Study of giant viruses shakes up tree of life

A new study of giant viruses supports the idea that viruses are ancient living organisms and not inanimate molecular remnants run amok, as some scientists have argued. The study reshapes the universal family tree, adding ...

Humble bug plugs gap in fossil record

One day 370 million years ago, a tiny larva came to a sticky end when it plunged into a shrimp-infested swamp and drowned.

Orangutans harbor ancient primate Alu

Alu elements infiltrated the ancestral primate genome about 65 million years ago. Once gained an Alu element is rarely lost so comparison of Alu between species can be used to map primate evolution and diversity. New research ...

Namibia sponge fossils are world's first animals: study

Scientists digging in a Namibian national park have uncovered sponge-like fossils they say are the first animals, a discovery that would push the emergence of animal life back millions of years.

Long-held belief debunked: Cycad is not a 'Dinosaur Plant'

(PhysOrg.com) -- The widely held belief today's cycads are 'dinosaur plants' and were around during dinosaur times has been categorically debunked in a breakthrough study of international significance.

Rocks and clocks help unravel the mysteries of ancient Earth

(PhysOrg.com) -- Research into the dating techniques used to identify the origins of the living world has found the way in which fossils are used to calibrate the Earth’s evolutionary clock is of critical importance. ...

The day the algae died

The P-T mass extinction may have been instigated by populations of algae dying. According to one group of scientists, this die-off of large numbers of relatively simple life forms caused a crash in the ocean's entire food ...

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