Natural Science Forum / Biology / Paleontology / June 2008

Researchers Test Canine Tooth Strength for Clues to Behavior of Early Human Ancestors
Measuring and testing the teeth of living primates could provide a window into the behavior of the earliest human ancestors, based on their fossilized remains. Research funded by the National ...

Ancient laborer burial ground excavated near Rome
(AP) -- First-century burial grounds near Rome's main airport are yielding a rare look into how ancient longshoremen and other manual workers did backbreaking jobs, archaeologists said Monday.
The necropolis, which spanned the late ...

Tree from 2,000-year-old seed is doing well
(AP) -- Just over three years old and about four-feet tall, Methuselah is growing well. "It's lovely," Dr. Sarah Sallon said of the date palm, whose parents may have provided food for the besieged Jews at Masada some 2,000 years ago.
The ...

I copy this post by J. Taylor from sci.geo.geology.
"They speculate that land bridges must have persisted between southern
South America and the Western Antarctic Archipelago"
Land bridges where have we heard this before??

Apocalypse now: NASA Martian soil micrograph shows many clear cell
remains.
See the following figures:
Fig. 1: Cells labeled and measured

Men fighting over women? It's nothing new, suggests research
Men may usually settle it over a drunken brawl in the pub or perhaps a verbal spat - but new evidence has shown for the first time that fighting over women in prehistoric times could have been worse than that.
A mass ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7424281.stm
I like placoderms in general: in addition to being really cool-
looking, the armored fishes are scientifically fascinating and
important. A new species from Australia confirms that the placoderms

Neanderthals wore make-up and liked to chat
 a.. 09:24 27 March 2008
 b.. NewScientist.com news service
 c.. Dan Jones