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ScienceAnimalsPaleontologists Study 9,000-Year-Old Aurochs Bones and Wonder if the Beasts Were Tamed
For some 9,000 years, the bones of three aurochs—huge, extinct ancestors of modern cattle—languished at the bottom of a cave in northwestern Spain. A team of paleontologists have now genetically sampled the Mesolithic remains, which were found in the 1990s near a human skeleton, and they believe that the DNA could help decipher the mystery of … Continued
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EartherClimate ChangeHumans Have Destroyed 97% Of Earth’s Ecosystems
Only 3% of land on Earth still qualifies as “ecologically intact,” with undisturbed habitats and healthy populations of its original animal species, grim new research shows. That’s a much bleaker picture than the one painted by previous assessments, which pegged that number much higher, estimating that 20% to 40% of land is still intact. But … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
ScienceAnimalsTasmanian Tigers Could Still Have Been Alive in the 2000s, Scientists Argue
Of all the animals to have gone extinct since humans were around to notice, perhaps none loom as large in our collective consciousness as the thylacine, commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger. Unlike the dodo or the woolly mammoth, the thylacine is still lit, however dimly, in living memory. In fact, since the last known … Continued
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ScienceAnimalsAn Ancient Breed of Singing Dog Isn’t Extinct in the Wild After All
A breed of wild dog known for its lyrical sounds may not be as extinct as we thought, according to a new paper out Monday. The study details genetic evidence suggesting that the New Guinea singing dog—thought to have only existed in captivity for the past 50 years—is still alive in the wilds of Indonesia. … Continued
By Ed Cara
