HS-LS4-1
Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.
- Animals
The turning of wolves into dogs may have occurred twice
The process of turning wolves into dogs, called domestication, may have occurred twice — in the East and the West — ancient DNA suggest.
- Humans
Cave holds earliest signs of fire-making in Europe
Ancient burned bone and heated stones in a Spanish cave are the oldest evidence of ancient fire-making in Europe.
- Archaeology
Hunter-gatherers roamed Florida 14,500 years ago
Tools and bones from a submerged site in Florida show that Stone Age people lived in North America earlier than was once thought.
- Fossils
Baby titanosaur was a mini version of its parents
Fossils show that baby titanosaurs looked like mom and dad. They may have been active and independent from a young age.
- Animals
Pollen can become bee ‘junk food’ as CO2 rises
Increasing levels of the greenhouse gas are changing diminishing the food value of pollen, bees’ only source of protein.
- Fossils
How to tell if a T. rex is expecting
A chemical test of tyrannosaur bone can determine whether the dino was pregnant — and therefore a female.
- Genetics
Pacific islanders got a double dose of Stone Age DNA
Unlike other people, certain Pacific Islanders inherited DNA from two ancient human ‘cousins.’
- Humans
Slicing meat may have aided human evolution
An experiment with modern-day humans shows how slicing meat could have saved human ancestors energy — and let their bodies and brains get bigger.
- Fossils
Neandertal toe contains human DNA
DNA from a 50,000-year-old Neandertal woman’s toe bone shows humans left a mark on the ancient species — and much earlier than scientists had thought.
- Animals
Picture This: Plesiosaurs swam like penguins
A computer model suggests plesiosaurs — ancient marine reptiles — swam like penguins, using front flippers for power and back flippers for steering.
- Genetics
The earliest evidence of plague
Plague is best known as the killer disease that wiped out nearly half of Europe during the 1300s. But the germ infected people up to 3,000 years earlier than that, DNA from ancient teeth now show.
- Fossils
‘Frankenstein’ dino showed a mashup of traits
New species unearthed in Chile is “an anatomical Frankenstein,” declares one of its discoverers.
