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Tag: Evolution
New beetle found in fossil feces attributed to dinosaur ancestor
The tiny beetle Triamyxa coprolithica is the first-ever insect to be described from fossil faeces. The animal the researchers have to thank for the excellent preservation was probably the dinosaur ancestor Silesaurus opolensis, which 230 million years ago ingested the small beetle in large numbers.
At what temperature the weather becomes a problem
Climate change leads to increasing heat strain for humans, animals and crops
Why are some fish warm-blooded? Predatory sharks gain speed advantage
New research from marine biologists offers answers to a fundamental puzzle that had until now remained unsolved: why are some fish warm-blooded when most are not? It turns out that while (warm-blooded) fish able to regulate their own body temperatures…
Striking a balance: Trade-offs shape flower diversity
An international research team led by a researcher from the University of Tsukuba proposes that catering to different visitors has influenced flower evolution
The rise and fall of elephants
Based on fossil finds, we know that the vast majority of species that once inhabited the earth have become extinct. For example, there are about 5,500 mammal species living on the planet today, but we know of at least 160,000…
Global climate dynamics drove the decline of mastodonts and elephants, new study suggests
Elephants and their forebears were pushed into wipeout by waves of extreme global environmental change, rather than overhunting by early humans, according to new research. The study, published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution , challenges claims that early human…
Better predicting how plants and animals will weather climate extremes
Leading scientists argue the need to consider biomechanics
Wildfire changes songbird plumage and testosterone
Fire can put a tropical songbird’s sex life on ice.
Keep your friends close, cortisol levels low for life
Researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign determined that communicating with female friends decreases stress hormone levels for women across the lifespan
In with the old, out with the mew
Update to the check-list of North American birds publishes today in Ornithology
Decline of dinosaurs underway long before asteroid fell
Ten million years before the well-known asteroid impact that marked the end of the Mesozoic Era, dinosaurs were already in decline. That is the conclusion of the Franco-Anglo-Canadian team led by CNRS researcher Fabien Condamine from the Institute of Evolutionary…
Baby reef fishes swim for gold
A new study has found baby coral reef fishes can outpace all other baby fishes in the ocean. Lead author Adam Downie is a PhD candidate at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University…
New fossil discovery from Israel points to complicated evolutionary process
Analysis of recently discovered fossils found in Israel suggest that interactions between different human species were more complex than previously believed, according to a team of researchers including Binghamton University anthropology professor Rolf Quam.
New fossil discovery from Israel points to complicated evolutionary process
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Analysis of recently discovered fossils found in Israel suggest that interactions between different human species were more complex than previously believed, according to a team of researchers including Binghamton University anthropology professor Rolf Quam. The research team,…
New findings unveil a missing piece of human prehistory
A joint research team led by Prof. FU Qiaomei from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences sequenced the ancient genomes of 31 individuals from southern East Asia, thus unveiling a missing piece…
Coral offspring physiology impacted by parental exposure to intense environmental stresses
Environmental disturbances, such as bleaching events, can have lasting consequences across generations of corals
Tiny ancient bird from China shares skull features with Tyrannosaurus rex
Researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered a 120-million-year-old partial fossil skeleton of a tiny extinct bird that fits in the palm of the hand and preserves a unique…
When tyrannosaurs dominated, medium-sized predators disappeared
New UMD study suggests that everywhere tyrannosaurs rose to dominance, their juveniles took over the ecological role of medium-sized carnivores
New discovery shows Tibet as crossroads for giant rhino dispersal
The giant rhino, Paraceratherium , is considered the largest land mammal that ever lived and was mainly found in Asia, especially China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. How this genus dispersed across Asia was long a mystery, however. A new discovery…
Fossil research shows woodlice cousins roamed Ireland 360 million years ago
The old cousins of the common woodlice were crawling on Irish land as long as 360 million years ago, according to new analysis of a fossil found in Kilkenny.
Study: Complexity holds steady as writing systems evolve
A new paper in the journal Cognition examines the visual complexity of written language and how that complexity has evolved.
CNIO researchers find molecular switch that allows organisms to adapt to fasting conditions
The mechanism involved is an ancient molecular pathway we share with yeasts; despite its relevance, very little was known about its role in metabolism
Fossil research shows woodlice cousins roamed Ireland 360 million years ago
New techniques used to recreate the image of the Oxyuropoda – the cousin of the garden woodlice
Poison frog tadpoles can survive (almost) anywhere
From orange juice to sea water, and between the ground and 4-story building
Yeast mating — more than meets the eye
Pheromones mediate asymmetric mating behavior in isogamous yeast
Ten years of ancient genome analysis has taught scientists ‘what it means to be human’
A ball of 4,000-year-old hair frozen in time tangled around a whalebone comb led to the first ever reconstruction of an ancient human genome just over a decade ago
Stoneflies: Youth influences adulthood
Evolutionary biologists at the University of Bonn scan 219 species in different particle accelerators
Fungal spores from 250-year-old collections given new lease of life
Echoing through history by reviving fungal specimens originally preserved and described a flabbergasting quarter of a millenium ago by the “Father of Modern Taxonomy” Carl Linnaeus, this study highlights the untapped potential of museum collections in modern research programmes. The…
Plants use a blend of external influences to evolve defense mechanisms
Findings reveal how plants use a blend of genes, geography, demography and environmental conditions to evolve defense chemicals over time
Study presents new species of bizarre, extinct lizard previously misidentified as a bird
An international research team has described a new species of Oculudentavis, providing further evidence that the animal first identified as a hummingbird-sized dinosaur was actually a lizard.
The evolution of good taste
Does evolution explain why we can’t resist a salty chip? Researchers at NC State University found that differences between the elemental composition of foods and the elemental needs of animals can explain the development of pleasing tastes like salty, umami…
Breeding foxes for opposite behaviors produces similar brain changes
Tame and aggressive foxes display increased size in similar brain regions, contrary to theory
Climate conditions during the migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa reconstructed
An international research team led by Professor Dr Frank Schäbitz has published a climate reconstruction of the last 200,000 years for Ethiopia. This means that high-resolution data are now available for the period when early Homo sapiens , our ancestors,…
Toxin-adapted fish pass down epigenetic mutations to freshwater offspring
PULLMAN, Wash. – You can take a fish out of toxic water, but its epigenetic mutations will remain for at least two generations. A research team led by Washington State University scientists analyzed the epigenetics–molecular factors and processes that determine…
Persistence pays off in the human gut microbiome
The human gut microbiome is a complex community of trillions of microbes that are constantly interacting with each other and our bodies. It supports our wellbeing, immune system and mental health – but how is it sustained? Researchers in the…
Are we genetically ‘grounded’?
Hebrew University identifies molecular factors that enable birds to fly, but keep the rest of us on terra firma
The survivability of animal species depends on the number of offspring
New study proposes an amendment to the theory on the extinction of species
How butterflies make transparent wings: MBL scientists see the invisible
WOODS HOLE, Mass. — Many animals have evolved camouflage tactics for self-defense, but some butterflies and moths have taken it even further: They’ve developed transparent wings, making them almost invisible to predators. A team led by Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL)…
Language extinction triggers loss of unique medicinal knowledge
Language is one of our species’ most important skills, as it has enabled us to occupy nearly every corner of the planet. Among other things, language allows indigenous societies to use the biodiversity that surrounds them as a “living pharmacy”…
For early amphibians, a new lifestyle meant a new spine
Moving from water to land and back again corresponded with distinct changes in animals’ spinal morphology, according to a new study led by paleontologist Aja Carter
Experiments show natural selection opposes sexual selection
Natural selection can reverse evolution that occurs through sexual selection and this can lead to better females, new research shows. The study – led by the University of Exeter and Okayama University – examined broad-horned flour beetles, whose males have…
A vital tool to study virus evolution in the test tube
Variants of viruses, such as that causing COVID-19, can now be quickly studied in the laboratory, even before they emerge in nature and become a major public health challenge. The University of Queensland, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Peter Doherty…
Monarchs raised in captivity can orient themselves for migration, U of G study reveals
While captive rearing may cause temporary disorientation, researchers found if Monarchs are given time in the wild to calibrate their internal compasses they can fly in the proper direction
Discovery of the oldest plant fossils on the African continent!
A new study describes a particularly diverse fossil flora from 400 million year ago.
Popularity runs in families
If identical versions of 20 people lived out their lives in dozens of different worlds, would the same people be popular in each world?
Trained Viruses Prove More Effective at Fighting Antibiotic Resistance
Research reveals that phage viruses that undergo special evolutionary training increase their capacity to subdue bacteria. The results provide hope for the antibiotic resistance crisis, a rising threat as deadly bacteria continue to evolve to render many modern drugs ineffective.
The genetic structures of closely related dragonflies in Yaeyama and Taiwan islands
The Amami, Okinawa region of Japan may be designated a World Heritage Site in July of 2021 based on the recent recommendation from the IUCN. The Iriomote wild cat is a symbolic species of the region, having evolved independently on…
Being social generates larger genomes in snapping shrimp
Thanks to ‘jumping’ genes, the genomes of social species have become larger than those of their nonsocial relatives
School lesson gone wrong leads to new, bigger megalodon size estimate
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A more reliable way of estimating the size of megalodon shows the extinct shark may have been bigger than previously thought, measuring up to 65 feet, nearly the length of two school buses. Earlier studies had ball-parked…