Every modern mammal, from a platypus to a blue whale, is descended from a common ancestor that lived about 180 million years ago. We don't know a great deal about this animal, but the organization of its genome has now been ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 27, 2022
7
4935
Living hominoids are a group of primates that includes the small-bodied apes (the lesser apes, or gibbons and siamangs, which constitute the family Hylobatidae) and the larger-bodied great apes (orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees), ...
Archaeology
Oct 29, 2015
0
317
Plump and ponderous, tardigrades earned the nickname "water bears" when scientists first observed the 0.02-inch-long animals' distinctive lumbering gaits in the 18th century. Their dumpy plod, however, raises the question ...
General Physics
Aug 27, 2021
3
1406
Strong fists for defending ourselves and opposable thumbs for work as fine as threading a needle—hand specialisation is widely believed to have given humans a major evolutionary advantage.
Evolution
Jul 14, 2015
33
2306
(PhysOrg.com) -- The rise of agriculture 10,000 years ago meant the end of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle for which human beings had been optimized by millions of years of evolution and the beginning of an era where culture ...
Evolution
Mar 12, 2009
7
0
The ancestral snakes in the grass actually lived in the forest, according to the most detailed look yet at the iconic reptiles.
Evolution
May 19, 2015
0
772
Neanderthals and modern humans diverged at least 800,000 years ago, substantially earlier than indicated by most DNA-based estimates, according to new research by a UCL academic.
Archaeology
May 15, 2019
18
1268
Earlier this year, scientists used zebra finches to pinpoint the gene that enables birds to produce and display the colour red.
Plants & Animals
Aug 2, 2016
0
1114
The search for a common ancestor linking modern humans with the Neanderthals who lived in Europe thousands of years ago has been a compelling subject for research. But a new study suggests the quest isn't nearly complete.
Archaeology
Oct 21, 2013
4
0
A team of researchers at the University of California, has found evidence of "ghost" DNA in some modern West African people. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their study of genetic ...
