With their exuberant colors, fiery personalities and captivating courtship displays, the fairy wrasses are one of the most beloved coral reef fish. Despite this, the evolutionary history of its genus was not well understood—until ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 1, 2021
0
155
A team of researchers from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the University of California–San Francisco and the University of Texas has used genetic sequencing to compare the brains of birds and mammals. They've published ...
Often considered the world's oddest mammal, Australia's beaver-like, duck-billed platypus exhibits an array of bizarre characteristics: it lays eggs instead of giving birth to live babies, sweats milk, has venomous spurs ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 6, 2021
15
2980
A trio of researchers, two with the University of Cape Town, the other the University of the Witwatersrand has found evidence that suggests wetland-dwelling lithornithids from the Cretaceous, likely used remote touch to find ...
Many human traits, such as height and disease susceptibility, depend on genes that are encoded in our DNA. These genes are switched on and off and further fine-tuned by important but hard-to-find regions in the genome.
Evolution
Nov 16, 2020
0
6
New species of microbial life are continually being identified, but localizing them on a phylogenetic tree is a challenge. Now, researchers at the University of Tsukuba have pinpointed barthelonids, a genus of free-living ...
Evolution
Sep 23, 2020
0
83
For most vertebrates, losing a limb is permanent, but a lucky few species—such as salamanders and tadpoles—have the ability to completely regrow complex body parts. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying this ...
Evolution
Sep 16, 2020
0
335
With these new findings scientists can potentially better understand the subtle changes that can occur in genes and brain circuits that can lead to mental health disorders such as anxiety and autism spectrum disorders.
Evolution
Aug 3, 2020
3
275
One of the big questions in biology is why certain plants and animals are found in some places and not others. Figuring out how species evolve and spread, and why some places are richer in species than others, is key to understanding ...
Ecology
Jul 30, 2020
0
207
Viruses are an inescapable part of life, especially in a global viral pandemic. Yet ask a roomful of scientists if viruses are alive and you'll get a very mixed response.
Plants & Animals
Jun 9, 2020
1
279
