MS-LS4-1
Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
- Humans
Slicing meat may have aided human evolution
An experiment with modern-day humans shows how slicing meat could have saved human ancestors energy — and let their bodies and brains get bigger.
- Fossils
Neandertal toe contains human DNA
DNA from a 50,000-year-old Neandertal woman’s toe bone shows humans left a mark on the ancient species — and much earlier than scientists had thought.
- Animals
Picture This: Plesiosaurs swam like penguins
A computer model suggests plesiosaurs — ancient marine reptiles — swam like penguins, using front flippers for power and back flippers for steering.
- Humans
News Brief: Ancient teeth point to Neandertal relatives
New analyses of some teeth found in Siberia indicate that Neandertal cousins known as Denisovans lived there for at least 60,000 years. That would have had them around the same place as modern humans — and at nearly the same time.
- Genetics
The earliest evidence of plague
Plague is best known as the killer disease that wiped out nearly half of Europe during the 1300s. But the germ infected people up to 3,000 years earlier than that, DNA from ancient teeth now show.
- Fossils
Clues to the Great Dying
Millions of years ago, nearly all life on Earth vanished. Scientists are now starting to figure out what happened.
- Animals
Picture This: The real ‘early bird’
Long before dinosaurs went extinct, birds were emerging on Earth. These hummingbird-size wading birds are the earliest known ancestors of today’s birds.
- Fossils
‘Frankenstein’ dino showed a mashup of traits
New species unearthed in Chile is “an anatomical Frankenstein,” declares one of its discoverers.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Nematode
Nematodes are a group of related small worms found all over the world. They can cause disease, but they also can be useful for scientists to study.
- Humans
Neandertals create oldest jewelry in Europe
Adorned with all-natural signs of power: eagle claws. Holes in these claws show that Neandertals had been strung them together, like beads, as jewelry.
- Animals
Ocean animals have mushroomed in size
Compared to a half-billion year ago, sea creatures are, on average, roughly 150 times bigger, a new study finds.
- Animals
Orangutans take the low road
Cameras spotted orangutans walking down logging roads to get around. That may be a good sign that they can adapt to changes in their woodsy environment.
