News tagged with animal evolution

Scientists lift lid on turtle evolution

The turtle is a closer relative of crocodiles and birds than of lizards and snakes, according to researchers who claim to have solved an age-old riddle in animal evolution.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Did climate change shape human evolution?

(Phys.org) -- As human ancestors rose on two feet in Africa and began their migrations across the world, the climate around them got warmer, and colder, wetter and drier. The plants and animals they competed ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Apr 24, 2012 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (4) | comments 17 | with audio podcast

Seed size is controlled by maternally produced small RNAs: research

Seed size is controlled by small RNA molecules inherited from a plant's mother, a discovery from scientists at The University of Texas at Austin that has implications for agriculture and understanding plant ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Apr 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Human ancestors used fire one million years ago, archaeologist find

An international team led by the University of Toronto and Hebrew University has identified the earliest known evidence of the use of fire by human ancestors. Microscopic traces of wood ash, alongside animal ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Apr 02, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (43) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Unexpected crustacean diversity discovered in northern freshwater ecosystems

Freshwater ecosystems in northern regions are home to significantly more species of water fleas than traditionally thought, adding to evidence that regions with vanishing waters contain unique animal life.

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genetic study of black chickens shed light on mechanisms causing rapid evolution in domestic animals

The genetic changes underlying the evolution of new species are still poorly understood. For instance, we know little about critical changes that have happened during human evolution. Genetic studies in domestic animals can ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 22, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Studying bat skulls, evolutionary biologists discover how species evolve

A new study involving bat skulls, bite force measurements and scat samples collected by an international team of evolutionary biologists is helping to solve a nagging question of evolution: Why some groups ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 23, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study: Triple threat paints grim future for frogs

Frogs, salamanders and other amphibians may eventually have no safe haven left on the globe because of a triple threat of worsening scourges, a new study predicts.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 16, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Robotic bug gets wings, sheds light on evolution of flight (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A six-legged, 25 gram robot has been fitted with flapping wings in order to gain an insight into the evolution of early birds and insects.

Electronics / Robotics

created Oct 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Lungfish provides insight to life on land

A study into the muscle development of several different fish has given insights into the genetic leap that set the scene for the evolution of hind legs in terrestrial animals. This innovation gave rise to the tetrapods—four-legged ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 04, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

When plants go polyploid

(PhysOrg.com) -- Plant lineages with multiple copies of their genetic information face higher extinction rates than their relatives, researchers report in Science magazine.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 13, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

The rise and rise of the flying reptiles

(PhysOrg.com) -- Pterosaurs, flying reptiles from the time of the dinosaurs, were not driven to extinction by the birds, but in fact they continued to diversify and innovate for millions of years afterwards.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Jul 06, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

The Animal Connection -- a new perspective on what makes us human

"The Animal Connection," a new book by Pat Shipman, a Penn State paleoanthropologist, presents the groundbreaking new idea that humans' connection to other animal species may be the driving force behind the ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Jul 05, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 1

Black, white and stinky: Explaining coloration in skunks and other boldly colored animals

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a first-of-its-kind analysis of the evolution of warning coloration in carnivores published this week by University of Massachusetts Amherst evolutionary biologist Ted Stankowich and colleagues, ...

Biology / Evolution

created May 30, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

The peculiar feeding mechanism of the first vertebrates

A fang-like tooth on double upper lips, spiny teeth on the tongue and a pulley-like mechanism to move the tongue backwards and forwards -- this bizarre bite belongs to a conodont and, thanks to fresh fossil ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created May 19, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0