John W. Adkisson for The New York Times. Peony, a Carolina dog. Some of the breed’s rare traits include a fishhook tail, a pointed, somewhat lupine face and the habit of digging snout pits.

DNA is the trick that brings some new respect to this canine line, in a debate we did not even know about until today’s New York Times Science section revealed it:

Carolina dogs, like a few other breeds, are without certain genetic markers indicating European origins, suggesting they have been in the Americas since the last Ice Age.

That story is only one of multiple reasons to click through to this Tuesday feature of the Grey Lady.  Another is today’s news about the discovery of a new language.

Linguist Finds a Language in Its Infancy

Warlpiri rampaku, or Light Warlpiri, is a new language spoken only by people under 35 in Lajamanu, an isolated village of about 700 people in Australia’s Northern Territory.