An international team of scientists have compiled data from studies of human remains in 180 archaeological sites in Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, and Sweden, dated between around 8000 – 4000 years ago – believed to be the time when farming replaced hunter-gathering in Europe. They found evidence of many head injuries from blunt […]
As more methods are developed for studying the fine detail and internal structure of dinosaur bones scientists are finding abundant evidence of disease and trauma. Here are some recent examples. Researchers in Spain analysed a trackway of dinosaur footprints and found some anomalies, described as: “wide-steps, and a set of equally deformed left footprints (with […]
Almost all bees get their nutrients from flowers. Pollen provides protein and nectar provides carbohydrates. A group of scientists have found three closely related bees of the genus Trigona that feed off dead flesh, rather than flowers. These “vulture bees” get their protein by chewing pieces of flesh from dead animals and gain additional carbohydrates […]
“Dino fight clubs” reported in Live Science and Science (AAAS) News 10 September 2021 and Paleobiology 6 September 2021, doi: 10.1017/pab.2021.29. Scientists at Royal Tyrell Museum and University of Alberta, Canada, have studied 528 skull bones of theropod dinosaurs and found 122 had bite scars from other dinosaurs. Overall, about 60% of the adult tyrannosaurids […]
Giant croc roamed South-East Queensland, according to reports in ABC News and ScienceDaily 14 June 2021 and Scientific Reports 9 June 2021, doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-91717-y. A group of scientists led by Jorgo Ristevski of University of Queensland have studied a piece of skull from an extinct crocodile, originally found in the nineteenth century, and stored in […]
Vampire finches evolve, claim scientists and David Attenborough, according to articles in Science Alert 16 January 2021, Smithsonian News 22 January 2021 and The Conversation 15 January 2021 and New Scientist 14 January 2021. Finches on two of the most northerly islands of the Galapagos Islands have been found to feed on the blood of […]
Citrus thorny problem solved, according to ScienceDaily 18 June 2020, and Current Biology 18 June 2020; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.068. Thorns on citrus trees are well known to form when branches start to develop, but stop growing and become hard and dry, leaving a sharp spike. Scientists at Yale University have now tracked down the genetic control […]
Editorial by Joseph Hubbard Violence Goes Viral in UK From Joseph Hubbard, at the time he was flying from Chicago to UK before total lockdown. My asthmatic mumhas been under isolation with Coronavirus during the past month. She has just finished quarantine and went shopping for goods desperately needed for my grandparents who are in […]
Diseased dino tail bones found, according to reports in ScienceDaily 11 February 2020, Live Science 20 February 2020, and Scientific Reports 10 February 2020, doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-59192-z. An international team of researchers led by two scientists at Tel Aviv University have studied two dinosaur tail bones from a hadrosaur, and found evidence of a bone disease […]
Giant snake swam Sahara seaway, according to reports in a Press Release from American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in Eurekalert and PhysOrg 8 July 2019, Gizmodo 8 July 2019 and Bulletin of American Museum of Natural History No. 436. 28 June 2019. An international team of scientists have conducted a survey of rock layers […]