Scientific Article for Students

→radiocarbon dating fossils of extinct mammal

Abstract

When Charles Darwin visited the Falkland Islands, he was puzzled to find only one species of land-dwelling mammal – a fox-like animal called the warrah [WAH-rah]. How could the warrah have reached the Falkland Islands? Until now, scientists have assumed humans weren’t responsible for bringing the warrah to the islands. However, we showed that it is very likely that Indigenous people from the Tierra del Fuego visited the islands centuries before the first European explorers arrived. The Yaghan people are traditionally nomadic hunter-gatherers and often traveled with domesticated foxes. We believe that the Yaghan people probably brought the warrah to the islands centuries ago.

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About this Article

Reading Level
Scientific Topic
Key Words
NGSS Standards
AP Environmental Science Topics
IB Biology Topics
Scientific Methods
Type of Figure
Location of Research
Scientist Affiliation
Included Resources
+ Lesson idea video on carbon dating + Audio version of article + Interviews with the researcher
Publication Date
March 2022
Scientists dug into sediment cores on the Falkland Islands and found signs that people had visited the islands before the European explorers arrived.
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