Homo naledi – New species of Hominin

A team of international scientists including researchers from the University of Witwatersrand (Evolutionary Studies Institute), South Africa have announced the discovery of a new species of human – Homo naledi.  The fossils, some 1,550 of them, have been collected from a cavern deep in a limestone cave system in the Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage site.  These fossils, the largest collection of hominin fossils found at a single location in the whole of Africa, will provide palaeoanthropologists with unprecedented levels of data.

Laying Out the Collection of Homo naledi Fossils

The most extensive hominin fossil find from Africa.

Picture credit: John Hawks/University of Wisconsin-Madison/University of Witwatersrand

Redefining What it Means to be Human

The bones were collected over a period of three weeks, following their initial discovery in 2013.  What puzzles the scientists is how did the bones get to be in the deep cave?  Bones and other debris can be washed in over time due to flooding, in this instance there is no evidence to suggest deposition of fossil material as a result of water transport.  Occasionally, such caverns are used as dens by carnivores, the bones of victims are preserved as evidence but there are no bite marks or evidence of scavenging on the bones.

Homo naledi

One theory is that these bones represent the dead bodies of individuals who were carried into the cave and deliberately placed there.  This suggests that Homo naledi was capable of abstract thought and, potentially, showing reference for the dead.

Co-author of the scientific paper published in “Elife”, Professor Lee Berger (University of Witwatersrand) stated:

“We are going to have to contemplate some very deep things about what it is to be human.  Have we been wrong all along about this kind of behaviour that we thought was unique to modern humans?”

To read a more in-depth article on Homo naledi: New Human Species from South Africa.

Dating the Fossils

Calculating the age of the fossils is proving difficult, but these bones could be up to three million years old.   Homo naledi had a brain about the size of a gorilla’s but a much smaller body, standing a little over a metre tall when fully grown.  Where it sits on the human evolution tree, very much depends on obtaining an accurate date for the fossil material.

Safari Ltd have produced a set entitled the “evolution of mankind” – a series of models that depict hominin evolution. To see the Safari Ltd model range: Wild Safari Prehistoric World.

Role Models in the Sciences – Go for it Girls!

One of the challenges faced by teaching teams is to encourage classes to adopt a more scientific approach to investigation and exploring the properties of materials.  The new national curriculum of England places great emphasis on working scientifically and with subject areas like adaptation, rocks, fossils and natural selection now part of the science element of this new scheme of work, teachers might struggle to identify suitable role models for the children.

An Early Role Model

Mary Anning (1799-1847), might be a strong candidate for consideration when thinking of historical figures that can inspire and enthuse girls, but there are a number of fantastically dedicated female scientists around today, extending our knowledge life on Earth and long-extinct animals.

Take for example, Canadian Victoria Arbour, whose work on ankylosaurs is helping to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding these armoured dinosaurs.  Victoria is happy to confess that she never grew out of her “dinosaur phase” and her career in palaeontology has taken her to some amazing places in a bid to excavate more fossilised bones.  Victoria is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina State University (USA).

Providing a Role Model for Girls as Well as Boys when it Comes to  Considering Science Careers

Victoria next to a skull of a Euoplocephalus tutus (University of Alberta).

Picture credit: Angelica Torices

Dr Arbour Comments

Commenting on her current role, Dr Arbour stated:

“Every day I walk past a Tyrannosaurus skeleton to get to my office, and my office is part of the exhibits at the museum, which means I get to see people enjoying that same Tyrannosaurus as much as I do.   In the summers I head out to the field to dig up dinosaurs in places like Utah, Alberta, and even sometimes Mongolia!  The rest of the time, I’m thinking about qnkylosaurs, the armoured dinosaurs with lots of spikes.”

It’s important for educationalists to recognise the wide range of science careers that are now available and the tremendous contribution being made to palaeontology and related fields by women.

An Illustration of a Typical Armoured Dinosaur (Ziapelta sanjuanensis)

New armoured dinosaur from New Mexico.

Picture credit: Sydney Mohr (Arbour et al. 2014, PLOS ONE:e108804).

Why the Ankylosauria?

Having undertaken her MSc and PhD degrees at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, a part of Canada with a wealth of Late Cretaceous dinosaur fossils to study, it’s not surprising that Victoria would find her academic career having a strong bias towards the Dinosauria, but why armoured dinosaurs (Ankylosauria)?  After all, ankylosaur remains are relatively rare in central and southern Alberta compared to other ornithischians – the duck-billed dinosaurs and the horned dinosaurs for example.

Victoria explained:

“I became particularly interested in them [armoured dinosaurs] when I started to think about what kind of project I wanted to do for my MSc thesis.  I kept seeing pictures in books of ankylosaurs using their tail clubs to defend themselves from predators and I wondered if there was a way we could figure out if they could have done that.  Some of the first projects I worked on looked at how fast and hard ankylosaurs could swing their tail into something and what would happen to the tail when they smashed into another object.”

Dr Arbour’s research has revealed lots of different aspects about armoured dinosaurs, from naming new species to learning about ankylosaur biology and potential behaviour, even looking at how these plant-eaters moved between continents.

A Role Model for Young People

For any young boys and girls considering a career in the Earth Sciences, researchers like Victoria provide an excellent example of what can be achieved.  It is important that teachers gain an appreciation of the growing number of female role models working in scientific disciplines.  There’s no need to worry about running out of dinosaurs to study, as Victoria is the first to admit, once you try to answer one question, new ones keep popping up and we still have so much more to learn about these amazing creatures that once roamed our planet.

To view the range of educational replicas of iconic fossil animals available from Everything Dinosaur: Replicas of Fossil Animals.

Dinosaurs Inspire a Simple and Fun Memory Game

Dinosaurs and prehistoric animals can be wonderful subjects for a term topic or as part of a week of science teaching in schools.  Here is a simple and fun memory game which uses classroom resources to help reinforce learning and recall.

As Everything Dinosaur team members visit schools to carry out dinosaur themed workshops and other activities, we discuss the learning needs of children with teachers and members of the senior leadership team.  As a result, we have devised a fun, dinosaur themed speed stacking game in which children are challenged to sort different dinosaurs by size.

Dinosaur Memory Game

A Fun and Simple Dinosaur Themed Speed Stacking Game

Simple memory game to help young scientists.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Resources Required (You Will Need)

• Plastic cups or beakers
• Speed stacking labels (Everything Dinosaur provides various sets of labels on the download section of this website – dinosaurs for schools)
• Adhesive tape to secure the labels to the bottom of the beakers/cups
• A timer such as a stop watch or Ipad/Smart phone etc.

Our team members have created a series of speed stacking challenges.  For example, to help in teaching about food webs we have a five stage, food chain based on meat-eating dinosaurs.  This is a great way to help build up hand to eye co-ordination and motor skills as well as helping children to remember how food chains are constructed.

Also, Everything Dinosaur team members have created labels for a dinosaur sizing, speed stacking game, as mentioned earlier.  Will the children be able to sort the dinosaurs by size?

Speed Stacking Game Labels Devised By Everything Dinosaur

Learn how animals are classified, learn the geological timescale with this speed stacking game.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Speed Stacking Labels

The speed stacking labels, further instructions and additional, free to download teaching resources from Everything Dinosaur can be provided: Contact Everything Dinosaur.

For teaching resources aimed at different year groups and key stages, simply visit the specific download pages accessible from the main downloads menu.

Once labels have been stuck onto the beakers you are ready to start the speed stacking game.  Record the times taken for the children to stack the beakers in the correct order, as extension activities you could get the children to tabulate or plot their results.  Can they devise their own dinosaur themed speed stacking games?

For dinosaur themed teaching resources including models, sets of plastic dinosaurs which are great for counting and sorting games, as well as real fossils and fossil replicas ideal for craft activities visit: Dinosaur Gifts and Toys including Replica Fossils.

Supporting STEM – Dinosaurs in the Science Lab

Everything Dinosaur was invited to Shire Oak Academy (West Midlands), to take part in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), day in support of science teaching in schools.  In a fun packed day, we delivered four dinosaur and fossil themed workshops with Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 children.  Our dinosaur expert explained how fossils formed and the children got to handle lots of dinosaur fossils as well as learning about how giant prehistoric sharks could swallow their teacher in one bite.

Fossil Themed Workshop

Science experiments included weighing and measuring different vertebrae, looking at what bones are made of (the science of the barbecue), dinosaur blood and the recipe for cloning a Woolly Mammoth!

The Science Lab – All Ready for Dinosaur Themed Experiments

Well resourced teaching facilities, all ready for a fossil themed workshop.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Breaking Bones

We even promised the children that their teacher would break a few bones (all in the interests of vertebrate palaeontology of course).  Our thanks to the STEM day organisers and to all the teachers and teaching assistants who took part.  Our dinosaur workshops were certainly a big hit, the event organiser commented:

“Thank you Everything Dinosaur!  I will definitely be in touch again next year!”

Feedback from Teachers and Children

In a very busy programme, we did get some time to receive feedback from the teachers who saw our dinosaur workshops.

Mrs Chantler (KS2 teacher) stated:

“The dinosaur workshop was engaging and inclusive.  Use of objects made the subject accessible to all, the children were fascinated.”

Mrs Vann (teacher) commented:

“The children were fascinated with the teeth comparisons.”

Katie in Year 7 exclaimed:

“The workshop was amazing, I wish we could do this everyday!”

All in all, I think we can safely say that our contribution to the STEM day and our dinosaur workshops was very well received.

For information on the range of teaching and learning resources available from Everything Dinosaur: Everything Dinosaur Learning Resources and Toys.

Fossil Discovery Shows Dinosaurs can Still Surprise

A team of palaeontologists from Manchester University in collaboration with an independent researcher have published a scientific paper in an on line academic journal describing a tail bone from a dinosaur found in Yorkshire.  Yorkshire may be a county synonymous with puddings, tea and cricket but the North Yorkshire coast is very important to palaeontologists and geologists.  The strata exposed at Whitby and Ravenscar for example, dates from the Middle Jurassic, it is roughly the same geological age as the famous rock formations to be found on England’s “Jurassic Coast” around the Lyme Regis area.

The fossil bone had eroded out of a cliff close to the Abbey at Whitby, it represents a tail bone (caudal vertebrae) from a long-necked dinosaur, a group of dinosaurs called sauropods.  Diplodocus, Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus are typical examples of this plant-eating dinosaur suborder.

A Close-up View of the Yorkshire Sauropod Fossil Material

The specimen is currently housed at the Yorkshire Museum (York).

Picture credit: PLOS One with additional annotation from Everything Dinosaur

Primitive Sauropod Fossil

The shape of the bone, such as the distinct keel (arrowed) seen on the bottom of the vertebra, has allowed scientists to state that this fossil very probably represents a new species of British dinosaur.  Plant rootlet fossils and remains of freshwater molluscs discovered in the surrounding matrix enabled the research team to locate the horizon within the rock formation where the fossil probably came from.  The fossil is around 176 million years old, making this specimen Britain’s oldest known Sauropod fossil.

An Illustration of the New Sauropod Dinosaur

An illustration of a typical sauropod from the Middle Jurassic (Cetiosaurus).

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

During the Middle Jurassic, this part of northern England was part of an extensive coastal plain.  This low-lying area was marshy and crossed by large rivers.  The sandstone strata has preserved few fossilised bones and teeth of dinosaurs but a number of fossilised dinosaur footprints have been preserved.  Yorkshire was once the UK’s “Jurassic World” and this fossil, believed to be around 176 million years old represents the oldest long-necked dinosaur fossil described to date from Britain.

To read Everything Dinosaur’s earlier blog about this fossil discovery: Britain’s Oldest Sauropod.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“This scientific paper only goes to show that palaeontologists are learning new things all the time about dinosaurs, even ones that once roamed around Britain.”

Papo have introduced various models of sauropods.  To view the Papo range of prehistoric animal models: Papo Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animal Models.

Singapore Ranks First, UK Ranks Twentieth

In the most extensive research into global education practices, Asian countries have come out on top in a poll based on maths and science skills amongst fifteen year-old students.  The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), set out to test the link between a country’s education system and the gross domestic product (GDP) of that country.  The better educated the workforce the greater propensity for that country’s economy to grow and for wealth to be created.

Students in Seventy-Six Countries were Tested

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School (Year 2) dinosaur display.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

For educational products, visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.

The top five places in the rankings were all taken by Asian countries.  Singapore, a country with an extremely well-respected education system was ranked first, second was Hong Kong, then South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

The lowest ranked countries in this OECD survey were, unsurprisingly, some of the poorest and least developed countries, although South Africa was rated very low and propping up the table, coming last of all was Ghana.

The survey compiled by Eric Hanushek (Stanford University) and Ludger Woessmann (Munich University), was commissioned by the OECD in preparation for a global education conference due to take place in South Korea next week.

The United Nations is going to set a target for raising global education standards by 2030.  The country rankings are based on an amalgamation of international assessments, including the OECD’s Pisa tests, the TIMSS tests run by United States-based academics and TERCE tests from the Latin America countries.  In this survey, both developed and developing countries have been assessed against the same criteria, this allows for accurate comparisons irrespective of a country’s economic status.

Science and Maths Tests

One notable absentee from the OECD report is China but with a third of the world’s countries surveyed the study reaffirms the long held belief that Asian countries such as South Korea and Singapore have excellent education systems, especially when it comes to maths and the science disciplines.

Andreas Schleicher (Education Director of the OECD) stated:

“This is the first time we have a truly global scale of the quality of education.  The idea is to give more countries, rich and poor, access to comparing themselves against the world’s education leaders, to discover their relative strengths and weaknesses, and to see what the long-term economic gains from improved quality in schooling could be for them.”

Whilst it may not be possible to mine the data to extract any variations between England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, which between them do have different national curricula, this study provides a useful benchmark.  The UK results do show that approximately 20% of UK school leavers have only basic maths skills and only a limited knowledge of science.  Academics propose that if basic education levels could be improved in the United Kingdom then this would result in a much more skilled and capable workforce leading to a increase in the GDP and everyone’s economic welfare.

For information on how Everything Dinosaur helps schools and home educators: Email Everything Dinosaur.