(Phys.org)—One of the most puzzling things about evolution is that, even after 4 billion years, it hasn't stopped. Instead of culminating in a single best adapted species, today the Earth contains an estimated 8.7 million ...
A new paper proposes that Homo sapiens may have been responsible for the extinction of Neanderthals not by violence, but through sex instead.
Evolution
Oct 31, 2022
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626
Darwinian evolution is the process by which natural selection promotes genetic changes in traits that favor survival and reproduction of individuals. How fast evolution happens depends crucially on the abundance of its "fuel": ...
Evolution
May 26, 2022
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1092
Nearly half of our DNA has been written off as junk, the discards of evolution: Sidelined or broken genes, viruses that got stuck in our genome and were dismembered or silenced, none of it relevant to the human organism or ...
Evolution
Oct 18, 2021
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785
Living in and on our bodies are trillions of microbial cells belonging to thousands of bacterial species, known as the microbiome. These microbes play key roles in human health, but little is known about their evolution. ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 10, 2021
0
270
One of the best ways to study human evolution is by comparing us with nonhuman species that, evolutionarily speaking, are closely related to us. That closeness can help scientists narrow down precisely what makes us human, ...
Biotechnology
Mar 17, 2021
3
1985
University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists have found that a constantly fluctuating environment can enable some species to invade new areas by helping them maintain the genetic diversity they need to settle into their new ...
Evolution
Jun 22, 2020
0
112
A database of 10,000 bird species shows how measurements of wings, beaks and tails can predict a species' role in an ecosystem.
Plants & Animals
Jan 13, 2020
1
516
How did humans learn to walk upright?
Archaeology
Nov 6, 2019
6
248
Australopithecus anamensis is the earliest-known species of Australopithecus, and widely accepted as the progenitor of Lucy's species, Australopithecus afarensis. Until now, A. anamensis was known mainly from jaws and teeth. ...
Archaeology
Aug 28, 2019
4
2811
