Ancient DNA Reveals a Genetic Surprise in The Last Neanderthals

25 June 2026, By J. Cockerill

https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-dna-reveals-a-genetic-surprise-in-the-last-neanderthals

A Neanderthal skull from Forbes' Quarry, Gibraltar. 

(AquilaGib/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Genetic deterioration may not have been the major cause of Neanderthal extinction, new evidence suggests.

In fact, new genetic analysis shows that some of the last Neanderthals to have lived before the extinction of their lineage were not particularly inbred.

This flies in the face of prevailing theories that suggest genetic deterioration from inbreeding is the main reason our closest relatives disappeared roughly 40,000 years ago.

Evolutionary anthropologist Alba Bossoms Mesa and team have re-examined the genetic remains of 27 Neanderthal individuals, in unprecedented detail.

These Neanderthals were found in seven different locations across the Meuse Basin in Belgium, and two other locations in France.

Map of the studied archaeological sites. For all sites, each cross represents a sample, colored according to the type of genetic data generated. 

(Bossoms Mesa et al., Nature, 2026)

They represent some of the last surviving Neanderthal populations in northwestern Europe, living less than 52,500 years ago.

"The genetic data is new, but the specimens are not," Bossoms Mesa, who is based at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, told ScienceAlert.

Some of the specimens were discovered as early as the 19th century. One of the individuals, named Engis 2, was actually the first Neanderthal specimen discovered (although it wasn't recognised as such until more than a century later).

The most recently discovered specimen, a tooth known as the Walou molar, was excavated in 1997.

"Some specimens were even 'rediscovered' in museum collections after having been misattributed to other species, as was the case for the Trou Magrite femur, identified as Neanderthal in 2015," Bossoms Mesa explained.

Their remains have been in the hands of scientists for decades (if not centuries), but only now has it been possible to retrieve their genetic data at such a high resolution.

And the results don't agree with that major theory of Neanderthal extinction.

"The genomes show no evidence of increasing genetic load or reduced diversity over time, providing little support for the hypothesis that genetic deterioration was the main cause of Neanderthal extinction," Bossoms Mesa told ScienceAlert.

The population genetic model proposed for Neanderthals shows a number of genetically interconnected populations with low rates of inbreeding, late in the Neanderthal timeline. 

(Bossoms Mesa et al., Nature, 2026)



"Our results do not rule out the possibility of demographic vulnerability… but they challenge the idea that Neanderthals disappeared mainly because their genomes steadily deteriorated," she added.

"Instead, late Neanderthals in Belgium and France appear to have been part of a connected, genetically diverse regional population during a period of profound ecological and demographic change."

The study paints a picture of several Neanderthal populations spread across a large geographic area, from Belgium to Croatia, if not further.

Within these populations, the level of inbreeding is low, the new analysis showed, but there was plenty of healthy 'cross-pollination' between groups.

It seems previous interpretations might have been too narrow – the product of the Neanderthal specimens analyzed at the time.

The skull of Engis 2, the first Neanderthal specimen discovered. It was recognized as Neanderthal in 1936, more than a century after its discovery in 1829. 

(Thilo Parg/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0)



"Until now, most high-coverage Neanderthal genomes came from older individuals in eastern Eurasia, particularly from Chagyrskaya and Denisova Caves," Bossoms Mesa explained.

"These genomes showed relatively high levels of inbreeding. However, those populations lived somewhat earlier and at the easternmost known edge of Neanderthal distribution, which may have contributed to their relative isolation."

Previous studies have suggested that geographic isolation might have made Neanderthals more vulnerable to sudden changes, contributing to their demise.

It's also possible that the reasons Neanderthals disappeared might not be exactly the same in every place, but rather a mix of factors stemming from their environment and connections.

This new analysis finds similarly:

"Overall, the study suggests that late Neanderthals in north-western Eurasia were more interconnected and experienced less inbreeding than some of their earlier eastern counterparts," Bossoms Mesa said.

However, an alternate theory to the Neanderthal population crash suggests Neanderthals may never have truly disappeared – and this new study adds another dimension to that line of thinking, too.

Instead, Neanderthals may have 'folded in' to modern human populations, a theory supported by extensive evidence of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals hooking up right across Eurasia for tens of thousands of years.

Neanderthal populations in northwestern Europe are thought to have inhabited the region alongside modern humans for up to 500 generations, giving them ample time to entwine their genetic branches.

Interestingly, the new analysis suggests the flow of genetic material only went one way: Humans 'absorbed' some Neanderthal DNA into their genomes, but maybe not the other way around.

However, the genetic traces that remain may be a reflection of the timing of those interactions – or where they took place.

"We have several examples of early modern humans who had Neanderthal ancestors only a few generations back (effectively Neanderthal great-great-great-grandparents)," Bossoms Mesa pointed out.

"However, we do not yet have a single example of a Neanderthal individual with a recent modern human ancestor in their immediate family tree."

That's something they're going to keep looking for, because understanding this asymmetry could be important to deciphering our shared history.

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Mushroom Behind 'Tiny Human' Visions Lacks Genes For Known Psychedelics

23 June 2026, By D. Nield

https://www.sciencealert.com/mushroom-behind-tiny-human-visions-lacks-genes-for-known-psychedelics

(Luda311/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

If you consumed a wild mushroom and suddenly started seeing tiny people around you, you might reasonably assume it contained a familiar psychedelic.

But that does not appear to be the case with Lanmaoa asiatica, known locally as jian shou qing, a mushroom species sold in markets in Yunnan, southwestern China.

When eaten undercooked, the mushroom can produce vivid visions of miniature people – not unlike Gulliver on his travels to Lilliput.

Yunnan hospitals get dozens of these cases each year.

To try and find out the root cause, University of Utah mycologists Colin Domnauer and Bryn Dentinger sequenced the genomes of 53 mushroom samples from across the wider Lanmaoa genus.

Lanmaoa asiatica mushrooms. (University of Utah)



And despite the reported hallucinations, they found no close matches to genes associated with psilocybin or ibotenic acid, two well-known mushroom hallucinogens whose biosynthetic pathways were specifically examined in the study.

"Biosynthetic gene mining of the L. asiatica genome found no close hits with any genes known in the production of mushroom psychoactive compounds," write the researchers in their published paper.

"This supports our hypothesis of the presence of a novel unidentified metabolite responsible for the unique hallucinogenic properties of L. asiatica."

There's an official name for seeing tiny people: Lilliputian hallucinations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deVIo8oGAGw

Lilliputian hallucinations are not the only side effect of eating undercooked L. asiatica, but they're the most common. Dizziness, auditory hallucinations, and physical sickness have also been reported.

Whatever chemical pathways are causing these effects in the brain, the responsible compound appears to be something scientists have not yet identified.

"This finding corroborates observational and clinical data, which report drastically different psychological and physiological symptoms following L. asiatica intoxication compared with psilocybin or ibotenic acid," write the researchers.

"The phylogeny and genomic data provided in this study may support future drug discovery efforts, as well as research into the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of the potentially important bioactive secondary chemistry within the genus Lanmaoa."

Two new species were identified, including Lanmaoa carbonilivor. (Domnauer & Dentinger, Mycologia, 2026)



The findings from the genome sequencing conducted in this study go beyond merely ruling out the effects of psilocybin or ibotenic acid.

By identifying 1,515 corresponding genes across the selected specimens, the researchers obtained a clearer answer to the question of what defines a mushroom species as part of the genus Lanmaoa.

There are now 17 recognized species in the genus, including four that haven't been identified before, two of which the researchers specifically named here: Lanmaoa fallax and Lanmaoa carbonilivor.

The researchers say the Lanmaoa family and evolutionary tree can now be more fully mapped out, and some existing specimens may need to be reclassified.

Part of the problem in categorizing them before now is that they share many of the same physical characteristics, even if their biological signatures differ.

"As Lanmaoa species are popular globally traded commercial products, frequent misidentification of wild edible mushrooms with potentially poisonous lookalikes is a both well-documented and serious concern for public food safety and medical practitioners," write the researchers.

"That highlights the need for greater taxonomic understanding."

That these mushrooms can produce such a specific psychedelic hallucination is fascinating.

The next question is how it's triggered, and the researchers suggest that once we get that answer, it could tell us much more about the workings of the human psyche.

If you've been following the science, you might be aware of just how much has been discovered about the humble mushroom: its links to disease prevention, its evolutionary innovations, and its role in the planet's ecosystem.

When it comes to the Lanmaoa genus in particular, there's still much more to find.

"This study establishes a comprehensive genomic foundation for Lanmaoa systematics, enabling future research to more robustly explore the evolutionary history and secondary chemistry of the genus," write the researchers.

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Scientists Discover Troubling Link Between Processed Foods and Preschool Behavior

By U. of Toronto, June 23, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-troubling-link-between-processed-foods-and-preschool-behavior/

A large Canadian study has uncovered a link between preschoolers’ consumption of ultra-processed foods and later behavioral and emotional challenges.

 Credit: Shutterstock

Early childhood diets higher in ultra-processed foods were associated with more behavioral and emotional challenges two years later.

The preschool years are a critical period for both brain development and the formation of lifelong eating habits. New research led by the University of Toronto suggests that what children eat during this window may be associated with how they feel and behave later in early childhood.

The study found that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods was linked to greater behavioral and emotional difficulties, including anxiety, fearfulness, aggression, and hyperactivity.

“The preschool years are critical for child development, and it’s also when children begin to establish dietary habits,” said Kozeta Miliku, principal investigator on the study and an assistant professor of nutritional sciences in U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

“Our findings underscore the need for early-life interventions such as professional advice for parents and caregivers, as well as public health campaigns, nutrition standards for child-care providers and reformulation of some packaged foods,” Miliku said.

Professor Kozeta Miliku. 

Credit: University of Toronto

Early diets shape behavior

Published in JAMA Network Open, the study is the first to use detailed, prospective data to examine ultra-processed food consumption alongside standardized behavioral assessments in young children. It is also among the largest studies to investigate behavior and mental health during early childhood.

Ultra-processed foods are industrial products made mostly from refined ingredients and additives that are not usually found in home kitchens. In Canada, these foods account for almost half of the calories consumed by preschoolers.

The researchers used data from the CHILD Cohort Study, a long-term, population-based study that enrolled pregnant women between 2009 and 2012 and has followed their children from before birth into adolescence at four sites across Canada.

The analysis included dietary information from more than 2,000 children at age three. When the children reached age five, the researchers evaluated their scores using the validated Child Behavior Checklist, a widely used tool for measuring emotional and behavioral well-being in children.

A cohort tracks childhood change

The research team, which included first authors Meaghan Kavanagh (a postdoctoral fellow) and Zheng Hao Chen (a PhD student in Miliku’s lab), found that every 10 percent increase in calories from ultra-processed foods was associated with higher scores for internalizing behaviors (such as anxiety and fearfulness), externalizing behaviors (such as aggression and hyperactivity), and overall behavioral difficulties.

Higher scores reflect more reported behavioral challenges.

Certain foods show stronger links

Some ultra-processed food categories had stronger associations than others. These included drinks sweetened with sugar, artificially sweetened drinks, and foods that are ready to eat or ready to heat, such as French fries or macaroni and cheese.

In statistical models that simulated dietary changes, replacing 10 percent of energy from ultra-processed foods with minimally processed foods, including fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods, was linked to lower behavioral scores.

Miliku, who is also a researcher at U of T’s Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition, said the findings suggest that even small dietary shifts may help support healthier development.

“Our findings suggest that even modest shifts toward minimally processed foods, like whole fruits and vegetables, in early childhood may support healthier behavioral and emotional development,” she said.

Small changes may matter

Miliku’s interest in the topic grew out of observations from her own life as a parent.

“As a parent of a toddler, I started noting how often convenience foods appear in children’s diets, sometimes even in places we consider healthy environments,” she said.

A growing body of research has connected ultra-processed foods with higher risks of obesity and cardiometabolic disease in both adults and children. Earlier studies have also suggested links between these foods and poorer behavior and mental health outcomes in adolescents and adults.

“Parents are doing their best and not all families have access to single-ingredient foods, or the tools and time needed to incorporate them into their families’ diets,” said Miliku.

“Ultra-processed foods are widely available, affordable, and convenient,” she added. “It is important to consider how we can gradually increase whole and minimally processed options when possible.”

Miliku said that small steps, such as offering a piece of fruit or replacing a sugary drink with water, may help support children’s emotional and behavioral development over time.

“The goal is to provide evidence that can help families make informed choices,” she said.

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Scientists Have Found “The Heaven Sword” After Years of Looking

By D. Pirchner, Frontiers, June 22, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-have-found-the-heaven-sword-after-years-of-looking/

Taiwan’s giant forests are some of the most carbon-dense environments in the entire world. 

Credit: Steven Pearce

A decade-long search through Taiwan’s remote forests led to the discovery of East Asia’s tallest tree and hundreds of other towering giants.

An 84-meter-tall tree is surprisingly easy to miss.

Hidden within Taiwan’s steep mountains and dense old-growth forests are some of the tallest trees on Earth, including giant conifers that rise higher than a 25-story building. For years, these towering giants remained largely unknown, concealed in remote valleys that few people ever visit.

Since 2014, the “Taiwan Tree Seekers” have been searching for and documenting these remarkable forests. Bringing together professional tree climbers, ecologists, geologists, and remote sensing specialists, we spent nearly a decade tracking down the island’s largest trees. That effort culminated in 2023 with the discovery of an 84.1-meter-tall (276-foot) Taiwania fir (Taiwania cryptomerioides), now recognized as the tallest known tree in East Asia. The Indigenous Rukai people have long referred to these immense trees by a more poetic name: “the tree that hits the moon.”

The conditions that allow such giants to flourish are rooted in Taiwan’s extraordinary geography. Although the island covers only about 36,000 square kilometers (13,900 square miles), roughly the size of Switzerland, it contains 258 peaks above 3,000 meters (9,843 feet), creating a landscape of deep valleys, rugged slopes, and diverse climates unlike anywhere else on Earth.

Team climbing ‘The Heaven Sword’, Taiwan’s and East Asia’s tallest tree. 

Credit: Steven Pearce.

This rugged terrain supports extraordinary biodiversity. An estimated 5,000 plant species grow across ecosystems that range from tropical rainforests at sea level to alpine tundra near the highest summits.

About 60% of Taiwan remains forested, providing habitat for an estimated 950 million trees. Although industrial logging from 1912 to 1991 greatly reduced much of the island’s original forest, the steepest and most inaccessible areas protected valuable pockets of old-growth woodland from being harvested.
The Search for Taiwan’s Forest Giants Begins

The search formally started in August 2014 when researchers from the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute (TFRI) launched an expedition into the Cilan Conservation Area. Their goal was to investigate the legendary “Chilan Three Sisters,” a group of giant Taiwania firs known locally but never carefully measured or scientifically documented.

‘The Heaven Sword’, East Asia’s tallest tree, towers above others at 84.1 meters. 

Credit: Steven Pearce



The tallest of the three reached 69.3 meters (227 feet), with a trunk nearly three meters (9.8 feet) in diameter. International interest grew in 2017 when climbers from Australia’s “The Tree Projects” traveled to Taiwan to photograph the trees, helping showcase the island’s remarkable forests to a global audience.

Encouraged by those findings, the team turned its attention to a more remote area near Mt. Benya, believed to contain the largest concentration of Taiwania firs. Located near the sacred Great Ghost Lake, the site required four days of difficult hiking to reach.

That expedition changed the direction of the project. The researchers realized that accurately identifying the tallest trees from the forest floor was nearly impossible. In the dense canopy of an old-growth forest, visual estimates can be misleading. Although the team climbed a 71.7-meter (235-foot) tree during the trip, they recognized the need for a more reliable method.
LiDAR Technology and Citizen Science Transform the Hunt

Searching for a handful of giant trees among 950 million trees spread across remote valleys was like searching for a needle in a haystack. To improve the process, the team partnered with remote sensing specialists at National Cheng Kung University and adopted LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology. This airborne laser scanning system creates detailed 3D maps by measuring how long laser pulses take to bounce back from the ground and vegetation, making it possible to estimate tree heights across vast areas.

However, Taiwan’s steep terrain created challenges. Automated measurements often exaggerated tree heights, especially when trees stood next to cliffs or other dramatic landscape features. Human observers proved much better at spotting these geological illusions. In 2020, the project expanded into a citizen science effort, with hundreds of volunteers reviewing LiDAR images and helping eliminate false candidates. Their work revealed that 93% of trees had been incorrectly measured by the automated system.

Without this public assistance, the team would have spent years visiting trees that turned out to be much shorter than expected. By the end of 2022, the collaboration produced the “Taiwan Giant Tree Map,” which identified 941 trees taller than 65 meters (213 feet).
Discovering East Asia’s Tallest Tree

During the Lunar New Year holiday in January 2023, the team used the new map to investigate the leading candidate for Taiwan’s tallest tree. Reaching it required a demanding expedition that included a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) river trek and two days of steep climbing.

After climbers reached the crown and lowered a measuring tape from the top to the ground, the final height was confirmed at 84.1 meters (276 feet). The tree was named the “Heaven Sword of the Da’an River” and officially recognized as the tallest known tree in Taiwan and East Asia.

By early 2026, the project had documented and climbed ten Taiwania trees taller than 70 meters (230 feet), including two that exceeded 80 meters (262 feet).

(a) Point cloud data of the ‘Temples of Giants’ near Mt. Benya, collected using a handheld laser scanner. 

(b) Zoomed view of the point cloud showing three individuals within the giant forest; the persons serve as a scale reference to convey tree height and canopy size. 

Credit: Hsu et al., 2026



Temples of Giants and Carbon-Rich Forests

The Giant Tree Map also led researchers to extraordinary concentrations of giant trees. Near Mt. Benya, they discovered a single-hectare (2.47-acre) forest containing 11 trees taller than 65 meters (213 feet). A decade after their first visit to the Great Ghost Lake region, they returned to find a dense ancient stand containing about 30 giant Taiwania firs growing together.

These forests play an important role in the global environment. In 2024, researchers and 15 citizen scientists studied the “Tao Tree” valley, home to Taiwan’s third-tallest tree, to determine how much carbon dioxide the forest absorbs and stores.

The findings were remarkable. The forest’s carbon density, even without including its extensive root systems, measured 1,384.5 Mg/ha. This places Taiwan’s giant forests among the most carbon-dense ecosystems on Earth, comparable to some of the world’s most celebrated old-growth forests. These “trees that hit the moon” are not only natural wonders but also vital protectors of the environment.

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The 4,000-Year-Old City That Defied History’s Rules on Wealth and Power

By U. of York, June 23, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/the-4000-year-old-city-that-defied-historys-rules-on-wealth-and-power/

Researchers investigating one of the Indus Civilization’s largest cities uncovered clues that wealth and resources may have been shared more broadly over time.

 Credit: Shutterstock

A new study of the ancient Indus city of Mohenjo-daro challenges a long-held view of history by suggesting that prosperity did not lead to greater inequality.

Unlike ancient Egypt, with its pyramids and powerful pharaohs, or Mesopotamia, with its ruling elites and monumental palaces, the Indus city of Mohenjo-daro left behind few obvious signs of concentrated wealth or authority. Now, researchers think they know why.

A new University of York study suggests that the 4,000-year-old city became increasingly equal as it grew and prospered. By examining the sizes of homes throughout Mohenjo-daro, the team found evidence that wealth disparities declined over time, defying a pattern that historians have long considered a hallmark of early urban development.

Historians have long argued that when small villages developed into cities, inequality usually increased. In many early urban societies, a narrow class of rulers, kings, and priests gained control of wealth, widening the divide between rich and poor.

A new University of York study of Mohenjo-daro, the largest city of the Indus civilization, points to a very different outcome. After examining house sizes across the ancient city, researchers found that Mohenjo-daro was more equal than comparable societies in Mesopotamia and Greece and that it became increasingly egalitarian over time.

Mohenjo-daro Challenges Ancient Inequality Models

Lead author Dr. Adam Green, from the University of York’s Department of Archaeology and Department of Environment and Geography, said, “Legacy data from the ancient city shows that as the city matured, the gap between the largest and smallest homes narrowed. In fact, by its later years, the wealth gap in this massive urban center had dropped to levels typical of the first farming villages.

“While ancient Egyptians were building pyramids for god-kings, and the Greeks were constructing massive palaces at Knossos, the people of the Indus were building something entirely different.

Mohenjo-daro was the Indus civilization’s largest city. 

Credit: University of York

“Instead of gold-filled tombs and huge temples, Mohenjo-daro focused on sophisticated brick-lined drains and organized street layouts. Instead of allowing the perks of society to accumulate with a tiny elite, the city’s amenities were widely distributed amongst the everyday households.”

This pattern was especially clear in the spread of Indus seals, which were used in trade and business. These seals were usually found inside ordinary homes rather than public buildings, and the city had no palaces where such tools of authority could be concentrated.

Shared Wealth and Everyday Access to Power

The evidence suggests that resources were not controlled by one ruler. Instead, residents appear to have worked collectively to maintain broad access to a good quality of life.

The city’s investment in practical systems, including drainage and street upkeep, also points to cooperation for the public good. A standardized system of weights and measures used across the region helped keep trade fair for everyone.

Published in the journal Antiquity, the findings challenge the idea that inequality must rise as economies grow. According to the researchers, Mohenjo-daro shows that a society can be technologically advanced and highly productive while sharing prosperity widely rather than concentrating it among a few people.

Public Infrastructure and Collective Prosperity

Dr Green, said: “Mohenjo-daro is often cited as being famous for what it doesn’t have, such as the absence of palaces for kings, gold-filled tombs, and no statues of rulers. But what it does have is so important.

“In the period when inequality appears to be lowest, productivity appears to rise. It challenges the idea that prosperity requires us to concentrate decision-making powers in the hands of the few.

“It is quite an interesting lesson for modern societies, as the Indus civilization demonstrates clearly that an urban society can be highly productive and inventive at scale, whilst also ensuring that resources and power are shared equitably. In fact, doing so may even have been essential to sustaining prosperity over the centuries.”

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Human Ancestors May Have Used Fire Far Earlier Than We Thought, Study Reveals

23 June 2026, By M. Starr

https://www.sciencealert.com/human-ancestors-may-have-used-fire-far-earlier-than-we-thought-study-reveals

(Kamila Kozioł/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

When it comes to phenomena that may have changed the course of human history, fire has to be near the top of the list.

Unchecked, it's devastating – but when harnessed by humans, fire became a tool like no other.

It provides warmth in the cold, cooks our food, powers engines, and transforms raw materials into everything from pottery and glass to metal.

Yet exactly when our ancestors first began using fire remains one of archaeology's biggest questions.

Now, an investigation into the detritus left behind in a cave by our ancient human ancestors has pushed the timeline back by hundreds of thousands of years.

Early humans living in South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave – likely Homo erectus – left behind signs of repeated fire use in deposits dated to between 1.07 and 1.79 million years ago, according to a team led by paleobiologist María Dolores Marín-Monfort of the National University of the South in Argentina.

The researchers found evidence of fire alongside other signs of occupation tens of meters inside the cave – far deeper than a natural wildfire would be expected to penetrate.

The entrance to Wonderwerk Cave. 

(Wonderwerk Cave Project)



"These discoveries show that early humans were not simply passive observers of natural fires," says archaeologist Liora Kolska Horwitz of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

"They were actively engaging with fire and incorporating it into their lives."

Wonderwerk Cave, located deep in the Kalahari Desert, is an invaluable time capsule of early human history.

Previous research had already identified it as one of the oldest archaeological sites in the world, with habitation dated to around 1.8 million years ago – the earliest known evidence of indoor living.

Those investigations had also identified evidence of fire use in sediments dating back to around 1 million years ago.

The excavation site in Wonderwerk Cave.

 (MNCN)



Now, a clever, non-invasive technique has revealed much more.

Amid the finds excavated from the cave is quite a large collection of animal bones. And, just as heating can alter sand and stone, so too does it change the chemical structure of bone.

This, in turn, changes how the bone interacts with light.

Imagine you have two bones in front of you. One was heated by fire, the other was not, but after 1.5 million years buried in a cave, they don't look much different from each other.

However, when you shine a blue light onto both bones and use a filter to block reflected blue light, one of the bones emits a red glow.

A comparison of two bones under blue light (left), 

showing the way fire-altered bone re-emits a red glow (right). 

(Marín-Monfort et al, PLOS One, 2026)

That's because heating changed the bone's structure. It absorbs the blue light and re-emits it as red – a phenomenon known as fluorescence – while unheated bone remains dark.

"The methodology we have developed allows us to distinguish burnt fossils from those that have undergone chemical alterations during fossilization, such as fluoridation or manganese deposition, which can visually mimic the effects of fire," explains geologist Yolanda Fernández-Jalvo of the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Spain (MNCN).

"We have improved the resolution with which we can identify burned fossils in very ancient contexts."

The bones themselves were not necessarily brought in by the H. erectus occupants – many of them were microfossils that were probably transported in by owls that puked them up as pellets.

The researchers also had to show that early humans were likely involved, rather than the burning being the result of natural processes.

The locations of the burnt remains in the cave provided the major clue. They were found close to other evidence of early human presence, far from the entrance. The evidence was also not widespread enough to indicate a wildfire.

This does not mean that the cave's inhabitants knew how to create fire – but it does suggest they knew how to make use of it.

"Fire was not a one-time occurrence because it appears in different stratigraphic layers, separated by tens of thousands of years, which reinforces the idea that they already knew how to transport and maintain fire in protected spaces," Fernández-Jalvo says.

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Scientists Rediscover Rare Island Fox Not Seen for More Than 20 Years

By Pensoft Publishers, June 22, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-rediscover-rare-island-fox-not-seen-for-more-than-20-years/

Close-up of the Cozumel dwarf fox. Credit: Rafael Chacón

A confirmed sighting of the critically endangered Cozumel dwarf fox has renewed calls for urgent research and conservation to prevent the disappearance of this unique island species.

For more than two decades, the Cozumel dwarf fox existed almost as a biological ghost. Known primarily from ancient subfossil remains and a handful of unconfirmed reports, the tiny island canid had largely vanished from scientific view, leaving researchers uncertain whether it still survived in the wild.

Now, a recently published short communication in Neotropical Biology and Conservation has provided rare evidence that the species persists. Researchers Travis D. Bayer, Maggie A. McGreal, and A. Rafael Chacón D. describe the rescue of an adult male Cozumel dwarf fox after residents reported a disoriented animal near kilometer 29 (18 miles) along Cozumel’s coastal highway on September 14, 2023. Staff from the Fundación de Parques y Museos de Cozumel located the fox and safely captured it.

The fox underwent several days of observation and a complete health evaluation before being released on September 17, 2023. It was returned to the wild in the Laguna Colombia State Reserve, a protected area selected because it provides suitable habitat and is far from major roadway dangers.

The Cozumel dwarf fox (Urocyon sp.) is among the rarest members of the dog family worldwide. This unique population has lived on the Caribbean island of Cozumel for thousands of years, and subfossil evidence suggests it may have been present even before the arrival of the early Maya. Long-term isolation on the island drove rapid evolutionary changes, resulting in a phenomenon known as “insular dwarfism.”

Full-body photograph of adult male Cozumel fox following release in Laguna Colombia State Reserve. The photograph was taken at approximately 0530h on 17 September 2023 following a health assessment and release within the Reserve.

 Credit: Rafael Chacón

Researchers estimate the fox is only 60-80% the size of its mainland relative, the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). Before this recent documentation, the only physical evidence of the animal came from subfossil remains, while the most recent unconfirmed sighting dated back to 2001.

Why the Cozumel Fox Faces Extinction Risk

Although it has inhabited the island for centuries, the Cozumel fox has never been formally described as a distinct taxonomic entity. Scientists consider the population critically endangered because the remaining habitat in southern Cozumel is increasingly threatened by land-use changes, development, invasive species, and natural disasters. As a result, researchers warn that the fox could be nearing extinction.

Travis Bayer of Pathos Wildlife highlighted how easily rare species can disappear without attracting attention. “One of the most important takeaways from this research is that species can quietly disappear without the world even realizing they are gone. We often think extinction is something dramatic and obvious, but in reality, it can happen gradually and silently, especially for rare species living in remote or understudied habitats.”

“The rediscovery of the fox is not a conservation success story yet, but it represents a second chance,” Bayer added.

Conservation Priorities for Saving the Cozumel Fox

The researchers say the newly documented photographic evidence underscores the need for immediate conservation efforts. “The biggest challenge facing the Cozumel fox is that we still know almost nothing about it, including its remaining population size, distribution, or ecology,” noted Bayer. “That uncertainty alone is dangerous, because it makes effective conservation extremely difficult.”

Image of a dwarf gray fox (Urocyon sp.) captured on the island of Cozumel, Mexico. An adult male Cozumel fox (Urocyon sp.) is shown partially concealed behind foliage before capture by the Fundación de Parques y Museos de Cozumel (FPMC) on 14 September 2023. This represents the first photograph ever taken of the species on the island and the first reported sighting since 2001. 

(Photo Credit: Rafael Chacón). Credit: Rafael Chacón

The team outlined several priority actions, including targeted field surveys to estimate the fox’s population size and range, genetic research to better understand its evolutionary history, and measures to protect the remaining suitable habitat while reducing conflicts between people and wildlife.

“Ultimately, we hope this work helps move the Cozumel fox from a little-known, uncertain presence on the island to a better-understood key part of Cozumel’s ecosystems. We also hope it demonstrates that conservation is often most urgent when certainty is lowest and that uncertainty itself can be a call to action,” concluded Bayer.

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The Amazon’s Mysterious “Ghost Dog” Has Been Hiding a Big Secret

By Pensoft Publishers, June 22, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/the-amazons-mysterious-ghost-dog-has-been-hiding-a-big-secret/

Photo of the short-eared dog caught on a camera trap from Bolivia. 

Credit: G. Ayala & M.E Viscarra

Camera traps are revealing that the Amazon’s “ghost dog” is less rare than feared but still depends on protected forests.

For decades, the short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis) has ranked among the least understood carnivores in Latin America, and perhaps among the least understood canids anywhere. Its secretive behavior, sharp hearing, and powerful sense of smell have helped it avoid people, leaving biologists with only rare direct observations in the wild.

Now, a new study published in the open-access journal Neotropical Biology and Conservation is offering a clearer look at this elusive Amazon predator.
The Power of Remote Sensing

According to the study’s lead author, Robert Wallace, remote sensing changed what scientists could learn about the ghost dog. Researchers began capturing images of the species with camera traps in 2001, and those first photos made it clear that a broader study could reveal something important.

Across nearly 25 years, scientists organized 500 distribution records from Bolivia and carried out 34 intensive camera trap surveys. The surveys covered lowland areas of Bolivia and Peru, with a focus on the Greater Madidi Tambopata and Llanos de Moxos Biocultural Landscapes.

Photo of the short-eared dog caught on a camera trap from Bolivia. 

Credit: G. Ayala & M.E Viscarra



The work produced 594 independent photographic events, creating the largest set of confirmed short-eared dog records anywhere in the species’ known range. The lead author highlighted that this research is a “wonderful example of how conservation technology and remote sensing – in this case, the intensive use of camera traps – can provide substantial data on one of the least known species of the Amazonian rainforests”.

Unveiling the Ghost

So what does the ghost dog actually look like? Camera traps documented a distinctive animal with a dense dark coat that ranges from blackish gray to reddish brown, a large head, very small, rounded ears, short legs, and a long bushy tail. The species also has partially webbed paws, a feature not found in other Amazonian canids.

Its appearance, however, was not the most unexpected result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyaEP99JkOc

Short-eared dog on a video. 

Credit: Wallace et al., 2026

“The most surprising aspect of the results was that despite being an almost mythical beast, short-eared dogs are much more abundant than we had imagined,” noted the researchers.

The species is still not common, but the camera trap capture rates and an estimated density of 15 individuals per 100 square kilometers suggest it is less rare than scientists once thought. The results indicate that short-eared dogs are more abundant than larger carnivores such as jaguars, though less abundant than medium-sized carnivores such as ocelots. The study also revealed part of their behavioral ecology: they are mainly diurnal, meaning they are most active during daylight hours, with activity peaking between 6:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.

A Forest Specialist in Need of Protection

The data show that ghost dogs are closely tied to intact forests. The short-eared dog is a forest specialist with a strong preference for terra firme, the upland forests found away from rivers. This reliance on dense, specialized habitat helps explain why people so rarely see the species.

Because the animal depends on continuous intact forest, its conservation relies heavily on protected areas that are created and managed effectively. The study found that short-eared dogs were relatively more abundant in national protected areas and in Indigenous territories that overlap with those protected zones than in unprotected areas.

“The most important management strategy is the protection of Amazonian forest canopy for which the creation and effective management of protected areas is the most important element, in combination with the sustainable management of Indigenous territories”, the researchers explained.

The study shows that this elusive canid is quietly persisting in the deep forests of Bolivia and Peru, but its future depends on keeping those forests intact.

The Life of Earth

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Scientists Discover a Spider That Catapults Prey Into Its Web at a Brutal 140 G

23 June 2026, By A. Narendra, The Conversation

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-discover-a-spider-that-catapults-prey-into-its-web-at-a-brutal-140-g

The ballista spider has a new hunting strategy. 

(Narendra et al., Curr. Biol., 2026)

There's more than one way a spider can spin its web.

Some construct large vertical orb webs, while others build horizontal sheet webs or tangled cobwebs that ensnare crawling insects.

There's also more than one way a spider can catch its dinner.

Net-casting spiders throw small silk nets over unsuspecting prey, while slingshot spiders use their conical webs like catapults, launching both themselves and the web toward nearby prey.

In the tropical rainforests of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, we discovered a spider with a new hunting strategy: a small nocturnal animal of the genus Propostira which we call the ballista spider.

As we describe in a paper published today in Current Biology, it constructs a unique spring-loaded snare triggered only by a single kind of prey: the highly territorial and aggressive green tree ant (Oecophylla smaragdina).

How the ballista spider catches ants

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTbGETmRh9M

During the day, this spider rests within a silken retreat on the underside of leaves.

As the night unfolds, the spider slowly descends on a silk line until it finds a suitable structure on which to lay an anchor point.

Next, it returns to the core web, leaving a "tension line" behind it, and repeats the process with incredible precision to build a fan-shaped web of silk tension lines.

This gradually leads to the formation of a small conical scaffold which the spider then wraps in a thinner kind of silk before retreating to the core web.

The ballista spider patiently constructs its conical snare.

 (Ajay Narendra, Pranav Joshi, Daniele Liprandi, Gregory J Anderson, Jonas Wolff, CC BY)

The thinner silk seems to attract ants and provoke an attack response, possibly by means of pheromones.

After the thinner silk is laid, worker green tree ants appear in moments.

The ants react aggressively, biting the cone.

The bite detaches the cone from the surface, and the ant is pulled up and propelled into the core web in a fraction of a second.

An unsuspecting ant attacks the ballista spider's snare.

 (Ajay Narendra, Pranav Joshi, Daniele Liprandi, Gregory J Anderson, Jonas Wolff, CC BY)



The ant is hauled off at accelerations of up to 1,367 meters per second squared – that's roughly 140 times the acceleration due to gravity, or 15 times the most extreme g-forces experienced by jet pilots.

The spider waits for the ant to be fully entangled in its web.

When it's safe to approach, the spider wraps the ant in silk until it is ready to eat.

The ant is hauled off at accelerations of up to 15 times the most extreme g-forces experienced by jet pilots.

 (Ajay Narendra, Pranav Joshi, Daniele Liprandi, Gregory J Anderson, Jonas Wolff, CC BY)

A superior system

The ballista spider's snare exhibits superior energy performance compared with other silk-based catapult systems.

Gram for gram, the webs store more energy and exert more power than any known biological catapult.

A kilogram of the web would store 78.17 kilojoules of kinetic energy and very briefly exert 11.73 megawatts of power.

The exceptionally high power of the ballista spider's snare has likely evolved to rapidly yank ants away from the vicinity of their nests and trail, where fellow ants might come to their defense.

Extreme specialisation

There are two more unusual things about the ballista spider.

First is its extreme specialization to a single prey species. This suggests the spiders may add specific pheromones to the thin wrapping silk on their snares to attract green tree ants.

Second is that the snare is triggered by the prey itself, rather than the more common situation in which the predator senses the prey and triggers the snare.

The ballista spider demonstrates how extreme prey specialization can drive the evolution of exceptional biomechanical performance.

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Human Evolution May Be Undergoing a Major Shift Right in Front of Our Eyes

21 June 2026, By M. Starr

https://www.sciencealert.com/human-evolution-may-be-undergoing-a-major-shift-right-in-front-of-our-eyes

(Volodymyr Yakimchuk/Creatas Video+/Getty Images Plus)

A seismic shift in the selection pressures acting on humans may have brought us to a major turning point in our evolutionary journey.

According to multiple teams of scientists, human culture – technology, medicine, and our remarkable collaborative problem-solving skills – may now be shaping human evolution more than environmental pressures and the limitations of our bodies.

This is because the solutions we invent to make our lives easier, from central heating to contact lenses, can solve biological challenges far faster than evolution can, reducing the pressure for genetic adaptation.

"Human evolution seems to be changing gears," said cultural evolution researcher Tim Waring of the University of Maine, who co-authored a study on the subject published in September 2025.

Evolution – the process by which living organisms gradually change through inherited genetic variation – is usually slow, unfolding over many generations.

It's typically shaped by environmental pressures that select which genes are more likely to get passed down to future generations.

A well-known example in humans involves malaria.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw6jnFqZ-Hk

In tropical regions where malaria is common, sickle cell genes are also more frequent.

That's because people who carry one copy of the sickle cell gene gain protection against malaria, making them more likely to survive and pass the gene to their children.

Throughout known human history, culture has also exerted selection pressures. The ability to digest lactose into adulthood likely arose in early pastoralist cultures.

"When we learn useful skills, institutions, or technologies from each other, we are inheriting adaptive cultural practices," Waring said.

"On reviewing the evidence, we find that culture solves problems much more rapidly than genetic evolution. This suggests our species is in the middle of a great evolutionary transition."

Traditional buffalo herders of South Asia have unusually high lactose tolerance. 

(uniquely india/photosindia/Getty Images Plus)



In the isolated French-Canadian population of Île aux Coudres, the age at which women first have babies has decreased over 140 years – an evolutionary shift reflected at the genetic level.

Humans are still evolving, and environmental pressures still shape much of that evolution.

But Waring and his co-author, evolutionary ecologist Zachary Wood of the University of Maine, have argued that culture has now become the dominant influence on those selection pressures.

"Cultural evolution eats genetic evolution for breakfast," Wood said. "It's not even close."

That doesn't necessarily mean culture is producing new genetic adaptations. In many cases, it simply removes pressures that might once have shortened an individual's lifespan.

In ages past, mothers may have died in childbirth in cases where the baby was too large for the birth canal; now, cesarean sections allow such mothers to survive and perhaps even go on to have additional large babies in future.

There are now cures for diseases such as plague, but the pandemic that ravaged 14th-century Europe has left a mark still discernible in the genomes of survivors' descendants.

Waring and Wood developed a testable theory proposing that because culture evolves far faster than genes, it could be driving a gradual shift in how human traits are shaped. They then developed quantitative ways to measure how quickly this shift might be unfolding.

Their results suggest that this transition may already be underway, and could even be accelerating.

"Ask yourself this: What matters more for your personal life outcomes, the genes you are born with, or the country where you live?" Waring said.

"Today, your wellbeing is determined less and less by your personal biology and more and more by the cultural systems that surround you – your community, your nation, your technologies. And the importance of culture tends to grow over the long term because culture accumulates adaptive solutions more rapidly."

Some researchers argue that this shift could have deeper consequences. If technology continues to shield humans from natural selection, it may also alter how evolution operates over the long term.

According to a paper published in June 2025 by an international team led by microbiologist Arthur Saniotis of Cihan University-Erbil in Iraq, humans have been so successful at reducing external selection pressures that we may have weakened our own evolutionary trajectory.

He and his colleagues suggest that humanity may need various medical and technological enhancements to offset what they call the "deleterious effects to human phenotypes due to relaxed natural selection."

In other words, by using culture and technology to improve our lives, we may have created a feedback loop in which we must continue to use them to survive.

It's a controversial idea, touching on concepts that echo the troubling history of eugenics, and raising difficult questions about how far humans should go in using technology to shape our own biology. However, the solution may not lie in technology at all.

"Cultural organization makes groups more cooperative and effective," Waring explained.

"If cultural inheritance continues to dominate, our fates as individuals, and the future of our species, may increasingly hinge on the strength and adaptability of our societies."

Waring and Wood's paper was published in Bioscience.

The birth of modern Man

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