Bees Almost Went Extinct

Using molecular modeling techniques on the DNA of modern carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp.) along with fossil evidence, researchers believe that bees almost disappeared with the mass extinction event that ended the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, possibly related to the mass extinction of flowering plants that occurred at the same time.

Well-Preserved Mammoth Found

Scientists have excavated a female woolly mammoth carcass from sub-freezing temperatures in Siberia between 10,000 and 15,000 years old that is well-preserved enough to have flowing liquid blood and muscle tissue the color of fresh meat, provoking theories that the species' blood possessed cryoprotective properties.

Second of Two Extinction Events

New evidence shows an extinction event occurring 200,000 to 300,000 years before the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, an extended period of huge volcanic eruptions causing extinctions of life on the ocean floor and potentially compromising land-based species prior to the larger event.

Mammoths Went Extinct Slowly

Tracking the pattern of woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) populations over 45,000 years, researchers have discovered the species survived the Pleistocene extinction that wiped out other megafauna and disappeared about 4000 years ago after a long, slow decline in numbers with no single or specific cause.

Red-Crested Tree Rat

Thought extinct since 1898 and eluding all organized searches since then, the red-crested tree rat (Santamartamys rufodorsalis) has been rediscovered in a nature reserve of northern Colombia, where it is now designated as "critically endangered."

Nanodiamonds Found in Ice

A layer of microscopic nanodiamonds has been discovered in the Greenland ice sheet, providing further support for the theory that North American and Europe were struck by a large cometary fragment some 12,900 years ago.

Australia's Megafauna Hunted

New research reveals that human hunting or habitat disturbance, not climate change, led to the extinction of Australia's giant marsupials, reptiles and flightless birds some 40,000 years ago.

Evidence of Clovis-Age Comet

New nanodiamond evidence has been found on California's Channel Islands of a comet impact in North America about 12,900 years ago, possibly driving many Clovis-age species to extinction.

New Theory of Extinction

A new theory of the Permian/Triassic extinction 250 million years ago suggests that halogenated gases resulting from giant salt lakes altered the atmosphere enough to affect land-based vegetation.