How electric fish were able to evolve electric organs

Electric organs help electric fish, such as the electric eel, do all sorts of amazing things: They send and receive signals that are akin to bird songs, helping them to recognize other electric fish by species, sex and even ...

Looking for LUCA, the last universal common ancestor

Around 4 billion years ago there lived a microbe called LUCA: the Last Universal Common Ancestor. There is evidence that it could have lived a somewhat 'alien' lifestyle, hidden away deep underground in iron-sulfur rich hydrothermal ...

Dawkins' fabled cooperative gene discovered in microbes

Geneticists from the Universities of Manchester and Bath are celebrating the discovery of the elusive 'greenbeard gene' that helps explain why organisms are more likely to cooperate with some individuals than others

Is nature mostly a tinkerer or an inventor?

The Krüppel-like factor and specificity protein (KLF/SP) genes are found across many species, ranging from single cell organisms to humans. This gene family has been conserved during evolution, because it plays a vital role ...

New study unlocks mystery origin of iconic Aussie snakes

New research led by the University of Adelaide has found the first tangible evidence that the ancestors of some of Australia's most venomous snakes arrived by sea rather than by land—the dispersal route of most other Australian ...

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