Pleistocene – The Contemplative Mammoth

Stuck in the Pleistocene: The science of the La Brea tarpits

As a scientist, there are places I want to visit one day because they feature heavily into the intellectual mythology of my field: Darwin’s Down House, Mount Chimborazo, the Galapagos. At the top of the list, my scientific Mecca has been the fossil-rich Pleistocene tar pits at Rancho La Brea. […]

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

Contemplating an ice age squirrel’s forgotten snack

An Arctic ground squirrel snacking on a fungus in the tundra.

Earlier this week, scientists announced the successful propagation of a 32,000-year-old seed, discovered in a burrow made by an Siberian Arctic ground squirrel during the last ice age. The placental tissue of the Silene stenophylla seed was used to cultivate flowering, reproductively viable adults of narrow-leafed campion, which is still […]

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes