Recent analysis of ancient DNA found in soil samples collected in the Canadian permafrost has revealed that mammoths and Yukon wild horses survived thousands of years longer than previously thought.

The samples, which were found specifically in the Klondike region of Yukon, were analyzed and presented in a 30,000-year DNA record by researchers from McMaster University, the University of Alberta, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Yukon government.

The samples provided the researchers with valuable information regarding plants and animals from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition period that occurred between 14,000 and 11,000 years ago. This was also the time when numerous animals were believed to have gone extinct such as mammoths, sabre-toothed cats, and mastodons.

They found that the woolly mammoths and North American horses were already declining drastically in numbers before that time period when the climate became unstable. However, they did not completely go extinct until around 5,000 years ago – thousands of years later than previously estimated. Previous research conducted by scientists at McMaster University claimed that woolly mammoths and North American horses were alive in the Yukon around 9,700 years ago.

Hendrik Poinar, who is an evolutionary geneticist and director of the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, discussed their research in further details, “The rich data provides a unique window into the population dynamics of megafuana and nuances the discussion around their extinction through more subtle reconstructions of past ecosystems.” Their study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers used DNA capture-enrichment technology developed at McMaster to isolate and rebuild the fluctuating animal and plant communities during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

Credit: Julius Csotonyi

Ross MacPhee from the American Museum of Natural History weighed in by noting, “Although mammoths are gone forever, horses are not,” adding, “The horse that lived in the Yukon 5,000 years ago is directly related to the horse species we have today, Equus caballus. Biologically, this makes the horse a native North American mammal, and it should be treated as such.”

He is correct in regards to woolly mammoths currently being extinct; however, a new company is planning on changing that. A few months ago, it was reported that a new de-extinction company named Colossal is planning on resurrecting the woolly mammoth within the next six years.

As for how they plan on doing that, they want to change the genome in Asian elephants to create a modern mammoth. More specifically, they would need to add mammoth genes to the DNA of Asian elephants so that the modified creature would have curved tusks, subcutaneous fat stores, smaller ears, and a thick shaggy coat that would help them to live in the Arctic Circle. Realistically, if they succeed, it would be an Asian elephant/woolly mammoth hybrid. We’ll have to wait and see how that experiment turns out…

A video from McMaster University explaining the study:

A princess that died about 2,500 years ago lived a very mysterious life. Known as the Ukok Princess, her remains were found in Siberia back in 1993 and detailed analysis of her burial as well as her skeleton revealed some very interesting and mysterious facts.

An MRI scan conducted in 2010 revealed that she died in her mid-twenties from breast cancer. It’s unclear what her ethnicity was which has been debated for years as explained by one scientist, “The people of Pazyryk belonged to different ethnic group, in no way related to Altaians. Genetic studies showed that the Pazyryks were a part of Samoyedic family, with elements of Iranian-Caucasian substratum.”

It is believed that she was of important social status based on her complex tattoos that included mythical creatures. “Compared to tattoos found by archaeologists around the world, those on the mummies of the Pazyryk people are the most complicated, and the most beautiful,” stated Dr. Natalia Polosmak who was the scientist who found the mummy. “Tattoos were used as a mean of personal identification — like a passport now, if you like. The Pazyryks also believed the tattoos would be helpful in another life, making it easy for the people of the same family and culture to find each other after death.”

Next to her body was some marijuana which she may have taken as a form of relief from her breast cancer. Jewelry and Chinese silk were also found with the remains which is even more evident that she was of important status. “Chinese silk before was only found in ‘royal’ burials of the Pazyryk people — it was more expensive than gold, and was a sign of a true wealth,” one researcher noted. Additionally, six horses with colored felt saddles and detailed harnesses were buried with her.

Since she was buried alone, she may have been a shaman as stated by archaeologist Vyacheslav Molodin, “It was quite unusual to have a single Pazyryk burial. Usually men from this culture were buried with women. In this case, her separate burial might signify her celibacy, which was typical for cult servants or shamans, and meant her independence and exceptionality.”

She may have used marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Another interesting feature was that she had a shaved head and wore a wig. Archaeologist Natalya Polosmak described the wig in further detail, “The base of the wig was a felt “hat,” with two layers of women’s hair sewn into it. Between the layers was a black flexible substance, which helped to fix and hold the shape and the volume of the wig….A mop of hair on top was tightly wrapped around with a woollen cord, which helped this mop to stand upright… On top of this mop was worn a red “nakosnik” (a braided decoration made from threads), and atop of this structure was a bronze pin with a deer, standing on a sphere. The deer was made from wood, and was covered in golden foil.”

When her body was moved, natural disasters occurred and the Altai people believed it was because her spirit wasn’t at rest.

She certainly lived an interesting life with some details remaining a mystery throughout the centuries. We do, however, have an idea of her facial features because a taxidermist created a model of what the Ukok Princess might have looked like when she was alive about 2,500 years ago (those pictures can be viewed here.)

A Taxidermist Constructed A Model Of What She May Have Looked Like Before Mummification

The Ukok Plateau, Siberia.

Image Source: Wikipedia

Her Celibate Burial Indicated That She May Have Been A Shaman

Ukok princess reconstruction.

Image source: Wikipedia

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

A new dinosaur that had a tail similar to a weapon that the Aztecs once used has been found and it is very odd. The new species, which has been named Stegouros elengassen, looked like a mix between a stegosaur and an ankylosaur.

Described as being a “very weird” dinosaur, paleontologists unearthed the remains in Chile – specifically in rocks that date back between 74.9 and 71.7 million years during the Cretaceous Period. The skeleton, which was around 80% complete, was very well preserved. In an interview with Live Science, Alexander Vargas, who is a vertebrate paleontologist in the Department of Biology at the University of Chile, described the skeleton by stating that “it’s weird, because it’s articulated [the bones are in order] from the waist down, and everything from the waist up was kind of scattered.” This may have been because it died near a river or even in quicksand but that theory hasn’t been proven yet.

(Not the Stegouros elengassen)

What’s so unusual about the 6.5-foot-long (2 meters) ankylosaur was that it had a deadly armored tail that looked like an Aztec war club as Mr. Vargas explained, “The tail would have looked like a sword; it’s so flat,” adding that it was “a bit like an Aztec sword, or the Aztec club called the macuahuitl.” It is the shortest tail of any armored dinosaur and contained seven paired flat and big osteoderms – the first two pairs were situated near its body while the others were merged together into a deadly flat weaponized tail.

“We all know tail clubs, we all know the tail spine, but this is a new lineage … a Southern Hemisphere lineage that evolved a third kind of tail weapon,” Mr. Vargas added.

Another interesting discovery the researchers made regarding the Stegouros elengassen involved the evolution of ankylosaurs. Those living in the northern supercontinent Laurasia were very different than the ones inhabiting the southern supercontinent Gondwana (Stegouros elengassen lived in Gondwana).

(Not the Stegouros elengassen)

Mr. Vargas detailed the Stegouros elengassen in greater detail, noting that it had a “rather large head with a narrow, curved beak, which is not common for ankylosaurs.” “It has slender limbs. … It doesn’t have pointed claws; it has rounded, hoof-like claws on both hands and feet.” Additionally, its pelvis was very similar to that of a Stegosaur. Their study was published in the journal Nature where it can be read in full.

A re-enactment of the Stegouros elengassen moving its tail and pictures of what it would have looked like can be viewed here.

The newly described ankylosaur Stegouros elengassen displays its weaponized tail. 

(Image credit: Gabriel Diaz Yantén)

Paleontologists in Italy have uncovered up to eleven skeletons belonging to a dinosaur species that lived approximately 80 million years ago. Included in these remains is the largest and most complete dinosaur that has ever been discovered in the country.

The bones, which belonged to a dinosaur species named Tethyshadros insularis, were unearthed at a location called Villaggio del Pescatore which is close to the Italian city of Trieste. It is believed that the creature inhabited one of the European archipelago islands in the Tethys Ocean.

Tethyshadros insularis was a type of herbivorous Hadrosauroid that grew as long as 13 feet (4 meters) and weighed as much as 350 kilograms (772 pounds). It had a long skull, short neck, short tail, and long legs (especially its shin bones). With the proportions of its body along with the reduced number of fingers, it probably ran on two legs.

(Not the Tethyshadros insularis)

Among the dinosaurs found was a young one named “Antonio” – this was the first one that was discovered and was previously believed to have been a “dwarf species” but new studies conducted by the University of Bologna have indicated that it was just a juvenile. Since the site where the bones were found was once part of an island, experts initially thought that the creatures were a “dwarf species” because of the “island rule” which meant that animals living on islands became smaller in size due to the lesser amounts of resources.

Another dinosaur named “Bruno” was larger than “Antonio” but might have still been in the process of growing when it died. In total, there were at least seven dinosaurs that were unearthed, but researchers say that the number is probably eleven.

Since the site is 80 million years old – 10 million years older than previously believed – terrestrial animals like the dinosaurs may have been able to cross land bridges in what we know today as being Italy.

(Not the Tethyshadros insularis)

In addition to the dinosaurs, researchers found the remains of flying reptiles, crocodiles, fish, and small crustaceans. Their study was published in the journal Scientific Reports where it can be read in full.

Pictures of the skeletons as well as what Tethyshadros insularis would have looked like can be seen here.

Footprints that were made 3.7 million years ago were initially thought to have been made by an ancient bear, but new analysis has revealed that they were instead made by an ancient human ancestor.

The most famous set of Laetoli footprints were made by adult A. afarensis and discovered in 1978.

(Flickr: Tim Evanson)

Located in Tanzania, Laetoli trackway is a well known site for the thousands of footprints that have been found over the years. There are about 18,400 tracks that have been made by numerous animals that include giraffes, hyenas, and ostriches, as well as ancient hominins that walked on two legs.

Millions of years ago, an ancient ancestor of ours walked on two legs along volcanic ash that eventually turned into rock. These footprints were discovered at Laetoli “Site A” back in 1978. They were initially described as being left by a bear; however, new analysis has completely turned that explanation around.

The new study, which was conducted by Ellison McNutt who is an anthropologist at Ohio University, along with colleagues, compared the prints to those made by bears (Ursus americanus), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), and humans.

Interestingly, they found that the prints were completely different from others that were made by another hominin species at an area close by. Footprints that were discovered at Sites G and S were left by the Australopithecus afarensis species (“Lucy” belonged to this group). They were made by individuals who were between 111 and 168 centimeters in height.

But the ones made at Site A were made by a smaller individual measuring about 100 centimeters tall – perhaps they were left by a child. In fact, whoever made the footprints is still an unknown hominin species.

The Site A footprints did resemble those left by a bear as they showed a foot that was short but very wide – even the heel was wide. The impression revealed a big toe with a second toe that was almost as long. But the experts were able to rule out bears and chimpanzees as they have heels that are narrower. Additionally, there weren’t any claw marks that would have been left behind if it was a bear.

Another interesting feature was that its big toe pointed out towards the side of the foot which may indicate that the species gripped tree branches with its toes. It also appeared to have a raised ridge which is another characteristic of tree-climbing species. Furthermore, the individual walked in an odd cross-stepping pattern with one leg crossing over the other. The research was published in Nature where it can be read in full.

A picture of the footprint can be viewed here.

Archaeologists in Peru unearthed an ancient mummy that dates back between 800 and 1,200 years. What’s so unusual about this mummy is that it was bound with rope with the hands covering the face.

The team was very surprised that they found a mummy during their excavations as explained by archeologist Yomira Huamán Santillán in an interview with CNN, “The whole team was really happy because we didn’t think this was going to happen,” adding, “We didn’t expect to make such an important discovery.”

The preserved body was found by researchers from the National University of San Marcos. It was located underneath the middle of a town square at an archaeological site called Cajamarquilla which is near the capital of Lima.

(Not the mummy mentioned in this article.)

The mummy was probably a man between the ages of 25 and 30, although that hasn’t been confirmed as of yet. He may have come from the mountains of Cajamarquilla where it was once a busy commercial center during the pre-Columbian times.

The fact that he was tied up with rope and his hands were covering his face was actually a funeral custom in the southern part of Peru. Pieter Van Dalen Luna, who is one of the archeologists who led the excavation, stated, “The discovery of this resident sheds a new light on interactions and relationships in pre-Hispanic times.”

In addition to the mummy, the researchers found numerous marine mollusks outside of the tomb which was quite odd as the site is approximately 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) away from the coast. They even recovered llama bones there as well. But Van Dalen Luna believes that it was the individual’s descendants who placed the items and different offerings (such as food) there throughout the years.

Based on the items found at the site, it is believed that this person was very important during that time and perhaps a significant trader. “The fact of finding a mummy with these characteristics in the middle of the plaza makes it clear that this is someone of high status,” said Van Dalen Luna.

Their next job is to analyze the mummy in further detail in order to gather more information regarding the individual, such as radiocarbon dating to narrow down a more precise time when he was alive.

A news report about the discovery can be viewed here and pictures of the mummy can be seen here.

Archaeologists believe that the remains are of a man aged 18-22 at the time of his death

An incredible discovery was made off the coast of California when an ancient mammoth tusk was found in 10,000 feet of water. The tusk belonged to a Columbian mammoth that was alive more than 100,000 years ago.

Columbian mammoths (also known as Mammuthus columbi) were huge, measuring 4 meters (13 feet) at the shoulders and weighing as much as 10 tonnes (22,000 pounds or 10,000 kilograms). They lived as far as the northern part of the United States all the way down to Costa Rica during the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago). They had very long curved tusks with four molars that were replaced six times throughout their lifetime. Incredibly, the largest known tusk that belonged to a Columbian mammoth measured 4.9 meters (16 feet). These creatures may have lived as long as 80 years.

Image by Charles R. Knight in 1909.

(Via Wikipedia)

As for the most recent discovery, the tusk was spotted in 2019 by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) who was exploring the ocean when they found what appeared to be an elephant tusk. Researchers then returned to the site this summer and recovered the tusk and realized that what they had in their possession belonged to a Columbian mammoth.

The tusk, which measured one meter in length (3.3 feet), was well-preserved due to the cold, high-pressure environment of the ocean. Thanks to computed tomography (CT) scans, the experts were able to determine that the creature lived over 100,000 years ago. This means that it is one of the oldest and best preserved mammoth tusks that have ever been found in the area.

Scientist Terrence Blackburn explained how they determined how old it was, “Our age estimate on the tusk is largely based on the natural radioactive decay of certain uranium and thorium isotopes imparted to the tusk from the ocean.”

As a matter of fact, it is quite rare to find any mammoth remains more than “tens of meters” underneath the water (the tusk mentioned in this article was found 3,048 meters underwater). “This specimen’s deep-sea preservation environment is different to anything we have seen elsewhere,” said palaeontologist Daniel Fisher.

Researchers are hoping that the tusk will reveal even more information regarding the life of the Columbian mammoth as explained by Mr. Blackburn, “Mammoth remains from continental North America are particularly rare, and so we expect that DNA from this tusk will go far to refine what we know about mammoths in this part of the world.”

Pictures of the mammoth tusk can be seen here.

New analysis of bones belonging to the ancient human relative Australopithecus sediba confirmed that they walked on two legs like a human but they climbed trees like an ape.

A team of international scientists analyzed lower back bones belonging to a female Australopithecus sediba that were found near the Malapa cave system in South Africa. She has been named Issa and she lived approximately 2 million years ago.

Experts have recovered four lower back vertebrae and a sacrum bone that links the pelvis to the spine. The experts were then able to use the spinal bones as well as other fossils that were previously found in order to reconstruct Issa’s back. As a matter of fact, this is the one of the most complete reconstructions of the back fossils of any hominin that has ever been conducted. They found that she had a curved spine which indicated that she spent a good amount of time walking on two legs. Additionally, they realized that she had five lumbar vertebrae – the same number that humans have.

Professor Lee Berger, who is the leader of the Malapa project, said, “While Issa was already one of the most complete skeletons of an ancient hominin ever discovered, these vertebrae practically complete the lower back and make Issa’s lumbar region a contender for not only the best-preserved hominin lower back ever discovered, but also probably the best preserved.”

Previous analysis of Australopithecus sediba – specifically of their upper body – revealed that they were very well adapted to climbing trees. This means that the now-extinct hominin would have been halfway in between a tree-dwelling ape and a full bipedal human.

Professor Gabrielle Russo from Stony Brook University went into further details by explaining, “While the presence of lordosis (the inward curve of the lumbar spine) and other features of the spine represent clear adaptations to walking on two legs, there are other features, such as the large and upward oriented transverse processes, that suggest powerful trunk musculature, perhaps for arboreal behaviors.” (Arboreal behavior means climbing and living in trees).

The fact that a 2-million-year-old Australopithecus sediba had both ape-like and human-like traits is incredible especially since experts have now been able to confirm it. Reconstruction of the Australopithecus sediba’s body based on the recovered bones as well as an image of what it would have looked like can be viewed here.

Australopithecus sediba silhouette showing the newly-found vertebrae along with other skeletal remains. Right: Life reconstruction of Australopithecus sediba

Left: NYU & Wits University Right: Sculpture: Elisabeth Daynes / Photograph: S. Entres-sangle

© University of Witwatersrand 

Australopithecus sediba was a transitional form of ancient human relative, a study has concluded.

Their study was published in the journal e-Life where it can be read in full.

Workers digging on the property of an old spinning factory in Turkey in an area that had not been used in over 30 years found a mysterious intact skeleton of a strange looking creature with long hind legs, short front ones, pointy nails instead of feet and extremely sharp teeth. Better yet (for investigators, at least), the skeleton had some flesh still intact. Dinosaur? Mutant? Or should we start the countdown … 3-2-1 … is this the first known skeleton of a Chupacabra (ignoring the fact that it was found in Turkey, not Texas or Puerto Rico)?

Sharp teeth did you say?

Yusuf Kıtay, the operating officer of the excavation, said the workers found the animal skeleton while they were working in an area that has not been used for the last 30-40 years outside a factory in Iğdır, a far eastern near the border with Armenia. The long-tailed skeleton was of a creature that would have stood about one meter (3.3 feet) tall and appears to have died recently. While the long hind legs might suggest it was a kangaroo, the head is the wrong shape entirely for it to be an Australian marsupial. Kitay did the right thing – he had the workers carefully remove the skeleton intact from the site and, after photographing it (a series of photos can be seen here), delivered the remains to the Iğdır University’s Biodiversity Application and Research Center.

It’s not THAT big

“Then we will ensure that this skeleton is preserved in a museum.”

So this is not just a deformed stray animal but something that is museum quality? That sounds strange. Which museum? Archeology World reports that Belkıs Muca Yiğit, a lecturer at Iğdır University, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that researchers there would attempt to identify the species of the animal and then donate it to a museum. That’s curious … it it’s an out-of-place animal like an escaped pet, why donate it to a museum? If it’s indeed the most well-preserved dinosaur skeleton complete with DNA-filled flesh, why not study it more? If it’s cryptid (note: there were no telltale dead livestock reported), why not announce the unique discovery in a three-part miniseries on some cable channel? And why have there been no further updates besides the initial report over a week ago? Is this the victim of some sort of radiation leak or worse – a strange experiment?

This could just be a misshapen common animal or an escaped pet. The secrecy makes it questionable. Let’s hope we get an update soon.

When workers were cleaning up about 6 inches of mud and other debris caused by flooding at Colorado’s Picket Wire Canyonlands in the Comanche National Grassland, they discovered between 100 and 150 dinosaur footprints. Bruce Schumacher, who is a paleontologist with the U.S. Forest Service, stated that the round footprints were left behind by dinosaurs that belonged to the same family of Brontosaurus.

Brontosaurus was a type of sauropod dinosaur that lived between 156.3 and 146.8 million years ago during the late part of Jurassic Period. These herbivores could grow as large as 72 feet in length (22 meters) and weighed as much as 17 tons. They were believed to have lived as long as 100 years and perhaps even longer.

Brontosaurus

These newly discovered footprints will be added to the approximately 2,000 prints already discovered at the location. And there could possibly be even more as Schumacher explained that they “could continue for a long, long time.” “But we’ve kind of reached a point where we’ve got a good amount exposed. At least I feel like we’re at a place to continue to manage it as it is.”

All of the dinosaur tracks have been discovered in more than 130 different trackways in about a quarter of a mile of bedrock that is located along the banks of the Purgatoire River.

During the Jurassic Period, the southeastern part of Colorado was full of forests with ground ferns, tree ferns, sequoia trees, and pine trees, along with tropical climate and a massive shallow lake where the Purgatoire River Valley is now located. Allosaurus and Apatosaurus dinosaurs often visited the shoreline where they left their tracks. In fact, the Comanche National Grassland has the biggest dinosaur track site in all of North America.

A picture of the newly discovered dinosaur footprints can be seen here.

Comanche National Grassland

(Via Wikipedia)

In addition to the massive amount of dinosaur footprints, rock art created by the Native Americans can also be found at the location on the canyon walls. These images, which are between 375 and 4,500 years old, include elk, deer, abstract designs, and humans.

The historic Rourke Ranch is another favorite area for visitors to explore. Built in 1871, it was used by Eugene and Mary Rourke who used it as a horse and cattle ranch. It was in use for three generations until being sold in 1971. Known as one of the most successful ranches in the southwest, it started out with 40 acres and grew to more than 50,000 acres.

The remains of what is believed to be one of the lost sun temples dating back about 4,500 years during the middle part of the 25^th century BCE has been unearthed by archaeologists in Egypt. The structure was found buried underneath another temple located at Abu Ghurab.

This isn’t the first sun temple that has been found. In fact, it is thought that a total of six sun temples were constructed around Abu Ghurab; however, only two had been previously discovered. Back in 1898, the sun temple of Nyuserra (also called Neuserre or Nyuserre) – the sixth king of the 5th dynasty – was found by archaeologists at the same site as the recently discovered one. It is now believed that the Nyuserra temple was built over an older one.

Reconstruction of Nyuserre’s Sun Temple by Gaston Maspero.

(Via Wikipedia)

In an email to CNN, Massimiliano Nuzzolo, who is the mission’s co-director as well as an assistant professor of Egyptology at the Polish Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures in Warsaw, went into further details, “The archaeologists of the 19th century excavated only a very small part of this mud bricks building below the stone temple of Nyuserra and concluded that this was a previous building phase of the same temple,” adding, “Now our finds demonstrate that this was a completely different building, erected before Nyuserra.” (The dig is a joint mission by the Polish Academy of Sciences as well as the University of Naples L’Orientale.)

The researchers found several items that seem to prove that the sun temple was much older than the one of Nyuserra. These artifacts, which contained engravings of kings who ruled prior to Nyuserra, included seals for jar stoppers, a limestone threshold, and the bases of two limestone columns that would have been located at the entrance.

Additional items found at the site included dozens of beer jars with some of them still containing mud that was used during ancient religious rituals. Furthermore, the jars date back one or two generations prior to when Nyuserra was alive.

Statue of Nyuserra

(Via Wikipedia)

As for the temple itself, it was constructed with mud bricks and was “…impressive in size” as described by Nuzzolo. It was later destroyed in order for Nyuserra to have his temple built which was bigger and made with stones.

Now that the latest sun temple has been unearthed, researchers are hoping to figure out which former king had it built. And by analyzing the pottery that was found there, they will hopefully learn more about those who inhabited the area during ancient times, such as their beliefs and what types of food they feasted on.

Pictures of the ancient sun temple and some of the artifacts can be viewed here.

A diamond discovered deep beneath Earth’s surface contains a mineral that has never been found before on our planet. The mineral has been named davemaoite after geophysicist Ho-kwang (Dave) Mao.

While davemaoite is the first ever discovery of a high-pressure calcium silicate perovskite (CaSiO3) on our planet, another CaSiO3 named wollastonite is plentiful on Earth. Davemaoite, however, can only form by high temperatures and a lot of pressure in the mantle of our planet.

It was long believed that Earth did contain davemaoite but experts never found any evidence of it – until now. Since davemaoite breaks into different minerals as it gets closer to the surface, finding proof of it is exceptionally difficult, but a diamond in Botswana has finally provided scientists with the evidence they needed.

(Not the diamond mentioned in this article.)

The diamond formed in Earth’s mantle approximately 410 miles (660 kilometers) below the surface. And inside of the stone was a very tiny piece of davemaoite – only a few micrometers (millionths of a meter) in size. Oliver Tschauner, who is a mineralogist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and his colleagues, used synchrotron X-ray diffraction in order to find the never-before-seen mineral inside of the diamond. In an interview with Live Science, Tschauner stated that the discovery “…came as a surprise”.

Since scientists believe that davemaoite might contain additional elements that can give off heat by radioactive decay (such as thorium and uranium), the mineral could possibly aid in providing a significant dose of heat in Earth’s mantle. Additionally, this means that diamonds can grow much farther down below Earth’s surface than previously believed and these stones could possibly lead to even more discoveries of never-before-seen minerals.

Yingwei Fe, who is a geophysicist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., but was not part of the study, weighed in on the discovery by saying, “The work by Tschauner et al. inspires hope in the discovery of other difficult high-pressure phases in nature.” “Such direct sampling of the inaccessible lower mantle would fill our knowledge gap in chemical composition of the entire mantle of our planet.”

(Not the diamond mentioned in this article.)

The discovery has led the International Mineralogical Association to confirm davemaoite as being a new mineral. A picture of the diamond that contained davemaoite can be viewed here.

This diamond holds tiny black specks of davemaoite, a mineral formed at high temperature and pressure in the deep Earth.

Credit: Aaron Celestian, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

The study was published in the journal Science where it can be read in full.