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UrduScientists document new species with eye toward the fate of a shrinking forest biodiversity hotspot and its inhabitants
Tag: Evolution
A secret in our saliva: Food and germs helped humans evolve into unique member of great apes
University at Buffalo researchers discovered that the human diet — a result of increased meat consumption, cooking and agriculture — has led to stark differences in the saliva of humans compared to that of other primates.
X marks the spot: recombination in structurally distinct chromosomes
KANSAS CITY, MO-Two years ago, scientists from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research reported the 3D structure of the synaptonemal complex in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster . This large protein complex is a critical player in the segregation of…
Rice blast fungus discovery will drive crop innovation
A secret weapon used by the killer rice blast fungus to infect host plants has been discovered in new research. Rice blast is the most serious disease of rice and is caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. Each year, blast…
How human brain development diverged from great apes
Cell atlas of great ape forebrain development illuminates dynamic gene-regulatory features that are unique to humans
Scientists find early humans moved through Mediterranean earlier than believed
An international research team led by scientists from McMaster University has unearthed new evidence in Greece proving that the island of Naxos was inhabited by Neanderthals and earlier humans at least 200,000 years ago, tens of thousands of years earlier…
New study shows huge dinosaurs evolved different cooling systems to combat heat stroke
Researchers use 3D imaging to discover multiple heat exchangers in dinosaur heads
Piranha fish swap old teeth for new simultaneously
With the help of new technologies, a team led by the University of Washington has confirmed that piranhas lose and regrow all the teeth on one side of their face multiple times throughout their lives. How they do it may help explain why the fish go to such efforts to replace their teeth.
Many cooks don’t spoil the broth: Manifold symbionts prepare the host for any eventuality
Deep-sea mussels harbor up to 16 different strains of bacteria in their gills, keeping them prepared for environmental changes
Sequencing African genomes yields new data resource with broad applicability
Findings reported at ASHG 2019 Annual Meeting
Study ‘cures’ oldest case of deafness in human evolution
BINGHAMTON, NY – An international team of researchers including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York, has published a new study examining a 430,000-year-old cranium of a human ancestor that was previously described as deaf, representing the oldest…
Natural loss of foot muscle in rodents shares mechanisms often associated with disease and injury
New discovery around the evolutionary loss of foot muscles in the lesser Egyptian jerboa challenges expectations of how developmental tissue is remodelled over time
2nd ERC Synergy Grant goes to GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
Stephan Sobolev together with researchers from Grenoble, France, and Madison, Wisconsin, will investigate Earth’s evolution
Koala epidemic provides lesson in how DNA protects itself from viruses
In animals, infections are fought by the immune system. Studies on an unusual virus infecting wild koalas, by a team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Queensland, reveal a new form of “genome…
Threshold-dependent gene drives in wild populations
The BioScience Talks podcast features discussions of topical issues related to the biological sciences. By altering the heritability of certain traits, gene drive technologies have the potential to spread desired genes through wild populations. In practice, this could lead to…
NSF award helps Kent State anthropologists expand international partnership
A new federal grant will help Kent State University expand an international relationship and provide invaluable opportunities for some graduate students. The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded Kent State a three-year, $298,000 International Research Experience for Students (IRES) grant…
The deeper these octopuses live, the wartier their skin
Deep beneath the ocean’s surface, surprisingly cute warty pink octopuses creep along the seafloor. But not all these octopuses look alike. While we humans love a good “Is your skin oily, dry, or combination?” quiz, members of one octopus species…
Meet the ‘mold pigs,’ a new group of invertebrates from 30 million years ago
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Fossils preserved in Dominican amber reveal a new family, genus and species of microinvertebrate from the mid-Tertiary period, a discovery that shows unique lineages of the tiny creatures were living 30 million years ago. The findings by…
How the Texas puma saved the Florida panther
Scientists have pieced together the first complete picture of the Florida panther genome – work that could serve to protect that endangered population and other endangered species going forward.
How the Texas puma saved the Florida panther
Uncovering the genetic details of a conservation success story
Ant-plant partnerships may play unexpected role in ant evolution
Text mining of 89,000 scientific papers reveals new evolutionary insights
Paleontology: New Australian pterosaur may have survived the longest
The discovery of a previously unknown species of pterosaur, which may have persisted as late as the Turonian period (90-93 million years ago), is reported in Scientific Reports this week. The fossil, which includes parts of the skull and five…
Imprinting on mothers may drive new species formation in poison dart frogs
What do marrying one’s parents, Oedipus complex have to do with evolution?
Scientists discover interaction between good and bad fungi that drives forest biodiversity
University of Maryland and Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers found that differences in soil fungus explain why tree species fare better in small numbers, a phenomenon that promotes forest diversity
Fossil fish gives new insights into the evolution
An international research team led by Giuseppe Marramà from the Institute of Paleontology of the University of Vienna discovered a new and well-preserved fossil stingray with an exceptional anatomy, which greatly differs from living species. The find provides new insights into the evolution of these animals and sheds light on the recovery of marine ecosystems after the mass extinction occurred 66 million years ago.
Ancient genomes provide insight into the genetic history of the second plague pandemic
Analysis of 34 ancient plague genomes from the Black Death and succeeding plague epidemics in Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries, reveals how the bacterium diversified after a single introduction
African evidence support Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis
First African evidence to support hypothesis of an asteroid impact that contributed to the extinction of large animals 12,800 years ago
Using past extinctions to drive future conservation
Late Quaternary extinctions of large animals have historically been understood as global phenomena, resulting from climate fluctuations or quickly dispersing human populations. However, new technologies are enabling fine-grain analyses that shed new light on individual species’ varied responses to changing…
Aristocratic family trees became scientific model
Before the French Revolution, family trees were reserved for the feudal upper classes, who used them to consolidate their social status. While feudalism broke down and family trees lost their old roles, the trees gained new functions as scientific models.…
250-million-year-old evolutionary remnants seen in muscles of human embryos
A team of evolutionary biologists, led by Dr. Rui Diogo at Howard University, USA, and writing in the journal Development , have demonstrated that numerous atavistic limb muscles – known to be present in many limbed animals but usually absent…
Can humans exploit the genetics of a mouse that regrows axons after injury?
A Transformative Research Award to the Buck Institute from the NIH focuses on a new method to pinpoint genetic differences between species
Genomic fluke close-up
Whole genome comparative analyses of liver and intestinal parasites reveal evolutionary history and shift in organs, animals of choice
What did ancient crocodiles eat? Study says as much as a snout can grab
While most people imagine alligators and crocodiles as being much the same now as they were during the age of dinosaurs, digging into the fossil record shows much more diverse species through time. Semiaquatic ambush predators resembling modern alligators and…
Brave new world: Simple changes in intensity of weather events ‘could be lethal’
Hurricane Dorian is the latest example of a frightening trend. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, more severe and more widespread as a consequence of climate change. New research from Washington University in St. Louis provides important new insights…
Climate change could pit species against one another as they shift ranges
Species have few good options when it comes to surviving climate change–they can genetically adapt to new conditions, shift their ranges, or both. But new research in PNAS indicates that conflicts between species as they adapt and shift ranges could…
Biologists track the invasion of herbicide-resistant weeds into southwestern Ontario
TORONTO, ON (Canada) – A team including evolutionary biologists from the University of Toronto (U of T) have identified the ways in which herbicide-resistant strains of an invasive weed named common waterhemp have emerged in fields of soy and corn…
Life’s building blocks may have formed in interstellar clouds
An experiment shows that one of the basic units of life — nucleobases — could have originated within giant gas clouds interspersed between the stars. Essential building blocks of DNA — compounds called nucleobases — have been detected for the…
Are humans preventing flies from eavesdropping?
Background sounds affect a parasitoid fly’s eavesdropping capabilities
Dishing the dirt on an early man cave
Microscopic study yields intriguing ancient Denisovan secrets
Otherworldly worms with three sexes discovered in Mono Lake
Eight species of nematode discovered in the lake’s harsh conditions
How fungus-farming ants could help solve our antibiotic resistance problem
For the last 60 million years, fungus-growing ants have farmed fungi for food. In their cultivation of those fungi, they’ve successfully relied on bacteria-produced antimicrobial ingredients to protect their crops from other species of parasitic fungi. Now, researchers reporting in…
The almond & peach trees genomes shed light on the differences between these close species
Transposons could lie at the origin of the differences between the fruit of both species or the flavor of the almond
New species of crocodile discovered in museum collections
Crocodylus halli named after late scientist who started investigating the reptile’s lineage
Unravelling the mystery of how one gene contributes to Parkinson’s, Crohn’s and leprosy
Research on LRRK2 gene in mice could lead to new treatments, prevention
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Indonesian Fires Threatening Orangutans
New Brunswick, N.J. (Sept. 23, 2019) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Erin R. Vogel, an expert on endangered orangutans, is available to comment on tropical forest fires threatening the Tuanan Orangutan Research Station in the Mawas Conservation Area on the…
Bee biodiversity barometer on Fiji
New species described as environment changes
Did a common childhood illness take down the neanderthals?
A 21st century nuisance for parents may have proved deadly to early man
First glimpse at what ancient Denisovans may have looked like, using DNA methylation data
If you could travel back in time 100,000 years, you’d find yourself living among multiple groups of humans, including anatomically modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. But exactly what our Denisovan relatives might have looked like had been anyone’s guess for…
Researchers show how railroad worms produce red light
Differences in the molecular structures explain the different colors of this bioluminescence in different species. This discovery has the potential for new biotechnological applications, such as the imaging of muscles, blood and hemoglobin-rich tissue
Extinct human species gave modern humans an immunity boost
Findings from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research show modern humans acquired a gene variant from Denisovans that heightened their immune reactions, indicating adaptation of the immune system to a changing environment. The breakthrough study, published in Nature Immunology ,…