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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown
@tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
140 followers 40 following 76 posts
Science journalist covering archaeology, paleontology, and Earth science | Words for Science, New Scientist, Science News, and Live Science 🧪🏺
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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · Jun 18
I spoke with several leading archaeologists to better understand the impact recent federal funding cuts will have on archaeology in the US. The future doesn’t look good.

#NSF #NEH #archaeology #paleoanthropology #heritage

New at @science.org 🏺🧪
Funding cuts to U.S. archaeology could imperil field’s future
A Science analysis of canceled and curtailed federal grants reveals hits to research, collections, and training
www.science.org
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Reposted by Taylor Mitchell Brown
science.org
Science Magazine @science.org · 7d
Hunter-gatherers may have used engravings to find water in the parched deserts of the Arabian Peninsula 12,000 years ago. https://scim.ag/4nql413
Prehistoric camel art pointed to precious water sources in the Arabian Desert
Hunter-gatherers may have used the engravings to find water 12,000 years ago
scim.ag
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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · 7d
Saw this mask last week! Brilliant
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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · 8d
Large stone fragment of a monumental building at Eleusis, Greece. The Ancient Greeks hosted a festival here every September to celebrate the return of Persephone to her mother Demeter, goddess of agriculture.

🧪🏺

The festival lasted until 395 CE.

📷: me

#AncientGreece #EleusinianMysteries
Large stone fragment of a monumental building at Eleusis, Greece. The stone is engraved with depictions of wheat and blooming flowers.
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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · 8d
New research finds that 12,000-year-old camel art in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud Desert once marked ancient water sources.

Hunter-gatherers may have used the ephemeral water bodies to penetrate deeper into the barren landscape.

#RockArt #Archaeology

New for @science.org 🧪🏺
Prehistoric camel art pointed to precious water sources in the Arabian Desert
Hunter-gatherers may have used the engravings to find water 12,000 years ago
www.science.org
3 41 220
tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · 9d
Someone (and I won’t say who 👀) reported on this amazing discovery last week:

www.sciencenews.org/article/anci...
An ancient reptile’s fossilized skin reveals how it swam like a seal
A reptile fossil is the first of its kind with skin and partially webbed feet, possibly showing how later species like plesiosaurs adapted to water.
www.sciencenews.org
tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · 14d
An exquisite fossil of a 240-million-year-old marine reptile reveals it had partially webbed fingers and toes.

The exceptional preservation also hinted at underlying limb muscles that suggest it swam like seal.

#Paleontology #MonteSanGiorgio

🧪🏺

New for @sciencenews.bsky.social
An ancient reptile’s fossilized skin reveals how it swam like a seal
A reptile fossil is the first of its kind with skin and partially webbed feet, possibly showing how later species like plesiosaurs adapted to water.
www.sciencenews.org
3 20 110
Reposted by Taylor Mitchell Brown
newscientist.com
New Scientist @newscientist.com · 29d
A carved figure found in northern France, dated to 27,000 years ago, may reflect how hair was styled in a culture that disappeared during the last glacial maximum
Does this sculpted head show an ancient hunter-gatherer's hairstyle?
A carved figure found in northern France, dated to 27,000 years ago, may reflect how hair was styled in a culture that disappeared during the last glacial maximum
www.newscientist.com
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Reposted by Taylor Mitchell Brown
newscientist.com
New Scientist @newscientist.com · Sep 4
Four new fossil species from New Zealand illustrate the striking diversity of the earliest penguins, which possessed long dagger-like beaks they may have used to skewer prey.
Early penguins may have used dagger-like beaks to skewer prey
Four new species of aquatic birds related to modern penguins have been described from fossils found in New Zealand, showing how these creatures flourished around 60 million years ago
www.newscientist.com
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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · Aug 29
Scientists uncovered several extreme droughts that helped undermine the authority of “divine kings” and trigger widespread collapse across the Maya world. One 13-year drought is the longest recorded in Yucatán history over the past 2,000 years.

#Archaeology #Paleoclimatology

New at @science.org 🧪🏺
Stalagmites reveal devastating droughts that helped spur Maya breakdown
Series of droughts chronicled in cave rocks likely pushed civilization to breaking point
www.science.org
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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · Aug 17
I’ll just leave this here 👀

www.science.org/content/arti...
Fossilized fish trails reveal earliest steps out of water
Possible lungfish tracks could push back animal migration onto land by 10 million years
www.science.org
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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · Aug 15
Move over Tiktaalik, a new semi-terrestrial fish just dropped.

#Devonian #TraceFossils #Paleontology

New at @science.org 🏺🧪
Fossilized fish trails reveal earliest steps out of water
Possible lungfish tracks could push back animal migration onto land by 10 million years
www.science.org
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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · Aug 2
And even if a particular site is not directly damaged, many areas see a sharp increase in looting amid conflict. People recognize the value in heritage and will often traffic antiques when other means vanish.

www.science.org/content/arti...
As war rages in Gaza, archaeological looting in the West Bank has spiked
Economic collapse in Palestinian territories has led to illegal digs at prominent Bronze Age site, new study finds
www.science.org
tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · Jul 29
Great thread! A recent discovery in Roman Spain also highlights how many ancient Romans wore fossils as amulets
This trilobite fossil became ancient Roman bling
It’s the first example of this common fossil found in the ancient Roman world
www.science.org
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Reposted by Taylor Mitchell Brown
science.org
Science Magazine @science.org · Jul 19
“This is a once-in-a-hundred-years discovery.” scim.ag/4lPz3MX
A fossil of a pterosaur, with text that reads: Pterosaur died with belly full of plants—a fossil first. New discovery confirms the long-debated hypothesis that the ancient winged reptiles ate plants
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Reposted by Taylor Mitchell Brown
science.org
Science Magazine @science.org · Jul 24
Submerged fossils are revealing long-held secrets from a region known as Sundaland. scim.ag/3TRZRQG
Ancient human ancestor emerges from sunken Southeast Asian landmass
Submerged fossils are revealing long-held secrets from a region known as Sundaland
scim.ag
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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · Jul 24
Ancient Romans had a strong fascination with fossils, often viewing them as protective talismans. Archaeologists just unearthed the first trilobite fossil linked to the Roman world—and it was likely worn as jewelry.

#Archaeology #AncientHistory #RomanHistory

New at @science.org 🧪🏺
This trilobite fossil became ancient Roman bling
It’s the first example of this common fossil found in the ancient Roman world
www.science.org
1 15 57
Reposted by Taylor Mitchell Brown
newscientist.com
New Scientist @newscientist.com · Jul 22
A new species of Velociraptor-like dinosaur from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia had giant claws and exceptionally thickset hands, which may have enabled it to take down larger prey.
Small, stocky dinosaur related to Velociraptor named as new species
Shri rapax, known from a fossil found in Mongolia, had strong hands and teeth which may have helped it tackle much larger dinosaurs
www.newscientist.com
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Reposted by Taylor Mitchell Brown
ticiaverveer.bsky.social
Ticia Verveer @ticiaverveer.bsky.social · Jul 18
A Roman mosaic panel stolen from Pompeii by a German Nazi captain during the second world war has been returned to the site of the ancient Roman ruins.
Erotic mosaic stolen by Nazi captain in second world war returned to Pompeii
Wehrmacht officer gave relic to German citizen whose family contacted Italian heritage officials after his death
www.theguardian.com
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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · Jul 17
New research uncovered the first human and other vertebrate remains from the now-sunken Sundaland.

The 140,000-year-old fossils reveal a late-surviving group of Homo erectus that ate fat-rich cow tongue and cracked open bones for marrow.

#archaeology #paleontology

New at @science.org 🏺🧪
Ancient human ancestor emerges from sunken Southeast Asian landmass
Submerged fossils are revealing long-held secrets from a region known as Sundaland
www.science.org
1 3 13
Reposted by Taylor Mitchell Brown
Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · Jul 16
Ancient human ancestor emerges from sunken Southeast Asian landmass | Science www.science.org/content/arti...
Ancient human ancestor emerges from sunken Southeast Asian landmass
Submerged fossils are revealing long-held secrets from a region known as Sundaland
www.science.org
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tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · Jul 14
Someone did some excellent reporting on this last week 👀
Pterosaur died with belly full of plants—a fossil first
New discovery confirms the long-debated hypothesis that the ancient winged reptiles ate plants
www.science.org
11 47
Reposted by Taylor Mitchell Brown
science.org
Science Magazine @science.org · Jul 10
“This is a once-in-a-hundred-years discovery.” scim.ag/4lPz3MX
Pterosaur died with belly full of plants—a fossil first
New discovery confirms the long-debated hypothesis that the ancient winged reptiles ate plants
scim.ag
21 100
Reposted by Taylor Mitchell Brown
newscientist.com
New Scientist @newscientist.com · Jul 8
A 140,000-year-old hominin skull from Israel probably belonged to a hybrid child of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens parents, according to an analysis of its anatomy.
'Hybrid' skull may have been a child of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens
The skull of a 5-year-old girl who lived 140,000 years ago has similarities with modern Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, suggesting her parents might have belonged to different species
www.newscientist.com
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Reposted by Taylor Mitchell Brown
laurahelmuth.bsky.social
Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · Jul 10
Do you ever stop and think about how there used to be pterosaurs? A fun new study shows that pterosaurs used to eat plants (they'd been expected to be carnivores) & like modern birds, they had stones in their gullets called gastroliths that help break down plants 🧪 @science.org
Pterosaur died with belly full of plants—a fossil first
New discovery confirms the long-debated hypothesis that the ancient winged reptiles ate plants
www.science.org
11 85 290
tmitchellbrown.bsky.social
Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · Jul 9
New research finds that an exceptionally preserved pterosaur fossil from northeast China had a belly full of plants. The “once-in-a-hundred-years” discovery is the first of its kind, settling a longstanding debate among paleontologists.

#paleontology #jeholbiota #atavismus

New at @science.org 🏺🧪
Pterosaur died with belly full of plants—a fossil first
New discovery confirms the long-debated hypothesis that the ancient winged reptiles ate plants
www.science.org
6 19