News tagged with fossil evidence

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Ancient penguin DNA raises doubts about accuracy of genetic dating techniques

Ancient penguin DNA raises doubts about accuracy of genetic dating techniques

Biology / Evolution

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 15

Penguins that died 44,000 years ago in Antarctica have provided extraordinary frozen DNA samples that challenge the accuracy of traditional genetic aging measurements, and suggest those approaches have been ...


Like a hungry teen, life on Earth had big growth spurts

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 27, 2009 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (7) | comments 8

Twice in the Earth's history, living creatures underwent astonishing growth spurts, and each time, new organisms emerged that were a million times larger than anything that had existed before.


Komodo dragon

Rediscovering the dragon's paradise lost

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Sep 30, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 2

The world's largest living lizard species, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), is vulnerable to extinction and yet little is known about its natural history. New research by a team of palaeontologists and ar ...


Getting a leg up on whale and dolphin evolution

Getting a leg up on whale and dolphin evolution

Biology / Evolution

created Sep 24, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 0

When the ancestors of living cetaceans—whales, dolphins and porpoises—first dipped their toes into water, a series of evolutionary changes were sparked that ultimately nestled these swimming mammals into the ...


Weeds that reinvented weediness

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Flowering plants are all around us and are phenomenally successful—but how did they get to be so successful and where did they come from? This question bothered Darwin and others and a paper published in the September issue ...


Hippo ancestry disputed: Researchers rebut family tree involving hippos, whales and pigs

Biology / Evolution

created Mar 18, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 0

Hippos spend lots of time in the water and now it turns out (or researchers argue), they are the closest living relative to whales. It also turns out, the two are swimming in a bit of controversy.


Scientists uncover a dramatic rise in sea level and its broad ramifications

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Feb 09, 2009 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (13) | comments 9

Scientists have found proof in Bermuda that the planet's sea level was once more than 21 meters (70 feet) higher about 400,000 years ago than it is now. Their findings were published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews Wednes ...