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Mail & Guardian
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Sometimes confused with their cousins, the starfish, they differ in having long whip-like arms. Most are scavengers, eating dead creatures and seaweed, although some filter food from the water. Photo supplied

Local researchers exhume oldest brittle stars of Southern Hemisphere

Ancient brittle stars from the supercontinent of Gondwana unearthed in 410-million-year-old rocks in Eastern Cape

‘Terrifying’ prehistoric fish found in Makhanda

Description of new species was a 37-year-long labour of love for Eastern Cape palaeontologist

The discovery of a new species of human relative, Homo Naledia was unveiled at The Cradle of Human Kind at Maropeng in Johannesburg, South Africa. Naledi was discovered in a hard to reach chamber in the Rising Star Cave which has led scientists to believe that the Hominids had a understanding of the finality of death.  Naledi stood about 1,5m high, had a unique mix of primitive and modern features with a tiny brain about the size of an orange, a slender body and unusually curved fingers. (Photo by Denzil Maregele/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Unearthing Leti, the child of darkness

The first partial skull of a Homo naledi child, which is believed to be 250 000 years old, has been found in the Cradle of Humankind near Johannesburg

(Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

Our starch cravings date back to cave dwellers

​Starches have been dietary staples for even longer than we thought

The fossils that have made the park so famous were uncovered during phosphate mining operations in Langebaanweg

NLC funds breathe life into the West Coast Fossil Park

Funds from the NLC contributed towards the design and construction of of museum and visitors centre and the creation of many visitor experiences

A fossil tooth contains isotopes that offer clues of aridification.

Fossil teeth reveal new facts about a mass extinction 260 million years ago

A study has found that a local event rather than a global shift in climate caused the mass extinction in South Africa

A file image of Wits University’s Professor Lee Berger.

Scientists bag more than 1 000 fossils at Cradle ‘treasure trove’

Less than a month since excavation began at the Cradle of Humankind after a "spectacular" fossil find, scientists have found more than 1 000 fossils.

Professor Lee Burger is keeping mum on the latest hominid finds for now. (Oupa Nkosi, M&G)

Wanted: Small-chested, skinny scientists for deep excavation

World-renowned archaeologist Professor Lee Berger has specifically recruited a group of small-chested scientists to help with his latest project.

Fossil find rocks the Cradle

Hominid bones located in Georgia could rule out Australopithecus sediba as a human ancestor.

World first as SA scientists unearth 250m-year-old fossilised embrace

The discovery by South African scientists of a 250-million-year-old fossilised embrace between two animals, has been hailed as a world first.

For decades

Study: Climate change wiped out Australia’s giant beasts

Gigantic animals that once roamed Australia were mostly extinct by the time humans arrived, a new study has shown.

‘Ancestor’ fossils show evolving early humans

Research into two-million year old fossils has found a genus of early humans that were right in the middle of evolving.

New 2-million-year-old fossil fox found in Sterkfontein

A two-million-year-old fox fossil has been discovered at an archaeological dig at the Cradle of Humankind in Sterkfontein, researchers announced.

Brendan Atkins of the Australian Museum in Sydney

Fossil hunters unearth massive mega-wombat graveyard

Scientists have found a huge deposit of bones of the rhino-sized wombats that roamed Australia in the time of super-kangaroos and tree-crocodiles.

Jurassic fleas discovered in Mongolian lake

The remains of giant Jurassic fleas that sucked the blood of ancient animals more than 100-million years ago have been discovered in Mongolia.

Twenty-million-year-old ape skull found in Uganda

Ugandan and French scientists have discovered a fossil of a skull of a tree-climbing ape in Uganda’s Karamoja region, the team said on Tuesday.

Dinosaur find lends weight to asteroid theory

The ancient remains of a horned beast uncovered by fossil hunters in Montana belong to the last known dinosaur to walk the Earth.

Skull of my country

Skull of my country

<i>Nechama Brodie</i> discovers the strange alchemy of bone, stone, paper, paint and dust.

First dinosaur fossil discovered in Angola

Scientists say they have discovered the first fossil of a dinosaur in Angola, and that it’s a new creature, heralding a research renaissance.

New hominid skeleton named Karabo

A recently discovered juvenile hominid skeleton, of the new <i>Australopithecus Sediba</i> species, was given the name Karabo on Monday.