Sea otters’ tool use leaves behind distinctive archaeological evidence
An international team of researchers has analyzed the use by sea otters of large, shoreline rocks as "anvils" to break open shells, as well as
Category : Natural History
HeritageDaily – Natural history news and press releases from across the globe
Changes in rat size reveal habitat of ‘Hobbit’ hominin
A study of rat body sizes shifting over time gives a glimpse into the habitat of the mysterious hominin Homo floresiensis -- nicknamed the "Hobbit" due to
New chimpanzee culture discovered
Chimpanzees have a more elaborate and diversified material culture than any other nonhuman primate. Their behavior varies across tropical Africa in a way that does
Foxes were domesticated by humans in the Bronze Age
In the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, between the third and second millennium BC, a widespread funeral practice consisted in burying humans with animals.
Macaque fossils discovered at the bottom of the North Sea
Together with two colleagues from the Netherlands, Senckenberg scientist Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke examined the teeth of several macaques from the bottom of the North Sea.
Research suggests life thrived on Earth 3.5 billion years ago
3.5 billion years ago Earth hosted life, but was it barely surviving, or thriving?
Ice Age survivors or stranded travellers? A new subterranean species discovered in Canada
The discovery of a new to science species of rare and primitive arthropod from the depths of a cave that was covered by a thick
Some prehistoric horses were homebodies
Unlike today's zebras, prehistoric horses in parts of North America did not make epic migrations to find food or fresh water, according to a new
Academic to embark on scientific expedition that will study giant ice shelf and attempt to locate Shackleton’s lost ship
A Loughborough University academic is embarking on a 45-day scientific expedition that hopes to increase understanding of one of the largest ice shelves in Antarctica
First-ever look at complete skeleton of Thylacoleo, Australia’s extinct ‘marsupial lion’
Thyalacoleo carnifex, the "marsupial lion" of Pleistocene Australia, was an adept hunter that got around with the help of a strong tail, according to a
4,000-year-old termite mounds found in Brazil are visible from space
Researchers have found that a vast array of regularly spaced, still-inhabited termite mounds in northeastern Brazil--covering an area the size of Great Britain--are up to
Mammoth Discovery on UK Road
The remains of a woolly mammoth from the ice age are among the latest remarkable finds on the £1.5 billion A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon project.
Tortoise evolution: How did they become so big?
Tortoises are a group of terrestrial turtles globally distributed in habitats ranging from deserts to forests and include species such as the Greek and the
Extensive trade in fish between Egypt and Canaan already 3,500 years ago
Some 3,500 years ago, there was already a brisk trade in fish on the shores of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea.
Did the ancestors of mammals live underground?
The UV radiation contained in sunlight can damage cells and genetic material. Nature has therefore provided a set of repair systems, a particularly efficient one
Ice-free corridor sustained Arctic marine life during last Ice Age
Scientists from Norway and the UK have shown that, 20.000 years ago, Arctic sea ice in the winter covered more than twice the area than
Ancient bird bones redate human activity in Madagascar by 6,000 years
Analysis of bones, from what was once the world's largest bird, has revealed that humans arrived on the tropical island of Madagascar more than 6,000
Researchers study how wolf predation shapes elk antler evolution
What happens when you mix a biologist who studies beetle horns with scientists who spend their time exploring predator-prey dynamics?
Coastal strip in Brazil sheds new light on early farming
Humans may have been cultivating plants on a narrow coastal strip in Brazil as far back as 4,800 years ago, according to a new study.
Ancient livestock dung heaps are now African wildlife hotspots
Often viewed as wild, naturally pristine and endangered by human encroachment, some of the African savannah's most fertile and biologically diverse wildlife hotspots owe their
Eastern European Woolly Mammoths changed their diet shortly before becoming extinct
Senckenberg scientists, together with an international team, studied the potential cause of extinction of the Woolly Mammoth 18,000 years ago.
99-million-year-old beetle trapped in amber served as pollinator to evergreen cycads
Flowering plants are well known for their special relationship to the insects and other animals that serve as their pollinators.