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Australian fairy circles first to be found outside Africa

Discovery adds to mystery of how polka-dot patterns in grasslands form

fairy circle in Australia

EXPLAIN THIS  An aerial view of dry grassland in Australia’s Pilbara region reveals fairy circles of bare hardened soil (inset) that few scientists knew about until now.

Aerial: Kevin Sanders; inset: S. Getzin

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

Beyond the small mining town of Newman in Western Australia lie the first fairy circles scientists have described outside of Africa.