• On the Triggering Mechanisms of Upward Lightning 

  Schumann, C.; Saba, M; Warner, T.; Ferro, M.; Helsdon Jr, J.H.; Thomas, R.; Orville, R.E. (Nature Research, 2019-12)

  Upward lightning studies took place in Rapid City, South Dakota, USA and S. Paulo, Brazil during the summer thunderstorm seasons from 2011 to 2016. One of the main objectives of these campaigns was to evaluate and characterize ...
• Reappraisal of the envenoming capacity of Euchambersia mirabilis (Therapsida, Therocephalia) using μcT-scanning techniques. 

  Benoit, J.; Norton, L.A.; Manger, P.R.; Rubidge, B.S. (Public Library of Science, 2017-02)

  Euchambersia mirabilis is an iconic species of Permo-Triassic therapsid because of its unusually large external maxillary fossa linked through a sulcus to a ridged canine. This anatomy led to the commonly accepted conclusion ...
• Oxygen isotopes suggest elevated thermometabolism within multiple permo-triassic therapsid clades 

  Rey, K.; Amiot, R.; Fourel, F.; Abdala, F.; Fluteau, F.; Jalil, N.-E.; Liu, J.; Rubidge, B.S.; Smith, R.M.H.; Steyer, J.S.; Viglietti, P.A.; Wang, X.; Lécuyer, C. (eLife Sciences Publications Ltd, 2017-07)

  The only true living endothermic vertebrates are birds and mammals, which produce and regulate their internal temperature quite independently from their surroundings. For mammal ancestors, anatomical clues suggest that ...
• Arrested development-A comparative analysis of multilayer corona textures in high-grade metamorphic rocks 

  Ogilvie, P.; Gibson, R.L. (European Geosciences Union (EGU), 2017-02)

  Coronas, including symplectites, provide vital clues to the presence of arrested reaction and preservation of partial equilibrium in metamorphic and igneous rocks. Compositional zonation across such coronas is common, ...
• A decorated raven bone from the Zaskalnaya VI (Kolosovskaya) Neanderthal site, Crimea 

  Majkic, A.; Evans, S.; Stepanchuk, V.; Tsvelykh, A.; D'Errico, F. (Public Library of Science, 2017-03)

  We analyze a radius bone fragment of a raven (Corvus corax) from Zaskalnaya VI rock shelter, Crimea. The object bears seven notches and comes from an archaeological level attributed to a Micoquian industry dated to between ...
• Osteopathology and insect traces in the Australopithecus africanus skeleton StW 431 

  Zipfel, B.; Jakata, K.; Bonney, H.; Odes, E.J.; Parkinson, A.H.; Randolph-Quinney, P.S.; Berger, L.R. (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2017-01)

  We present the first application of high-resolution micro computed tomography in an analysis of both the internal and external morphology of the lumbar region of StW 431 - a hominin skeleton recovered from Member 4 infill ...
• Potential for identifying plant-based toxins on San hunter-gatherer arrowheads 

  Wooding, M.; Bradfield, J.; Maharaj, V.; Koot, D.; Wadley, L.; Prinsloo, L.; Lombard, M. (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2017-03)

  The antiquity of the use of hunting poisons has received much attention in recent years. In this paper we present the results of a pilot study designed to detect the presence of organic compounds, typically of less than ...
• A probabilistic definition of a species, fuzzy boundaries and 'sigma taxonomy' 

  Schrein, C.M.; Thackeray, J.F. (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAF)., 2017-05)

  No abstract available.
• Patterns of change and continuity in ochre use during the late Middle Stone Age of the Horn of Africa: The Porc-Epic Cave record 

  Rosso, D. E.; D'Errico, F.; Queffelec, A. (Public Library of Science, 2017-05)

  Ochre is found at numerous Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites and plays a key role in early modern human archaeology. Here we analyse the largest known East African MSA ochre assemblage, comprising 40 kg of ochre, found at ...
• Pacific plate motion change caused the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend 

  Torsvik, T.H.; Doubrovine, P. V.; Steinberger, B.; Gaina, C.; Spakman, W.; Domeier, M. (Nature Publishing Group, 2017-06)

  A conspicuous 60° bend of the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain in the north-western Pacific Ocean has variously been interpreted as the result of an abrupt Pacific plate motion change in the Eocene (∼47 Ma), a rapid southward drift ...
• Archaean zircons in Miocene oceanic hotspot rocks establish ancient continental crust beneath Mauritius 

  Ashwal, L.D.; Wiedenbeck, M.; Torsvik, T.H. (Nature Publishing Group, 2017-01)

  A fragment of continental crust has been postulated to underlie the young plume-related lavas of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius based on the recovery of Proterozoic zircons from basaltic beach sands. Here we document ...
• A re-examination of the enigmatic Russian tetrapod Phreatophasma aenigmaticum and its evolutionary implications 

  Brocklehurst, N.; Fröbisch, J. (Copernicus GmbH, 2017-02)

  Phreatophasma aenigmaticum is a mysterious tetrapod from the earliest middle Permian of Russia, represented by a single femur. At various times since its original description it has been considered a therapsid synapsid, a ...
• Comments on 'the age of fossil stw573 ('little foot'): An alternative interpretation of 26al/10be burial data'. 

  Stratford, D.; Granger, D.E.; Bruxelles, L.; Clarke, R.J.; Kuman, K.; Gibbon, R.J. (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2017-05)

  No abstract available.
• New fossil remains of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa 

  Hawks, J.; Elliott, M.; Schmid, P.; Churchill, S.E.; de Ruiter, D.J.; Roberts, E.M.; Hilbert-Wolf, H.; Garvin, H.M.; Williams, S.A.; Delezene, L.K.; Feuerriegel, E.M.; Randolph-Quinney, P.; Kivell, T.L.; Laird, M.F.; Tawane, G.; DeSilva, J.M.; Bailey, S.E.; Brophy, J.K.; Meyer, M.R.; Skinner, M.M.; Tocheri, M.W.; VanSickle, C.; Walker, C.S.; Campbell, T.L.; Kuhn, B.; Kruger, A.; Tucker, S.; Gurtov, A.; Hlophe, N.; Hunter, R.; Morris, H.; Peixotto, B.; Ramalepa, M.; van Rooyen, D.; Tsikoane, M.; Boshoff, P.; Dirks, P.H.G.M.; Berger, L.R. (eLife Sciences Publications Ltd, 2017-05)

  The Rising Star cave system has produced abundant fossil hominin remains within the Dinaledi Chamber, representing a minimum of 15 individuals attributed to Homo naledi. Further exploration led to the discovery of hominin ...
• Earliest hominin cancer: 1.7-million-year- old osteosarcoma from Swartkrans Cave, South Africa 

  Odes, E.J.; Randolph-Quinney, P.S.; Steyn, M.; Thockmorton, Z.; Smilg, J.S.; Zipfel, B.; Augustine, T.N.; de Beer, F.; Hoffman, J.W.; Franklin, R.D.; Berger, L.R. (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2016-07)

  The reported incidence of neoplasia in the extinct human lineage is rare, with only a few confirmed cases of Middle or Later Pleistocene dates reported. It has generally been assumed that premodern incidence of neoplastic ...
• Comparison of Holocene temperature data (Boomplaas Cave) and oxygen isotope data (Cango Caves) 

  Thackeray, J.F. (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2016-05)
• Osteogenic tumour in Australopithecus sediba: Earliest hominin evidence for neoplastic disease 

  Randolph-Quinney, P.S.; Williams, S.A.; Steyn, M.; Meyer, M.R.; Smilg, J.S.; Churchill, S.E.; Odes, E.J.; Augustine, T.; Tafforeau, P.; Berger, L.R. (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)., 2016-07)

  We describe the earliest evidence for neoplastic disease in the hominin lineage. This is reported from the type specimen of the extinct hominin Australopithecus sediba from Malapa, South Africa, dated to 1.98 million ...
• The Piltdown case: Further questions 

  Thackeray, J.F. (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2016-09)
• The possibility of lichen growth on bones of Homo naledi: Were they exposed to light? 

  Thackeray, J.F. (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2016-08)
• The stable isotope setting of Australopithecus sediba at Malapa, South Africa. 

  Holt, E.; Dirks, P.; PLaczek, C.; Berger, L.R. (Academic of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2016-07)

  We report delta C-13 and delta O-18 results from carbonate-cemented cave sediments at Malapa in South Africa. The sediments were deposited during a short-period magnetic reversal at 1.977±0.003 Ma, immediately preceding ...

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