News tagged with evolutionary science

Honoring the fundamental role of microbes in the natural history of our planet

Inspired by a 2009 colloquium on microbial evolution convened at the Galapagos Islands, a new book from ASM Press, Microbes and Evolution: The World That Darwin Never Saw celebrates Charles Darwin and his landmark publication ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created 13 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Study finds modern dog breeds genetically disconnected from ancient ancestors

Cross-breeding of dogs over thousands of years has made it extremely difficult to trace the ancient genetic roots of today's pets, according to a new study led by Durham University.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Richer parasite diversity leads to healthier frogs: study

Increases in the diversity of parasites that attack amphibians cause a decrease in the infection success rate of virulent parasites, including one that causes malformed limbs and premature death, says a new University of ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 21, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New research discovers metabolic adaptation to high altitudes

When mammals are cold, they can employ physical changes to stay warm -- such as intense shivering. Like any form of aerobic exercise, though, "shivering thermogenesis" is especially challenging at high altitudes ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Ancient plant-fungal partnerships reveal how the world became green

Prehistoric plants grown in state-of-the-art growth chambers recreating environmental conditions from more than 400 million years ago have shown scientists from the University of Sheffield how soil dwelling fungi played a ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Escalating arms race: Predatory sea urchins drive evolution

(Phys.org) -- Nature teems with examples of evolutionary arms races between predators and prey, with the predator species gradually evolving a new mode of attack for each defensive adaptation that arises in ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Biologists predict extinction for organisms with poor quality genes

Evolutionary biologists at the University of Toronto have found that individuals with low-quality genes may produce offspring with even more inferior chromosomes, possibly leading to the extinction of certain ...

Biology / Evolution

created Apr 16, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Evolution revolution

Developments in evolutionary biology have a significant impact on the way we look at the world and ourselves in it, according to a conservation scientist who will be speaking on the subject at Cambridge University’s ...

Biology / Evolution

created Mar 26, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Hiding in plain sight: Scientist discovers new frog species in New York and New Jersey

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the wilds of New York City -- or as wild as you can get so close to skyscrapers -- scientists have found a new leopard frog species that for years biologists mistook for a more widespread ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 14, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Amoeba offers key clue to photosynthetic evolution

(PhysOrg.com) -- The major difference between plant and animal cells is the photosynthetic process, which converts light energy into chemical energy. When light isn't available, energy is generated by breaking ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Analyzing complex plant genomes with the newest next-generation DNA sequencing techniques

Genomes are catalogs of hereditary information that determine whether an organism becomes a plant, animal, fungus or microbe, and whether the organism is adapted to its surroundings. Determining the sequence ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 27, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

World nourishment at risk of being diminished: Wild cereals threatened by global warming

A 28-year comparative study of wild emmer wheat and wild barley populations has revealed that these progenitors of cultivated wheat and barley, which are the best hope for crop improvement, have undergone changes over this ...

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 23, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Study finds fish of Antarctica threatened by climate change

A Yale-led study of the evolutionary history of Antarctic fish and their "anti-freeze" proteins illustrates how tens of millions of years ago a lineage of fish adapted to newly formed polar conditions – ...

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 13, 2012 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Mouse to elephant? Just wait 24 million generations

Scientists have for the first time measured how fast large-scale evolution can occur in mammals, showing it takes 24 million generations for a mouse-sized animal to evolve to the size of an elephant.

Biology / Evolution

created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (24) | comments 46 | with audio podcast

New research on newly formed plants could lead to improved crop fertility

A new University of Florida study shows genomes of a recently formed plant species to be highly unstable, a phenomenon that may have far-reaching evolutionary consequences.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 06, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast