Mammals' tusked ancestor roamed Australia

Scientists say rare fossils found in Tasmania's south-east prove that an ancient species of prehistoric animal did exist throughout Australia.  The dicynodont was an early ancestor of modern-day mammals and lived about 250 million years ago.  Roughly the size of a cow, the plant-eating animal had two tusks and a horny beak.

Earth-sized planets orbit distant star

The first two Earth-like worlds orbiting another star have been detected, although neither are believed to be suitable for life.

Wild rav­ens pur­pose­fully show ob­jects to their mat­ing part­ner­s

The class of be­hav­iours termed deic­tic ges­tures, which in­clude point­ing and show­ing, are aimed at draw­ing at­ten­tion to an ex­ter­nal ob­ject. Such ges­tures are thought to re­flect com­plex in­tel­li­gence and to rep­re­sent the start­ing point for the use of sym­bols and there­fore lan­guage.

Dog Origins: West or East Asia?

A group of re­search­ers claims to have con­firmed that the wolf an­ces­tors of to­day’s dogs can be traced to south­ern East Asia. But the find­ings contra­dict the­o­ries plac­ing the cra­dle of the ca­nine line in the Mid­dle East.

Two record-sized black holes identified

Two black holes al­most as hefty as 10 bil­lion or more Suns have been iden­ti­fied, break­ing records for black hole size.

Millennia of chaos may have finally brought down the dinosaurs

Co­los­sal vol­can­ic erup­tions and me­te­or­ite strikes are thought to have brought about dinosaur extinction.

Empathy In Rodents

Rats will free dis­tressed cage­mates from a trap, even when there’s no ev­i­dent re­ward for the help—and even when it might cost them a lit­tle food.

Face Recognition Found In Wasps

Primates have a face recognition system that enables them to distinguish between individuals, and now it seems that some wasps do too.

Earth-like planet orbiting Sun-like star

The most Earth-like planet ever discovered is circling a star 600 light years away, a key finding in an ongoing quest to learn if life exists beyond Earth.

Lapita find opens new chapter of Pacific history

A huge treasure trove of artefacts including thousands of fragments of pottery provides the first evidence that the sea-faring Lapita people settled in mainland Papua New Guinea.

Early humans were skilled deep-sea fishers

Prehistoric humans living more than 40,000 years ago had mastered the skills needed to catch fast-moving, deep ocean fish such as tuna.

Master hormone controls plant growth

A single hormone co-ordinates how a plant grows in response to the environment.