Natural History Archive

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UF to auction naming rights for new butterfly species online

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In an apparent first for butterflies, the Florida Museum of Natural History will auction the naming rights for a newly discovered species online to raise money for butterfly research.

Filed under Research, Natural History, Environment, Sciences on Monday, October 15, 2007.

UF scientists discover new genus of frogmouth bird in Solomon Islands

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Your bird field guide may be out of date now that University of Florida scientists discovered a new genus of frogmouth bird on a South Pacific island.

Filed under Research, Natural History, Sciences on Thursday, April 19, 2007.

Human pubic lice acquired from gorillas gives evolutionary clues

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Humans acquired pubic lice from gorillas several million years ago, but this seemingly seedy connection does not mean that monkey business went on with the great apes, a new University of Florida study finds.

Filed under Research, Natural History, Sciences on Wednesday, March 7, 2007.

UF study first to document evidence of ‘mafia’ behavior in cowbirds

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — “The Sopranos” have some competition — brown-headed cowbirds.

Filed under Research, Natural History, Sciences on Monday, March 5, 2007.

Study: Inhabitants of early settlement were desperate to find metals

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new study provides evidence that the last inhabitants of Christopher Columbus’ first settlement desperately tried to extract silver from lead ore, originally brought from Spain for other uses, just before abandoning the failed mining operation in 1498. It is the first known European extraction of silver in the New World.

Filed under Research, Natural History, Sciences on Thursday, February 22, 2007.

Study shows largest North America climate change in 65 million years

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The largest climate change in central North America since the age of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, a temperature drop of nearly 15 degrees Fahrenheit, is documented within the fossilized teeth of horses and other plant-eating mammals, a new study reveals.

Filed under Research, Natural History, Sciences on Wednesday, February 7, 2007.

‘Terror bird’ arrived in North America before land bridge, study finds

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A University of Florida-led study has determined that Titanis walleri, a prehistoric 7-foot-tall flightless “terror bird,” arrived in North America from South America long before a land bridge connected the two continents.

Filed under Research, Natural History, Sciences on Tuesday, January 23, 2007.

UF-Led study revises understanding of primate origins

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new study led by a University of Florida paleontologist reconstructs the base of our family tree and extends its roots 10 million years, a finding that sheds new light on the origin and earliest stages of primate evolution.

Filed under Research, Natural History, Sciences on Monday, January 15, 2007.

Large dinosaurs were extremely hot in their day, UF study finds

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If you think dinosaurs are hot today, just think back to about 110 million years ago when they really ran hot and heavy.

Filed under Research, Natural History on Tuesday, July 11, 2006.

UF study first to quantify validity of DNA I.D. tool using marine snails

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A trendy holiday gift within a decade may be a hand-held device that instantly identifies any species from a snippet of animal tissue, says a University of Florida researcher.

Filed under Research, Natural History, Sciences on Monday, November 28, 2005.