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27,000-year-old giant ground sloth tooth is like a climate time capsule

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Updated 2:08 PM ET, Wed February 27, 2019

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Researchers found 83 tiny glassy spheres inside fossil clams from a Florida quarry. Testing suggests that they are evidence of one or more undocumented meteorite impacts in Florida's distant past.
Photos: Ancient finds
Researchers found 83 tiny glassy spheres inside fossil clams from a Florida quarry. Testing suggests that they are evidence of one or more undocumented meteorite impacts in Florida's distant past.
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This primitive dinosaur had a wide W-shaped jaw and a solid bony crest resembling a humped nose.
Photos: Ancient finds
This primitive dinosaur had a wide W-shaped jaw and a solid bony crest resembling a humped nose.
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An illustration of a Microraptor as it swallows a lizard whole during the Cretaceous period. The well-preserved fossils of the Microraptor and the lizard were both found, leading to the discovery that the lizard was a previously unknown species.
Photos: Ancient finds
An illustration of a Microraptor as it swallows a lizard whole during the Cretaceous period. The well-preserved fossils of the Microraptor and the lizard were both found, leading to the discovery that the lizard was a previously unknown species.
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The back of a skull found in a Grecian cave has been dated to 210,000 years ago. Known as Apidima 1, right, researchers were able to scan and re-create it (middle and left). The rounded shape of Apidima 1 is a unique feature of modern humans and contrasts sharply with Neanderthals and their ancestors.
Photos: Ancient finds
The back of a skull found in a Grecian cave has been dated to 210,000 years ago. Known as Apidima 1, right, researchers were able to scan and re-create it (middle and left). The rounded shape of Apidima 1 is a unique feature of modern humans and contrasts sharply with Neanderthals and their ancestors.
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A 33,000-year-old human skull shows evidence of being struck with a club-like object. The right side of the man's head has a large depressed fracture.
Photos: Ancient finds
A 33,000-year-old human skull shows evidence of being struck with a club-like object. The right side of the man's head has a large depressed fracture.
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The recently discovered fossilized femur of an ancient giant bird revealed that it weighed nearly as much as an adult polar bear and could reach 11½ feet tall. It lived between 1.5 million and 2 million years ago.
Photos: Ancient finds
The recently discovered fossilized femur of an ancient giant bird revealed that it weighed nearly as much as an adult polar bear and could reach 11½ feet tall. It lived between 1.5 million and 2 million years ago.
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This jawbone belonged to a Neanderthal girl who lived 120,000 years ago. It was found in Scladina Cave in Belgium.
Photos: Ancient finds
This jawbone belonged to a Neanderthal girl who lived 120,000 years ago. It was found in Scladina Cave in Belgium.
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This is an artist's illustration of the newly discovered dinosaur species Fostoria dhimbangunmal.
Photos: Ancient finds
This is an artist's illustration of the newly discovered dinosaur species Fostoria dhimbangunmal.
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Radiocarbon dating has revealed that this Iron Age wooden shield was made between 395 and 255 BC.
Photos: Ancient finds
Radiocarbon dating has revealed that this Iron Age wooden shield was made between 395 and 255 BC.
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