Latest science news in Paleontology & Archaeology
Green Blog: A Spring Sprung Too Soon Is Death Blow to Butterfly
Early snow melts can throw a butterfly's life cycle out of whack, accounting for 84 percent of the variations in its population over a 25-year period.
Crocodiles are world-class chompers
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., March 16 (UPI) -- When it comes to biting, crocodiles are the heavyweight chomp champions of the animal world, Florida researchers say.
'World's oldest temple' was a happenin' place
Ancient blades made of volcanic rock that were discovered at what may be the world's oldest temple suggest that the site in Turkey was the hub of a pilgrimage that...
With Climate Change, U.S. Could Face Risk From Chagas Disease
People in the US may be at higher risk for Chagas disease than previously understood. A new study finds that 38% of kissing bugs collected in Arizona and California contained...
Some Mammals Used Highly Complex Teeth to Compete with Dinosaurs
New research shows that at least one group of small mammals, the multituberculates, actually flourished in the last 20 million years of dinosaurs' reign and survived their extinction.
Country diary: Allendale, Northumberland: Lungwort and the doctrine of signatures
Allendale, Northumberland: Early herbalists searching for remedies made links between parts of the body and their likenesses in plants; they saw a resemblance between lungwort leaves and the mottling of a diseased lungAs...
Crocodiles Have Strongest Bite Ever Measured, Hands-on Tests Show
An "extraordinary" new study—based on treacherous hands-on measurements—suggests crocs are "force-generating machines" rivaling T. rex.
Islam Analysis: Reviving a culture of entrepreneurship
The Muslim world and donors should use nongovernmental networks to nurture the dormant seeds of entrepreneurship, says Athar Osama.
Fossils may be oldest example of live reptile birth
Newly found fossils of embryos from the first aquatic reptiles called mesosaurs — along with a pregnant female — may be the oldest known example of birth given to live...
Mystery bird: slaty vireo, Vireo brevipennis | @GrrlScientist
This handsome Mexican endemic has one of the most distinctive plumage colour patterns of any of its family members Slaty vireo, Vireo brevipennis (protonym, Neochloe brevipennis), Sclater, PL, 1858, also known as the...
Lab chemicals removed from Texas campus
Lab chemicals removed from Texas campusNature News , 15032012 doi: 10.1038/nature.2012.10238Eugenie Samuel ReichQuestions raised over biosecurity after student found with vials from university.
Mount A student names new plant after alma mater
A student at Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B., has honoured his alma mater in a unique way by naming a brand new species of marine plant after the university.
‘Spiders Alive!’ at the Natural History Museum
For the exhibition “Spiders Alive!” at the American Museum of Natural History, staff members are training some tarantulas to be picked up and shown to visitors.
Fossils in China reveal new Stone Age people
Four sets of mysterious human-like fossils found in China may offer insight into a previously unknown Stone Age people, according to an international team of scientists.
Digital Spell-Checking May Be Killing Off Words
A Google-aided study of more than 10 million words reveals a life cycle of language.
ChronoZoom: A deep dive into the history of everything
Imagine a timeline of the universe, complete with high-resolution videos and images, in which you could zoom from a chronology of Egypts dynasties and pyramids to the tale of a...
Worm Discovery Illuminates How Our Brains Might Have Evolved
Our earliest invertebrate ancestors did not have brains. Yet, over hundreds of millions of years, we and other vertebrates have developed amazingly complicated mental machinery. "It must have evolutionary...
German celebrity bunny crushed to death by cameraman
Rabbit born without ears killed by TV crew member just as Saxony zoo prepared it for global fameAn earless baby rabbit that became a rising star on Germany's celebrity animal scene had...
Dutch 'Repair Cafe' give trash a new lease of life
A broken-down vacuum cleaner, an old bicycle, a torn shirt ... almost nothing is impossible to fix for a group of crafty Dutch volunteers dedicated to giving potential trash a...
'Pope's crocodile' sent to Cuba
One of Pope Benedict's top aides attends a send-off ceremony at Rome zoo for a rare Cuban crocodile which is being returned to Cuba ahead of the Pope's trip to...
Feds say Wyo. tribe's bald eagle permit a first
(AP) -- A federal permit allowing the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Wyoming to kill up to two bald eagles for religious purposes is the first of its kind ever...
Scientists find ancient camel fossils in Panama
Researchers scratching in the sediment during the historic expansion of the Panama Canal say they have discovered the fossils of a small camel with a long snout that roamed the...
Biblical relic dealer acquitted in forgery trial
An Israeli antiquities dealer accused of forging biblical and early Jewish relics has been acquitted of the charges, a verdict that is unlikely to dampen the controversy over whether the...
Greek archaeologists say austerity hurts heritage
State-employed archaeologists in crisis-hit Greece say government spending cuts pose a severe threat to the country's rich cultural heritage.
My literary lifespan project is nearly complete – can you help?
For the last three years I've been selecting a pair of classic fiction extracts (male and female) to represent each age up to 70. Now all I need is a 69-year-old man...
Crayfish Fake Out Attackers With Large, Weak Claws
Big-clawed males win a stare down, but if it comes to blows, their weak, big claws may not be strong enough.
Scientists use Thoreau's journal notes to track climate change
Researchers use Walden author's tables of flowering dates in 1840s Massachusetts to show temperature has risen 2.4CFittingly for a man seen as the first environmentalist, Henry David Thoreau, who described his isolated life...
Live Chat: Spring Forward—The Ecological Impact of Climate Change on the Seasons
Talk with experts about the science of unseasonably early spring