Alaska whale bones and UK giant scorpion fossil reidentified by scientists

A new study of specimens long thought to be mammoth remains in Alaska showed they are actually whale bones. Researchers from the University of Alaska used stable‑isotope analysis and ancient DNA to determine that the fossils, dated to 1,900–2,700 years ago, belong to a minke whale and a North Pacific gray whale, raising questions about how the bones traveled 400 km inland.

In a separate investigation, scientists re‑examined a 19th‑century fossil from the Natural History Museum in London and confirmed it is a giant scorpion, Praearcturus gigas, that lived about 415 million years ago in what is now England and Wales. Modern imaging and comparative anatomy led the team, headed by Richard Howard and Russell Garwood, to identify the creature as the largest known scorpion, measuring roughly one metre in length.