http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/early_mammals/ Prehistoric Mammal News. From the first swimming mammals to a banana-jawed fossil mammal, read about all the news in paleontology. Current science articles and images. en-us Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:05:01 EST Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/early_mammals/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120203102414.htm They are tiny, ugly, disease-carrying little blood-suckers that most people have never seen or heard of, but a new discovery in a one-of-a-kind fossil shows that "bat flies" have been doing their noxious business with bats for at least 20 million years. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:24:24 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120203102414.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120130171911.htm It took about 10 million generations for terrestrial mammals to hit their maximum mass: that's about the size of a cat evolving into the size of an elephant. Sea mammals, such as whales took about half the number of generations to hit their maximum. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:19:19 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120130171911.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120130171909.htm Scientists have for the first time measured how fast large-scale evolution can occur in mammals, showing it takes 24 million generations for a mouse-sized animal to evolve to the size of an elephant. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:19:19 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120130171909.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112134321.htm A team of geneticists and computational biologists have reveal how an ancient mechanism is involved in gene control and continues to drive genome evolution. Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:43:43 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112134321.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111227093055.htm Climate changes profoundly influenced the rise and fall of six distinct, successive waves of mammal species diversity in North America over the last 65 million years, shows a novel statistical analysis by evolutionary biologists. Warming and cooling periods, in two cases confounded by species migrations, marked the transition from one dominant grouping to the next. Tue, 27 Dec 2011 09:30:30 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111227093055.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111206101456.htm A species of ancient predator with saw-like teeth, sleek bodies and a voracious appetite for meat survived a major extinction at a time when the distant relatives of mammals ruled the earth. Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:14:14 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111206101456.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111116174738.htm Extinct animals hide their secrets well, but an exceptionally well-preserved fossil of an aquatic reptile, with traces of soft tissue present, is providing scientists a new window into the behavior of these ancient swimmers. Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:47:47 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111116174738.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111115175635.htm The brightest hues in nature are produced by tiny patterns in, say, feathers or scales rather than pigments. These so-called "structural colors" are widespread, giving opals their fire, people their blue eyes, and peacocks their brilliant feathers. Now, a new study brings us closer to the origins of structural colors by reconstructing them in fossil moths that are 47 million years old. Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:56:56 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111115175635.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111110125949.htm New research comparing rats and mice with their distance relatives the marsupial, suggests that moveable whiskers were an important milestone in the evolution of mammals from reptiles. Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:59:59 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111110125949.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111109131304.htm The so-called expensive-tissue hypothesis, which suggests a trade-off between the size of the brain and the size of the digestive tract, has been challenged. Researchers have now shown that brains in mammals have grown over the course of evolution without the digestive organs having to become smaller. The researchers have further demonstrated that the potential to store fat often goes hand in hand with relatively small brains -- except in humans, who owe their increased energy intake and correspondingly large brain to communal child care, better diet and their ability to walk upright. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:13:13 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111109131304.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161253.htm Did climate change or humans cause the extinctions of the large-bodied Ice Age mammals such as the woolly rhinoceros and woolly mammoth? Scientists have for years debated the reasons behind the Ice Age mass extinctions, which caused the loss of a third of the large mammals in Eurasia and two thirds of the large mammals in North America. Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:12:12 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161253.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161052.htm Was it humans or climate change that caused the extinctions of the iconic Ice Age mammals (megafauna) such as the woolly rhinoceros and woolly mammoth? For decades, scientists have been debating the reasons behind these enigmatic Ice Age mass extinctions, which caused the loss of a third of the large mammal species in Eurasia and two thirds of the species in North America. Now an interdisciplinary research team has tried to tackle the contentious question in the biggest study of its kind. And the answers are far more complicated than ever imagined. Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:10:10 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161052.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161050.htm Paleontologists have discovered two skulls from the first known mammal of the early Late Cretaceous period of South America. The fossils break a roughly 60 million-year gap in the currently known mammalian record of the continent and provide new clues on the early evolution of mammals. Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:10:10 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161050.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161041.htm Both climate change and humans were responsible for the extinction of some large mammals, according to research that is the first of its kind to use genetic, archeological, and climatic data together to infer the population history of large Ice Age mammals. The large international team's research is expected to shed light on the possible fates of living species of mammals as our planet continues its current warming cycle. Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:10:10 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102161041.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020145100.htm The tip of a bone point fragment found embedded in a mastodon rib from an archaeological site in Washington state shows that hunters were present in North America at least 800 years before Clovis, confirming that the first inhabitants arrived earlier to North America than previously thought, says a team of researchers. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:51:51 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020145100.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020145054.htm A new and astonishing chapter has been added to North American prehistory in regards to the first hunters and their hunt for the now extinct giant mammoth-like creatures -- the mastodons. New research has shown that the hunt for large mammals occurred at least 1,000 years before previously assumed. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:50:50 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020145054.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111018211341.htm Can a bird have a heart attack? A new study suggests that cardiovascular disease may be an unfortunate consequence of mammalian evolution. The study demonstrates that the same features of blood platelets that may have provided an evolutionary advantage to early mammals now predispose humans to cardiovascular disease. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:13:13 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111018211341.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111011192420.htm An international team of researchers have found the oldest rodent fossils in South America. The find confirms the animals origin in Africa and contradicts the conclusion that they spread from south to north, which was deduced from the fossil record just 20 years ago. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:24:24 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111011192420.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110925185434.htm Genetic parasites invaded the mammalian genome more than 100 million years ago and dramatically changed the way mammals reproduce -- transforming the uterus in the ancestors of humans and other mammals from the production of eggs to a nurturing home for developing young, a new study has found. Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:54:54 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110925185434.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110914115831.htm The blood from woolly mammoths -- those extinct elephant-like creatures that roamed Earth in pre-historic times -- is helping scientists develop new blood products for modern medical procedures that involve reducing patients' body temperature. Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:58:58 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110914115831.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110901142100.htm Fossil discoveries from Tibet offer new insights into the origin of the cold-adapted Pleistocene megafauna. A new research paper posits that the harsh winters of the rising Tibetan Plateau may have provided the initial step towards cold-adaptation for several subsequently successful members of the late Pleistocene mammoth fauna in Europe, Asia, and to a lesser extent, North America. The Tibetan Plateau, therefore, may have been another cradle of the Ice Age giants. Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:21:21 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110901142100.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110824131535.htm A remarkably well-preserved fossil discovered in northeast China provides new information about the earliest ancestors of most of today's mammal species -- the placental mammals. This fossil represents a new milestone in mammal evolution that was reached 35 million years earlier than previously thought, filling an important gap in the fossil record and helping to calibrate modern, DNA-based methods of dating the evolution. Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:15:15 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110824131535.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110822154748.htm Skewed skulls may have helped early whales discriminate the direction of sounds in water and are not solely, as previously thought, a later adaptation related to echolocation. Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:47:47 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110822154748.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110802090407.htm Molecular scientists have discovered that star ascidians, also known as sea squirts, have pacemaker cells similar to that of the human heart. The research may offer a new insight into the early evolution of the heart as star ascidians are one of the closest related invertebrates to mammals. Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:04:04 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110802090407.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110720142350.htm A prehistoric crocodile thought to have originated in Europe now appears to have been a Texas native, new research shows. The switch for the genus Terminonaris is based on the identification of a well-preserved fossil snout that was discovered near the waters edge of a Dallas-area lake. The 96-million-year-old fossil is the oldest of its kind worldwide, indicating Terminonaris likely originated in Texas and dispersed northward. Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:23:23 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110720142350.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110706195758.htm If ancient gray whale populations migrated and fed the same as today's whales, what happened during the Ice Ages, when their major feeding grounds disappeared? Paleontologists argue that gray whales utilized a range of food sources in the past, including herring and krill, in addition to the benthic organisms they consume today. As a result, pre-whaling populations were two to four times greater than today's population of around 22,000. Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:57:57 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110706195758.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110628132557.htm When dinosaurs were first discovered in the mid-19th century, paleontologists thought they were plodding beasts that relied on their environment to keep warm, like modern-day reptiles. Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:25:25 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110628132557.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110623141312.htm Were dinosaurs slow and lumbering, or quick and agile? It depends largely on whether they were cold or warm blooded. Now, a team of researchers has developed a new approach to take body temperatures of dinosaurs for the first time, providing new insights into whether dinosaurs were cold or warm blooded. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:13:13 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110623141312.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110622115317.htm A new theory of the origin of birds, traditionally believed to be driven by the evolution of flight, is now being credited to the emergence of enlarged skeletal muscles in birds. Their upright two-leggedness, he says, led to the opportunity for other adaptive changes like flying or swimming. Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:53:53 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110622115317.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110621131334.htm Researchers have discovered a bone fragment, approximately 13,000 years old, in Florida with an incised image of a mammoth or mastodon. This engraving is the oldest and only known example of Ice Age art to depict a proboscidean (the order of animals with trunks) in the Americas. Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:13:13 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110621131334.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110531085004.htm A DNA-based study sheds new light on the complex evolutionary history of the woolly mammoth, suggesting it mated with a completely different and much larger species. The research found the woolly mammoth, which lived in the cold climate of the Arctic tundra, interbred with the Columbian mammoth, which preferred the more temperate regions of North America and was some 25 percent larger. Tue, 31 May 2011 08:50:50 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110531085004.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110524153420.htm Fossils from Inner Mongolia are a new species of birch mice, Sicista primus. This significantly extends the geologic history of the rodent family that includes jumping mice. The teeth from sediments 17 million years old distinguish the birch mice genus Sicista as a rare "living fossil" and indicate Sicista migrated from Asia to North America, contrary to what scientists previously hypothesized. Tue, 24 May 2011 15:34:34 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110524153420.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110519141603.htm A rose by any other name would smell as sweet; the saying is perhaps a testament to the acute sense of smell that is unique to mammals. Paleontologists have now discovered that an improved sense of smell jumpstarted brain evolution in the ancestral cousins of present-day mammals. Thu, 19 May 2011 14:16:16 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110519141603.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110512150823.htm More than 200 million years ago, mammals and reptiles lived in their own separate worlds on the supercontinent Pangaea, despite little geographical incentive to do so. Mammals lived in areas of twice-yearly seasonal rainfall; reptiles stayed in areas where rains came just once a year. Mammals lose more water when they excrete, and thus need water-rich environments to survive. Thu, 12 May 2011 15:08:08 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110512150823.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110428162310.htm According to prehistoric records, elk roamed the northwestern part of Missouri, U.S. until 1865. Now, the Missouri Department of Conservation is planning to reintroduce elk, but this time in the southeast part of the state. While an anthropologist believes the reintroduction is good for elk, tourism and the economy, he said the effort may have unintended negative consequences that are difficult to predict. Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:23:23 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110428162310.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110421161725.htm What tales they tell of their former lives, these old bones of sirenians, relatives of today's dugongs and manatees. And now, geologists have found, they tell of the waters in which they swam. While researching the evolutionary ecology of ancient sirenians -- commonly known as sea cows -- scientists unexpectedly stumbled across data that could change the view of climate during the Eocene Epoch, some 50 million years ago. Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:17:17 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110421161725.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110419131543.htm Markings on fossilized front teeth show that right-handedness goes back a half-million years in the human family. Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:15:15 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110419131543.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110413132949.htm A new, complete fossil turns what's known about the evolution of early mammals on its ear. The specimen shows the bones associated with hearing in mammals -- the malleus, incus and ectotympanic -- decoupled from the lower jaw, as had been predicted, but were held in place by an ossified cartilage that rested in a groove on the lower jaw. Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:29:29 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110413132949.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110405194055.htm A new study louses up a popular theory of animal evolution and opens up the possibility that dinosaurs were early -- perhaps even the first -- animal hosts of lice. Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:40:40 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110405194055.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110330101036.htm Researchers from the University of York and Manchester have successfully extracted protein from the bones of a 600,000-year-old mammoth, paving the way for the identification of ancient fossils. Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:10:10 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110330101036.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110311173104.htm Dinosaurs did not always enjoy mild climates. New findings show that during part of the Early Cretaceous, north-east China had a temperate climate with harsh winters. They explain the abundance of feathered dinosaurs in fossil deposits of that period. Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:31:31 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110311173104.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110307124959.htm A new study demonstrates extinction's ripple effect through the animal kingdom, including how the demise of large mammals 20,000 years ago led to the disappearance of one species of cowbird. Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:49:49 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110307124959.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110303141542.htm Fossil records verify a long-standing theory that horses evolved through natural selection. Scientists arrived at the conclusion after examining the teeth of 6,500 fossil horses representing 222 different populations of more than 70 extinct horse species. Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:15:15 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110303141542.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101222121610.htm Two researchers have found that our 98.6 F (37 C) body temperature strikes a perfect balance: warm enough to ward off fungal infection but not so hot that we need to eat nonstop to maintain our metabolism. Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:16:16 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101222121610.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101221172244.htm By comparing the DNA of modern elephants from Africa and Asia to DNA extracted from two extinct species, the woolly mammoth and the mastodon, researchers have concluded that Africa has two -- not one -- species of elephant. Since 1950, all African elephants have been conserved as one species. Now that we know the forest and savanna elephants are two very different animals, the forest elephant should become a bigger priority for conservation purposes. Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:22:22 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101221172244.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101221114807.htm Woolly mammoths living north of the Arctic Circle during the Pleistocene Epoch (approx. 150,000 to 40,000 years ago) began weaning infants up to three years later than modern day African elephants due to prolonged hours of darkness, new research suggests. This adapted nursing pattern could have contributed to the prehistoric elephant's eventual extinction. Tue, 21 Dec 2010 11:48:48 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101221114807.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101221101920.htm Rodents have been one of the most common mammals in Africa for 50 million years. From deserts to rainforests, they flourished in prehistoric Africa, making them a plentiful food source. Now paleontologists are using rodent fossils to corroborate evidence from geology and plant and animal fossils about the ancient environments of our human ancestors and other mammals. Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:19:19 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101221101920.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101216165523.htm There's a whale of a new display at the University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History, a leviathan that represents a scientific saga of equally grand proportions. Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:55:55 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101216165523.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101127105348.htm Over millions of years dogs have developed bigger brains than cats because highly social species of mammals need more brain power than solitary animals, according to a new study. Sat, 27 Nov 2010 10:53:53 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101127105348.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101118093418.htm Researchers have unearthed a mysterious link between bones of an ancient lizard found in Africa and the biggest, baddest modern-day lizard of them all, the Komodo dragon, half a world away in Indonesia. Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:34:34 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101118093418.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101105124241.htm Evolutionary divergence of humans and chimpanzees likely occurred some 8 million years ago rather than the 5 million year estimate widely accepted by scientists, a new statistical model suggests. Fri, 05 Nov 2010 12:42:42 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101105124241.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101103081920.htm The mysterious origins of Australia's bizarre and secretive marsupial moles have been cast in a whole new and unexpected light with the first discovery in the fossil record of one of their ancestors. The find reveals a remarkable journey through time, place and lifestyle: living marsupial moles are found underground in deserts but their ancestors lived in lush rainforest. Wed, 03 Nov 2010 08:19:19 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101103081920.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101103081915.htm Fossil finger bones of early human ancestors suggest that Neanderthals were more promiscuous than human populations today, researchers have found. Wed, 03 Nov 2010 08:19:19 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101103081915.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101021165247.htm Central Africa 65 million years ago was a low-elevation tropical belt, but still undetermined is whether the region's mammals lived beneath a lush rainforest canopy. Evidence is weak and unconvincing, says a paleobotanist. A review of the literature shows Cenozoic paleobotanical data for Africa are generally meager and uneven, and fossil pollen from Central and West Africa provide no definitive evidence for communities of rainforest trees. Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:52:52 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101021165247.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101015185836.htm It turns out that the undisputed king of the dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex, didn't just eat other dinosaurs but also each other. Paleontologists from the United States and Canada have found bite marks on the giants' bones that were made by other T. rex, according to a new study. Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:58:58 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101015185836.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101013212637.htm The sperm whale fossil record had still not revealed all its secrets -- until now. With the exception of a few isolated, large teeth, only animals significantly smaller than modern sperm whales have been discovered. Researchers discovered, in the coastal desert of the Ica region (southern Peru), the remains of a very large fossil sperm whale were unearthed in Miocene beds (12-13 million years ago) at the Cerro Colorado site. The skull, lower jaw and teeth of this giant predator were recovered. Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:26:26 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101013212637.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101011142411.htm Researchers presenting new fossil evidence of an exceptionally well-preserved 55-million-year-old North American mammal have found it shares a common ancestor with rodents and primates, including humans. Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:24:24 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101011142411.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100929171823.htm Biologists provide the first genetic evidence for the loss of mineralized teeth in the common ancestor of baleen whales. This genomic record, they argue, is fully compatible with the available fossil record showing that the origin of baleen and the loss of teeth both occurred in the common ancestor of modern baleen whales. Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:18:18 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100929171823.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100929132606.htm Computational biologists say that species are still accumulating on Earth but at a slower rate than in the past. Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:26:26 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100929132606.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100907081643.htm Researchers in Spain have gathered together all findings of the woolly mammoth, the woolly rhinoceros and the reindeer in the Iberian Peninsula to show that, although in small numbers, these big mammals -- prehistoric indicators of cold climates -- already lived in this territory some 150,000 years ago. Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:16:16 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100907081643.htm