NewsPronto

 
The Times


.

USA Conversation

The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

Rare Florida fossil finally ends debate about how porcupine jaws and tails evolved

  • Written by Natasha S. Vitek, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)
imageA porcupine fossil recovered in Florida was the key clue in solving a paleontological mystery.Jeff Gage/Florida Museum, CC BY-ND

A rare, nearly complete fossil of an extinct North American porcupine helped me and my colleagues solve a decades-long debate about how the modern North American porcupine evolved from its ancestors.

Published in Current...

Read more: Rare Florida fossil finally ends debate about how porcupine jaws and tails evolved

More Articles ...

  1. Pager attack on Hezbollah was a sophisticated ‘booby-trap’ operation − it was also illegal
  2. Immigrants are unsung heroes of global trade and value creation
  3. How Israel’s Netanyahu survives in his job
  4. Why the cost of water for poor Black Detroit voters may be key to Kamala Harris winning – or losing – Michigan
  5. Invasive caterpillars can make aspen forests more toxic for native insects – a team of ecologists explains how
  6. TRUTH in Labeling Act would heighten the warning for shoppers looking to cut sugar, salt and saturated fat intake
  7. You want to vote in the 2024 election − here is how to make sure that your voice is heard
  8. 50 years after the first procedure, Tommy John surgery is more common than ever − especially for young athletes
  9. Collaboratively imagining the future can bring people closer together in the present
  10. Fed slashes rates by a half-point – what that means for the economy and the presidential election
  11. Pagers and walkie-talkies over cellphones – a security expert explains why Hezbollah went low-tech for communications
  12. Preventive care is free by law, but many Americans get incorrectly billed − especially if you’re poor, a person of color or don’t have a college degree
  13. What the jet stream and climate change had to do with the hottest summer on record − remember all those heat domes?
  14. What James Earl Jones can teach us about activism and art in times of crisis
  15. To American revolutionaries, patriotism meant fair dealing with one another
  16. UN’s pact to protect future generations will be undermined by Security Council’s veto and its use in cases of mass atrocity
  17. Why Pennsylvania is the key to a Harris or Trump Electoral College victory
  18. Young professionals are struggling to socially adapt in the workplace – educators can help
  19. Abortion rights are on 10 state ballots in November − Democrats can’t count on this to win elections for them
  20. How the Israeli settlers movement shaped modern Israel
  21. Eviction filings can destabilize tenants’ lives – even when they win their case
  22. Trump’s second assassination attempt is shocking, but attempts on presidents’ lives are not rare in US history
  23. Happiness swings votes – and America’s current mood could scramble expectations of young and old voters
  24. Why holding kids back fails − and what to do about it
  25. Denver’s experiment in providing a soft landing for newly arrived migrants and asylum-seekers isn’t cheap – but doing nothing might cost more
  26. Lost in translation: What spirituality and Einstein’s theory of time have to do with misunderstandings about climate change
  27. Health care under Harris versus Trump: A public health historian sizes up their records
  28. ‘They’re eating pets’ – another example of US politicians smearing Haiti and Haitian immigrants
  29. Tiny robots and AI algorithms could help to craft material solutions for cleaner environments
  30. TikTok ban goes to the court: 5 essential reads on the case and its consequences
  31. America’s dairy farms are disappearing, down 95% since the 1970s − milk price rules are one reason why
  32. Class and race can create divides between donors and a cause they support − putting stress on those nonprofits
  33. Empowering engineering students through storytelling
  34. Women are still underrepresented in local government, despite a woman running for president
  35. Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot system has a problem − but it’s not what Trump is making unfounded claims about
  36. Intoxication nation: a double shot of US history
  37. Will your phone one day let you smell as well as see and hear what’s on the other end of a call?
  38. What are halal mortgages?
  39. How researchers measure wildfire smoke exposure doesn’t capture long-term health effects − and hides racial disparities
  40. Plants get a GMO glow-up: Genetically modified varieties are coming out of the lab and into homes and gardens
  41. Vatican News: How to Stay Informed on the Global Religious Landscape
  42. Students ride the rails in this course to learn about sustainability and tourism
  43. Creative life after death − or yes, you can control spinoffs from beyond the grave
  44. Sunflowers make small moves to maximize their Sun exposure − physicists can model them to predict how they grow
  45. Voters’ ‘moral flexibility’ helps them defend politicians’ misinformation − if they believe the inaccurate info speaks to a larger truth
  46. Wild ginseng is declining, but small-scale ‘diggers’ aren’t the main threat to this native plant − and they can help save it
  47. Colorado voters weigh a ban on hunting mountain lions as attitudes toward wild predators shift
  48. Endometriosis pain leads to missed school and work in two-thirds of women with the condition, new study finds
  49. Photographer Louis Carlos Bernal memorialized the barrios at the US-Mexican border
  50. Fujimori’s death won’t end pursuit of justice for Peruvian victims – or stop the strongman’s supporters from revering his legacy