Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
- Fossils
Baby pterosaurs likely died in violent Jurassic storms
Two hatchlings with broken arm bones point to ancient storms as the cause of mass casualties now preserved in Germany’s Solnhofen Limestone.
- Fossils
Fossil teeth reveal some dinos were fussy eaters
The type of calcium in those teeth points to what herbivores preferred to eat — whether soft leaves, rough twigs or something else.
- Archaeology
Knotted strands of 500-year-old hair tell a surprising story
Used in a device called a khipu, the hair reveals the owner’s simple diet. Those data now suggest that in Incan society, even some commoners kept records.
- Plants
Potatoes and tomatoes share a surprising history
Today’s potato likely came from a chance cross between an ancient tomato and a spud-less potato-plant lookalike, research shows.
- Archaeology
This may be the oldest, most complete Neandertal fingerprint ever seen
The print appears in a red ochre dot, which a Neandertal left on the ‘nose’ of a facelike rock roughly 43,000 years ago.
- Environment
Watch out: Hail can get really big!
New data from hailstones suggest most of these icy chunks may not form the way scientists long thought.
- Humans
A real-life vampire probably couldn’t survive on blood alone
Vampires often have human bodies. To survive on blood, they’d need to shed millions of years of evolution.
- Science & Society
A century later, impacts of the Scopes ‘Monkey Trial’ still echo
The case fostered a major distrust of experts in parts of U.S. society, especially those challenging the Bible’s account that humans never evolved.
- Fossils
New clues about dino speed come from birds strutting through mud
Fossilized footprints can help calculate how fast dinosaurs moved. But tests with guinea fowl show that past estimates might not be right.
- Life
Fungi have been ‘zombifying’ insects for 99 million years
Two bits of ancient amber sitting in a lab basement hold evidence of a fungus that’s become famous for controlling the minds of its victims.
- Fossils
North American rhinos once gathered in large, hippo-like herds
The stumpy-legged rhinos survived until about 12 million years ago, when a supervolcano’s ashfall smothered their world.
- Genetics
DNA confirmed a Pueblo tribe’s ties to Chaco Canyon
DNA supports Picuris Pueblo stories of their ancestry going back more than 1,000 years — to the famous Chaco Canyon site.
