nation

 

The Falkland Islands wolf, long extinct, is the only land-based mammal native to the islands. European explorers in the 17th century were puzzled by the presence of this lone mammalian species, as was Charles Darwin.

Now, researchers writing in Nature Communications suggest that the wolf traveled across a thin, shallow strait from the mainland to the islands during the last glacial maximum. During this period, about 18,000 to 25,000 years ago, the strait would periodically freeze over.

“This wolf was likely tracking penguins, seals and sea birds that were hauling out onto the ice,” said Alan ­Cooper, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Adelaide in Australia, who was involved with the research.

The scientists believe the wolf crossed the strait from what is now Argentina. The last Falkland wolf was spotted in the late 19th century.

 

Brides, grooms are aging

On average, brides are 26.5 years old and grooms are 28.7 when they head to the altar, according to the authors of the report, “Knot Yet,” released by the National Marriage Project. Those ages represent historic highs.

For college-educated men and women, delaying marriage has paid off. By enabling them to finish school and get their careers established, these younger adults are investing in themselves for the long haul.

The return on this investment is most significant for women: Those who finish college and get married after turning 30 earn $18,152 more per year, on average, than women who marry in their 20s or teens.

Another nugget: Childless men and women who are still single in their 20s are less satisfied with their lives than their married counterparts. Men, in particular, are more likely to “drink too much.”

 

Giant Camels Roamed Arctic

The long-lost cousins of today’s camels once roamed the high Arctic, browsing open forests in regions that are near-barren landscapes today. That’s the conclusion from an analysis of the fragmentary remains of an ancient leg bone unearthed on Canada’s Ellesmere Island, which lies just west of northern Greenland.

Today, camels inhabit arid regions stretching from northern Africa to the interior of Asia. But ancestors of the creatures first evolved in North America about 45 million years ago, said Natalia Rybczynski, a paleontologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa.

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