It's reassuring to think humans are evolution's ultimate destination—but research shows we may be an accident
Depending upon how you do the counting, there are around 9 million species on Earth, from the simplest single-celled organisms to humans.
Depending upon how you do the counting, there are around 9 million species on Earth, from the simplest single-celled organisms to humans.
Evolution
Sep 6, 2023
4
528
Genetic kinship analyses of human bones reach their limits if the DNA is poorly preserved or if destructive sampling is not possible. New research shows that in such cases, comparisons of the structure and shape of certain ...
Evolution
Aug 10, 2023
1
91
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go on safari in southern Africa. One of the greatest thrills was going out at night looking for predators on the prowl: lions, leopards, hyenas.
Plants & Animals
Aug 4, 2023
0
82
Cooperation is a guiding principle of everyday life. It's as simple as following the rules of the road when driving or holding a door for a stranger; cooperation is a fundamental aspect of human societies and has long intrigued ...
Mathematics
Jun 8, 2023
0
35
Recent scientific discoveries have shown that Neanderthal genes comprise some 1 to 4% of the genome of present-day humans whose ancestors migrated out of Africa, but the question remained open on how much those genes are ...
Evolution
Jun 7, 2023
0
689
Morpho butterflies are emblematic species of the Amazonian rainforest known for their metallic shades of blue and green. Despite their conspicuous looks and fascinating biology, large-scale genome sequencing efforts have ...
Evolution
May 23, 2023
0
2
For more than a century, biologists have wondered what the earliest animals were like when they first arose in the ancient oceans more than half a billion years ago.
Evolution
May 17, 2023
0
276
Modern dog breeds that are genetically more distant from wolves have a relatively larger brain size compared to ancient breeds that are thousands of years old, according to the findings of Hungarian and Swedish researchers. ...
Evolution
May 12, 2023
0
1089
"One of the great mysteries of biology," says Eric Libby, former SFI Postdoctoral Fellow, now an associate professor at the Integrated Science Lab (IceLab), Umeå University in Sweden, "is eukaryogenesis, or how eukaryotes ...
Evolution
Apr 24, 2023
0
43
What does a stressed plant sound like? A bit like bubble-wrap being popped. Researchers in Israel report in the journal Cell on March 30 that tomato and tobacco plants that are stressed—from dehydration or having their ...
Ecology
Mar 30, 2023
2
745