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SPAIN

Scientists analyzed groupings of juvenile Megalodon teeth, found in quarries in Tarragona province, which suggest an ancient nursery. Bone remains indicate the enormous prehistoric sharks did not reach maturity until age 25, so such sites may have been essential to their survival.

NORWAY


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A melting mountainside ice patch revealed more than 60 arrow shafts, along with arrowheads and other artifacts, dating from 4100 B.C. to A.D. 1300. Scientists also found that almost 300 shards of reindeer antler or bone had accumulated there, suggesting the location was a prime hunting area.

UGANDA

New research suggests that when female banded mongooses are in heat, they encourage fights between their own groups and rival ones—and mate with enemy males in the ensuing chaos.

CHINA

Scientists found that some Fritillaria plants have evolved gray and brown camouflage to match rocks in their mountainous habitats—especially in areas where herbalists have heavily harvested them for use in traditional medicines.

AUSTRALIA

A landing capsule from Japan's autonomous Hayabusa2 spacecraft, carrying a cache of material gathered from asteroid Ryugu, successfully came down in South Australia's Woomera Prohibited Area. The spacecraft probed the asteroid from 2018–2019, and after this drop-off near Earth it continues to another asteroid mission.

KENYA

Researchers fitted a GPS tracker on the world's last known white giraffe, an adult male, aiming to protect it from poachers. A white female and calf were killed in the same conservation area last March.

Sarah Lewin Frasier is Scientific American's assistant news editor. She plans, assigns and edits the Advances section of the monthly magazine, as well as editing online news. Before joining Scientific American in 2019, she chronicled humanity's journey to the stars as associate editor at Space.com. (And even earlier, she was a print intern at Scientific American.) Frasier holds an A.B. in mathematics from Brown University and an M.A. in journalism from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She enjoys musical theater and mathematical paper craft.

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Scientific American Magazine Vol 324 Issue 2This article was originally published with the title “Quick Hits” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 324 No. 2 (), p. 20
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0221-20b