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UrduThe raw material for evolution is much more abundant in wild animals than we previously believed, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU).
Tag: Evolution
Snake, Lizard T Cell Mystery
The intriguing Australian sleepy lizard has raised new questions about vertebrate immunity after the surprise discovery of the evolutionary disappearance of genes needed for some T cell production in squamates.
A family of termites has been traversing the world’s oceans for millions of years
A new study has mapped out the natural history of drywood termites—the second largest family of termites.
Discovered: 150-year-old platypus and echidna specimens that proved some mammals lay eggs
Jars of tiny platypus and echidna specimens, collected in the late 1800s by the scientist William Caldwell, have been discovered in the stores of Cambridge’s University Museum of Zoology.
From cavefish to humans: Evolution of metabolism in cavefish may provide insight into treatments for a host of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke
New research examines how cavefish developed unique metabolic adaptations to survive in nutrient-scarce environments. The study created a genome-wide map of liver tissue for two independent colonies of cavefish along with river fish to understand how cavefish metabolism evolved and how this may be applicable for humans.
Squid and octopus genome studies reveal how cephalopods’ unique traits evolved
Squid, octopus, and cuttlefish – even to scientists who study them – are wonderfully weird creatures.
Indiana Jones was right all along: Research shows the smaller the scorpion, the deadlier
Researchers in NUI Galway have shown, for the first time, that smaller species of scorpions, with smaller pincers, have more potent venoms compared to larger species with robust claws.
Brains and brawn helped crows and ravens take over the world
Crows and ravens are well known for their black color and the harsh “caw” sound they make. They are intelligent birds that use tools, solve complex abstract problems and speak a volume of words. But what is less well appreciated is how diverse they are. Their diversity is accompanied by their ability to live all over the world in a variety of habitats.
Natural History Museum of Utah releases Triceratops Traits, a new investigation for middle school science classes
In Triceratops Traits, students work alongside paleontologists to solve an evolutionary mystery by analyzing and interpreting data from the fossil record under the premise that natural laws have operated the same throughout the history of life on Earth to fit 7th grade learning standards in Utah and 6th-8th grades around the U.S.
New, clearest evidence yet that humans are a dominant force driving evolution
Humans reshape the environments where they live, with cities being among the most profoundly transformed environments on Earth. New research now shows that these urban environments are altering the way life evolves.
Over 1,700 book reviews of Charles Darwin’s works go online
A compilation of over 1,700 contemporary book reviews of Charles Darwin’s works, in 16 languages and spanning the years 1835 to the early 20th century was launched online. The collection of book reviews has been added to Darwin Online, a comprehensive scholarly website on Darwin. This new resource gives a comprehensive picture of the diversity in responses to Darwin’s work.
When and why did human brains decrease in size 3,000 years ago? New study may have found clues within ants
The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. Now, a new study has brought us closer to understanding some of its evolution.
FAU Receives NSF Grant to Explore Trait Evolution Across Species
The NSF grant will enable scientists to elucidate trait evolution across species using statistical and supervised machine learning approaches to vigorously and accurately predict general and specific evolutionary mechanisms that also will be applicable to various genomic and transcriptomic data for evolutionary discovery.
University of Washington researchers discover four dinosaurs in Montana
A team of paleontologists from the University of Washington excavated four dinosaurs in northeastern Montana this summer. The four dinosaur fossils are: the ilium of an ostrich-sized theropod; the hips and legs of a duck-billed dinosaur; a pelvis and limbs from another theropod; and a Triceratops specimen.
Darwin’s short-beak enigma solved
University of Utah biologists discovered that a mutation in the ROR2 gene is linked to beak size reduction in numerous breeds of domestic pigeons. Surprisingly, different mutations in ROR2 also underlie a human disorder called Robinow syndrome. The ROR2 signaling pathway plays an important role in the craniofacial development of all vertebrates.
Scientists pretend to be Neanderthals to explore how they caught birds in caves for food
Neanderthals, our closest relatives, became extinct between 40,000 to 35,000 years ago.
Prehistoric humans rarely mated with their cousins
The researchers re-analyzed previously published DNA data from ancient humans that lived during the last 45,000 years to find out how closely related their parents were.
Bacteria could learn to predict the future
Using computer simulations and a simple theoretical model, a new paper shows how bacteria could adapt to a fluctuating environment by learning its statistical regularities — for example, which nutrients tend to be correlated — and do so faster than evolutionary trial-and-error would normally allow.
The history of insects living on the open ocean tracked with the history of the currents they ride
The open oceans are harsh and hostile environments where insects might not be expected to thrive. In fact, only one insect group, ocean skaters, or water striders, has adapted to life on the open seas.
How these insects evolved to conquer the high seas, however, was not known.
Now, a study of the genetics of skaters by scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego provides a clue. The answer has to do with when major currents in the eastern Pacific Ocean came into existence with each species of skater evolving to match the unique conditions of those currents.
Study shows how aspen forests maintain the diversity needed to adapt to changing environments
A new decade-long study by University of Wisconsin¬–Madison researchers reveals how aspen stands change their genetic structure over the years as trees balance defending themselves from pests with growth to compete for sunlight.
Dogs tell the difference between intentional and unintentional action
Over our long shared history, dogs have developed a range of skills for bonding with human beings.
Evolutionary ‘time travel’ reveals enzyme’s origins, possible future designs
“The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion,” Albert Einstein wrote. Now, researchers have used evolutionary “time travel” to study how an enzyme has evolved, with implications for future design. They will present their results at ACS Fall 2021.
Understanding how elephants use their trunk
The elephant proboscis (trunk) exhibits an extraordinary kinematic versatility as it can manipulate a single blade of grass but also carry loads up to 270 kilograms.
New fossils show what the ancestral brains of arthropods looked like
Exquisitely preserved fossils left behind by creatures living more than half a billion years ago reveal in great detail identical structures that researchers have long hypothesized must have contributed to the archetypal brain that has been inherited by all arthropods.
FAU Researcher Receives $1.8 Million NIH ‘Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award’
Raquel Assis, Ph.D., associate professor, College of Engineering and Computer Science, and a fellow of FAU’s Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention, has received a five-year, $1.8 million “Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award” from the NIH. The goal of this early career award is to enhance the ability of investigators to take on ambitious scientific projects and approach problems more creatively.
New prehistoric ‘Hobbit’ creature is among three discoveries suggesting rapid evolution of mammals after dinosaur extinction
Research published today in the peer-reviewed Journal of Systematic Palaeontology describes the discovery of three new species of ancient creatures from the dawn of modern mammals, and hints at rapid evolution immediately after the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.
How Snakes Got Their Fangs
Ever wondered how deadly snakes evolved their fangs?
More pepper, please
A study published Aug. 11 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B by researchers at the University of Washington and Stony Brook University reports on how bats and pepper plants in Central America have coevolved to help each other survive.
A brief history of the cabbage butterfly’s evolving tastes
The cabbage butterfly, voracious as a caterpillar, is every gardener’s menace. Turns out, these lovely white or sulfur yellow butterflies started trying to take over the planet millions of years before humans ever set foot on it.
Now how did that get up there?
New research is shedding light on how the nasal passage in dolphins and whales shifts during embryonic development, from emerging at the tip of the snout to emerging at the top of the head as a blowhole. The findings are an integrative model for this developmental transition for cetaceans.
The future of personalized medicine is in unlocking the hidden mechanism that controls which genes are activated, researcher says
New research by McMaster University evolutionary biologist Rama Singh suggests there is a layer hidden in our cells that controls how genes interact, and how the many billions of possible combinations produce certain results.
In the Absence of Genetic Variation, Asexual Invasive Species Find New Methods of Adapting to Their Environment
Research from Wellesley College shows that despite being a clonal insect species, weevils use gene regulation to adapt to new food sources and pass down epigenetic changes to future generations.
Juicy past of favorite Okinawan fruit revealed
Citrus fruits from the mandarin family have important commercial value but how their diversity arose has been something of a mystery Researchers analyzed the genomes of the East Asian varieties and found a second center of diversity in the Ryukyu…
International collaboration of scientists rewrite the rulebook of flowering plant genetics
How do you study a group of organisms with over 300,000 species, dispersed across all seven continents, and with up to 50 times as much DNA content as the human genome? This is the question posed to biologists studying the…
New insight on the reproductive evolution of land plants
International consortium offers novel insight into the reproductive evolution of land plants, in new study published in Nature Plants
Palaeontology: Newly-hatched pterosaurs may have been able to fly
Newly-hatched pterosaurs may have been able to fly but their flying abilities may have been different from adult pterosaurs, according to a study published in Scientific Reports . Pterosaurs were a group of flying reptiles that lived during the Triassic,…
The gene’s-eye view of evolution
New book reviews the history of the gene’s-eye view of evolution by describing current disagreements and conceptual debates, and highlighting its value in contemporary evolutionary biology
Papua New Guineans show signs of biological adaptations to altitude
High altitude environments are one of the most demanding habitats in which humans have ever lived. This difficulty is mainly due to hypoxia: oxygen is less available to human tissues at high altitude. However, several populations worldwide have successfully settled…
Genome editing meets marsupials
Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) have succeeded in creating the first genetically engineered marsupial. This study, published in the scientific journal Current Biology , will contribute to deciphering the genetic background of unique characteristics observed…
Why weren’t New World rabbits domesticated?
Archaeologists find the answer in rabbit social behavior
Rapidly Diversifying Birds in Southeast Asia Offer New Insights Into Evolution
New findings from zoologists working with birds in Southeast Asia are shining fresh light on the connections between animal behaviour, geology, and evolution – underlining that species can diversify surprisingly quickly under certain conditions.
Mycoplasma mobile moves into overdrive: Twin motor modified from ATP synthase discovered
Scientists discover gliding machinery for Mycoplasma mobile to be a new structure that could share ancestry with ATP synthase
Tropical fly study shows that a mother’s age and diet influences offspring health
The female tsetse fly, which gives birth to adult-sized live young, produce weaker offspring as they get older, and when they feed on poor quality blood. The study, carried out by researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Oxford and the…
A foot tumor and two tail fractures complicated the life of this hadrosaur
When it was discovered in the 1980s in Argentina, this hadrosaur was diagnosed with a fractured foot. However, a new analysis now shows that this ornithopod commonly known as the duck-billed dinosaur actually had a tumour some 70 million years…
Researcher’s work with flies could be birth control boon
New testing technique could quickly find new ways to suppress ovulation with few side effects.
DNA duplication linked to the origin and evolution of pine trees and their relatives
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Plants are DNA hoarders. Adhering to the maxim of never throwing anything out that might be useful later, they often duplicate their entire genome and hang on to the added genetic baggage. All those extra genes are…
How a butterfly tree becomes a web
Evolution is often portrayed as a tree, with new species branching off from existing lineages, never again to meet. The truth however is often much messier. In the case of adaptive radiation, in which species diversify rapidly to fill different…
Bats are kings of small talk in the air
Echoes contain redundant information to help with high-speed navigation
Arrival of land plants changed Earth’s climate control system
The arrival of plants on land about 400 million years ago may have changed the way the Earth naturally regulates its own climate, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL (University College London) and Yale.