Reuters Science News Summary

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Genetic ​study shows seafarers from Easter Island ​settled Hawaii

It was a difficult, ‌almost incomprehensible, ​feat. A band of seafarers from Easter Island in the South Pacific set off in double-hulled sailing canoes on a ‌voyage across Earth's largest ocean that ended more than 4,400 miles (7,100 km) away in Hawaii, the only Polynesian island in the Northern Hemisphere. But this oceanic odyssey centuries ago was no ‌myth. New genetic research has determined that Native Hawaiians are genetically most closely related to ‌the people of Easter Island, also called Rapa Nui.

Feared extinct, Bangka slow loris primate rediscovered in Indonesia

The Bangka slow loris is one of Earth's most exotic primates, a slow-moving tree dweller that happens to be venomous. ⁠It was ​listed as critically ⁠endangered and possibly extinct, last scientifically documented in the 1930s, but now has been rediscovered on the tropical ⁠Indonesian island of Bangka. Scientists revealed in a new study that an animal rescue organization came across more ​than 90 Bangka slow loris individuals in recent years on Bangka, located off the southeastern ⁠coast of Sumatra. Most were returned to the wild.

An affinity for warm climes has helped crocs ⁠thrive ​for eons

Crocodilians — today's crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials and their many extinct relatives — have been a roaring success since debuting more than 240 million years ago. And new research ⁠identifies one important factor in their success — stubbornly keeping to warm climates throughout their history. In ⁠fact, the researchers ⁠said, this trait may help explain why crocs as a group survived the asteroid strike 66 million years ago that doomed the ‌dinosaurs, along ‌with certain physiological characteristics that make them one ​tough bunch of reptiles.