and linear. This research lets us see the area for the first time; the fact that we have this data is transformative."
'Prehistoric' mummified bear discovered in Siberian permafrost isn't what we thought
The bear, unearthed in 2020, was originally assumed to be an extinct cave bear that dated back at least 22,000 years. But a new necropsy reveals it is actually a brown bear that lived 3,500 years ago.
A perfectly preserved, mummified bear found entombed in the Siberian permafrost in 2020 isn't what scientists thought it was, a new analysis reveals. It turns out that the eerily intact carcass is much younger than first assumed and belongs to an entirely different species.
Reindeer herders unearthed the remains, which include the bear's intact skin, fur, teeth, nose, claws, body fat and internal organs, on Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island, a remote Russian island located in the East Siberian Sea. Researchers named it the Etherican bear, after the nearby Bolshoy Etherican River.
When the Etherican bear was first uncovered, researchers at the Lazarev Mammoth Museum Laboratory at North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Yakutsk, who have led the analysis of the remains, thought that the mummy was an extinct cave bear (Ursus spelaeus). Fossils of this long-lost species suggest that the enormous ancient bears, which are closely related to brown bears (Ursus arctos) and polar bears (Ursus maritimus), grew to around 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) tall and weighed a whopping 3,300 pounds (1,500 kilograms). U. spelaeus went extinct around 22,000 years ago, toward the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, the coldest part of the last ice age, so the researchers believed that the mummy was at least this old.
However, subsequent analysis revealed that their assumptions about the Etherican bear were way off: In reality, the beast was a brown bear that dated to around 3,460 years ago, the NEFU team said in a statement in December 2022.
The NEFU team recently conducted a full necropsy, or animal autopsy, on the Etherican bear, which has revealed even more about the mysterious mummy, Reuters reported.
The bear was a female that was 5.2 feet (1.6 m) tall and weighed around 172 pounds (78 kg), suggesting it was likely around 2 to 3 years old when it died. It is unclear how the bear perished, but its mummy showed signs of significant spinal injuries that likely contributed to its demise.
The Etherican bear was so well preserved that its stomach contents were still partly intact, which revealed that the bear had been dining on a mix of unidentified plants and birds, some of whose feathers were still inside the bear's belly. This fits with what we know about living brown bears that are omnivores, meaning they have a mixed diet of plants and animals.
The researchers also removed the bear's brain after cutting through its skull, which they hope to study in the future.
One of the biggest remaining mysteries about the Etherican bear is how it ended up on Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island.
The island is currently separated from the mainland by around 31 miles (50 kilometers) of water, so the most likely explanation is that brown bears moved to the island when it was still connected by sea ice during the Last Glacial Maximum, according to Reuters. But if this was the case, then researchers would have expected to find many more brown bear remains on the island, which is a hotspot for paleontological treasures, including mammoth remains.
10 Most Bizarre Archaeological Discoveries In The World
From an evil goddess out to eat you to a tower of human skulls, here are 9 of the strangest archaeological discoveries in the world. Watch the video below to find out more!
True Size of a Roman Legion (3D) DOCUMENTARY
A history documentary on the True Size of a Roman Legion. This is our first episode in the new True Size series which seeks to bring history to life in 3D using Unreal Engine 5. In this episode we cover the organization of a Roman Legion from the soldier to the Contubernium, the Century, the Cohort, and the Legion. Along the way we not only include the troops and their officers but all the slaves, mules, support, staff, and gear which accompanied them. This makes for a much better understanding of the Roman army structure.
We then put these into context by looking at a Roman army camp, a Roman army on the march, and a Roman army in battle order. This gives the viewer a full 3D history of a legion like never before.
12 Most Amazing Recent Archaeological Finds
What’s new in the world of archaeology? That’s a question we ask ourselves a lot on this channel, and we’re never disappointed with the answer. Knowledge is power, and so the more we can find out about the people and places who came before us, the more powerful we become! Arm yourself with a little knowledge by watching this video, which is full of incredible new archaeological finds.
Most Mysterious Civilizations Almost Lost To History
Check out the most mysterious civilizations almost lost to history! From amazing discoveries of ancient culture to strange lost civilizations almost wiped out, this top 10 list of ancient historic sites will amaze you. Enjoy!
12 Most Incredible Archaeological Finds
Every country and continent on the planet that's ever played host to human life is covered in the ruins and relics of the people who used to live there. We might have built modern towns and cities on the foundations of those that came before us, but their objects and artifacts are still there, lying beneath, waiting to be discovered by archaeologists and treasure hunters. That's why archaeology is a truly global enterprise - and we'll be showing you the fruits of the labors of the world's archaeologists in this video!
As Archaeologists Dug Close To An Egyptian Pyramid, They Uncovered A Rare Trove Of Ancient Remains
In the shadow of the first pyramid built in ancient Egypt, a team of archaeologists are uncovering secrets from the distant past. While excavating a temple dedicated to the cat goddess Bastet, they stumble across an incredible find. Buried more than 2,500 years ago, these relics shed a fascinating light on life and death in the land of the pharaohs.
Famous Monuments That Are Hiding Little-Known Secrets
Have you ever wondered what the most famous sights in the world used to look like when they were just built centuries ago? Or what secrets they're hiding? Let's find it out and solve all the centuries-long mysteries together!
A Day In the Life Living With the Plague
The Black Death was the plague that changed the world. As the most profound epidemic in human history, the plague claimed the lives of millions, with nearly half of Europe's population perishing from the disease. Some feared they were living through the apocalypse amidst the chaotic upheaval, while others turned to sinful pleasure during the plague to distract from the horror. And as for what happened to victims of the plague, well, it wasn't opportune.
Archaeologists Discovered Something Strange in an Ancient Japanese Statue
The ancient world is one of the most fascinating times in human history. There are so many areas of the world that remain unexplored and undiscovered. But with new technology and modern science, we are learning more about the ancient world than we ever have before. Even if the information we discover is not life change, it can help us gain new insight into how humans once lived, and provide explanations to long-running mysteries.
Scientists Were Shocked to Find These Secret Hidden Chambers in the Sphinx
We’d like you to sit back as we take you on a strange and mysterious journey into the history of one of the strangest and most unexplainable items ever uncovered - the Sphinx of Egypt. To this day, none of us really know how many secrets this structure may hold. Most of us are aware of its unique past, but we still have no idea who built the Sphinx or when it would have been built. According to ancient legends that have been passed down for many generations, the inside of the Sphinx is believed to hold irreplaceable knowledge that could be incredibly valuable to mankind. Today, we’d like to share the information that researchers have uncovered thus far, and maybe you can help us explain some of the strange mysteries surrounding this beautiful ancient structure.
