ScienceDaily: Fossils & Ruins News

Giant rodent used incisors like tusks Posted: 03 Feb 2015 05:43 PM PST The largest rodent ever to have lived may have used its front teeth just like an elephant uses its tusks, a new study has found. “We concluded that Josephoartigasia must have used its incisors for activities other than biting, such as digging in the ground for food, or defending itself from predators. This is very similar to how a modern day elephant uses its tusks,” an investigator said.

Scientists discover organism that hasn't evolved in more than 2 billion years Posted: 03 Feb 2015 07:41 AM PST The greatest absence of evolution ever reported has been discovered by an international group of scientists: a type of deep-sea microorganism that appears not to have evolved over more than 2 billion years. But the researchers say that the organisms' lack of evolution actually supports Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Fishy cooking habits of North American hunter-gatherers revealed Posted: 03 Feb 2015 06:43 AM PST Archaeologists have discovered the first use of pottery in north-eastern North America was largely due to the cooking, storage and social feasting of fish by hunter-gatherers.

New mechanism of inheritance could advance study of evolution, disease treatment Posted: 02 Feb 2015 06:24 PM PST A specific mechanism by which a parent can pass silenced genes to its offspring has been uncovered by researchers for the first time. Importantly, the team found that this silencing could persist for multiple generations -- more than 25, in the case of this study.