Don't blame Columbus.

• Position: CRITTERS - Brief article

Scientists had tong thought that Christopher Columbus and his crew were responsible for bringing lice to the New World, along with diseases like measles and smallpox. But DNA evidence has absolved Columbus from responsibility for the lice. Two 11th-century Peruvian mummies provided the clues in the form of well-preserved lice in their long, braided hair. Scientists analyzed the louse DNA and established that the critters arrived in the Americas as far back as 15,000 years ago. (Lice found on...