First observation of chimpanzees cracking open tortoise shells and scooping out flesh

Chimpanzees in Gabon were seen smashing tortoises' shells and sharing the meat with each other. One male chimp was seen stashing tortoise meat into a shell, storing it in a tree, and retrieving it the following day.

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Capuchin monkeys crack open clam shells.  Storing food for later retrieval is extremely common across animal species.

Billion-year-old fossils set back evolution of earliest fungi

Minute fossils pulled from remote Arctic Canada could push back the first known appearance of fungi to about one billion years ago — more than 500 million years earlier than scientists had expected. These ur-fungi are microscopic and surprisingly intricate, with filament-like structures. Chemical analyses suggest that the fossils contain chitin, a compound found in fungal cell walls.

Lokiarchaeota and the tree of life

These newly discovered archaea have genes that are considered hallmarks of eukaryotes. And deep analysis of the organisms’ DNA suggests that modern eukaryotes belong to the same archaeal group. If that’s the case, essentially all complex life — everything from green algae to blue whales — originally came from archaea.

Biggest Denisovan fossil reveals that the ancient human was widespread across the world

Scientists have uncovered the most complete remains yet from the ancient-hominin group known as the Denisovans. The jawbone, discovered high on the Tibetan Plateau and dated to more than 160,000 years ago, is also the first Denisovan specimen found outside the Siberian cave in which the hominin was uncovered a decade ago — confirming suspicions that Denisovans were more widespread than the fossil record currently suggests.