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October 12, 2010

Prehistoric Urine Is Awesome!

"Yeah, I'm a hyrax.
You gotta problem with that?"
Not only that, but ancient wee-wee is also helpful for historians and scientists.

Here's what I mean: Researchers in African countries like Botswana have been digging up crystallized animal urine from thousands of years ago to study climate change.

What can pee tell you about the past? Well, the chemicals in the urine tell a story about the plants in the area...which tells a story about the temperatures! And the best animal urine to use for this sort of thing is the humble hyrax!

BONUS: In this article, you'll read an amazing sentence:
[The scientist], also an accomplished rock climber, has been collecting hyrax urine since 2006.”
EurekaAlert article here, photo from here.

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