Life
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Paleontology
The last ice age wasn’t totally icy
Radiocarbon dating of fossils taken from caves on islands along Alaska's southeastern coast suggest that at least a portion of the area remained ice-free during the last ice age.
- Paleontology
Allosaurus as a Jurassic headbanger
The skull of the carnivorous dinosaur Allosaurus fragilis can resist levels of stress much higher than those expected from chewing, which may provide insight into the animal's method of attacking its prey.
- Paleontology
Calling all orthodontists. . .
Researchers have unearthed fossils of a theropod dinosaur whose front teeth grew almost directly forward, which sets it apart from all other related species.
- Animals
Shielded cells help fish ignore noise
Fish can sort out the interesting ripples from the background rush of water currents through sensors shielded in canals that run along their flanks.
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- Paleontology
Early Biped Fossil Pops Up in Europe
A newly described, nearly complete 290-million-year-old fossil of an ancient reptile pushes back the evidence for terrestrial bipedalism by 60 million years.
- Animals
Dull birds and bright ones beat so-so guys
The plumage of yearling male lazuli buntings shows signs of a rare form of evolutionary pressure called disruptive selection.
- Paleontology
Listening to fish for extinction clues
Tiny fossils from fish that survived worldwide extinctions about 34 million years ago may reveal that cooler winters caused the die-off.
- Animals
Second bird genus shares dart-frog toxins
Researchers have found a second bird genus, also in New Guinea, that carries the same toxins as poison-dart frogs in Central and South America.
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- Animals
Wasps drive frog eggs to (escape) hatch
A tree frog's eggs can match their response to the degree of danger: all-out mass action for snakes but less activity for one wasp.
- Animals
Beetle fights bass in mouthwash duel
A whirligig beetle duels with a hungry fish by dribbling out a repulsive chemical while the fish tries to rinse it off.
