News tagged with adaptive radiations

Study of fish fossil shows that 'head-first' diversity drives vertebrate evolution

The history of evolution is periodically marked by explosions in biodiversity, as groups of species try out a wide range of shapes and sizes. With a new analysis of two such adaptive radiations in the fossil ...

Biology / Evolution

created Dec 20, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Climatic fluctuations drove key events in human evolution

Research at the University of Liverpool has found that periods of rapid fluctuation in temperature coincided with the emergence of the first distant relatives of human beings and the appearance and spread of stone tools.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Sep 21, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (6) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Darwin's butterflies? Spectacular species radiation in the Caribbean studied with 'DNA barcoding'

In one of the first taxonomic revisions of Neotropical butterflies that utilizes 'DNA barcoding', Andrei Sourakov (University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History) and Evgeny Zakharov (University ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 25, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Genetic sex determination let ancient species adapt to ocean life

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new analysis of extinct sea creatures suggests that the transition from egg-laying to live-born young opened up evolutionary pathways that allowed these ancient species to adapt to and thrive ...

Biology / Evolution

created Sep 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Study confirms classic theory on the origins of biodiversity

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Cornell study on the diversity of milkweed plants has used new techniques to prove an old theory that explains how the arms race between attacking insects and defended plants led to great ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2

Solving the mystery of how plants survive near Chernobyl

Twenty-two years after the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident in the Ukraine — the worst in history — scientists are reporting insights into the mystery of how plants have managed to adapt and survive ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created May 13, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (15) | comments 2