Ari Daniel

For much of human history, societies have been centered around kinship, so couples have had to decide whose community they're going to live with. Most of the time, it's been the man's, which is why researchers were surprised when they sequenced the ancient DNA of a burial site of a Celtic tribe dating from 100 BCE to 100 CE in what's now southern England.

For much of human history, societies have been centered around kinship, so couples have had to decide whose community they're going to live with. Most of the time, it's been the man's, which is why researchers were surprised when they sequenced the ancient DNA of a burial site of a Celtic tribe dating from 100 BCE to 100 CE in what's now southern England.

The group was related along the female line, meaning that the men had left their families to live with their wives' community. Laura Cassidy is a geneticist at Trinity College Dublin.

The group was related along the female line, meaning that the men had left their families to live with their wives' community. Laura Cassidy is a geneticist at Trinity College Dublin.

The same thing was true among hundreds of Iron Age genomes from cemeteries across Britain, suggesting it's a custom dating back centuries. For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel.

The same thing was true among hundreds of Iron Age genomes from cemeteries across Britain, suggesting it's a custom dating back centuries. For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel.

Sam Arman took a detailed look at the teeth of more than 900 kangaroos from both fossils and modern animals.

Sam Arman took a detailed look at the teeth of more than 900 kangaroos from both fossils and modern animals.

Armin, who's a paleontologist at a natural history museum in central Australia, used those scratches to figure out what the ancient kangaroos ate. His answer, a mix of shrubs and grasses, suggesting that a changing climate that wiped out a single group of plants likely wasn't behind the extinctions. Rather, he thinks humans who arrived in Australia around this time had something to do with it.

Armin, who's a paleontologist at a natural history museum in central Australia, used those scratches to figure out what the ancient kangaroos ate. His answer, a mix of shrubs and grasses, suggesting that a changing climate that wiped out a single group of plants likely wasn't behind the extinctions. Rather, he thinks humans who arrived in Australia around this time had something to do with it.

Other paleontologists disagree, citing evidence that climate change did play more of a role. For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel.

Other paleontologists disagree, citing evidence that climate change did play more of a role. For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel.