Life

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Life

    Some lucky birds escaped dino doomsday

    Dino doomsday took out early birds too, but a lucky few survived.

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  2. Earth

    Devastation detectives try to solve dinosaur disappearance

    Dinosaurs and others faced massive losses 66 million years ago from an asteroid impact, volcanic eruptions or maybe a mix of the two.

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  3. Paleontology

    Bony head ornaments signal some supersized dinosaurs

    Bony headwear, like bumps and horns, is tied to bigger bodies in the theropod dinosaur family tree.

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  4. Paleontology

    Ancient otter of unusual size unearthed in China

    Fossils unearthed in China reveal a newly discovered, now-extinct species of otter that lived some 6.2 million years ago.

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  5. Paleontology

    Ancient giant otter unearthed in China

    Fossils unearthed in China reveal a newly discovered, now-extinct species of otter that lived some 6.2 million years ago.

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  6. Life

    Asteroid barrage, ancient marine life boom not linked

    Impacts from asteroid debris probably didn’t trigger the boom in marine animal diversity around 471 million years ago during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event.

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  7. Paleontology

    Baby dinosaurs took three to six months to hatch

    Growth lines on teeth indicate a surprisingly long incubation period.

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  8. Life

    What a mosquito’s immune system can tell us about fighting malaria

    Immune system messengers carried in microscopic sacs help mosquitoes fend off malaria, new research suggests.

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  9. Animals

    Desert ants look to the sky, rely on memory to navigate backward

    Desert ants appear to use a combination of visual memory and celestial cues to make it back to the nest walking butt-first, researchers find.

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  10. Animals

    How desert ants navigate walking backward

    Desert ants appear to use a combination of visual memory and celestial cues to make it back to the nest walking butt-first, researchers find.

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  11. Ecosystems

    In debate over origin of fairy circles, both sides might be right

    Odd bare spots called fairy circles in African grasslands might be caused by both termites and plants.

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  12. Life

    A message to rock climbers: Be kind to nature

    Scientists are only just starting to figure out the impacts that the sport of rock climbing is having on cliff ecosystems.

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