Related topics: brain

Slipped discs provide a window into human evolutionary past

Thoughts of the family tree may not be uppermost in the mind of a person suffering from a slipped disc, but those spinal discs provide a window into our evolutionary past. They are remnants of the first vertebrate skeleton, ...

Light shed on koala evolution

(PhysOrg.com) -- The world at large knows koalas as cute, cuddly, lovable iconic animals. The evolutionary biologist, on the other hand, will know them as extremely specialized, endangered animals, the evolutionary history ...

X-rays reveal hidden leg of an ancient snake

(PhysOrg.com) -- A novel X-ray imaging technology is helping scientists better understand how in the course of evolution snakes have lost their legs. The researchers hope the new data will help resolve a heated debate about ...

Honey bees study finds that insects have personality too

A new study in Science suggests that thrill-seeking is not limited to humans and other vertebrates. Some honey bees, too, are more likely than others to seek adventure. The brains of these novelty-seeking bees exhibit distinct ...

Hunter's find leads to discovery of prehistoric sea creature

A fossil found by an elk hunter in Montana nearly seven years ago has led to the discovery of a new species of prehistoric sea creature that lived about 70 million years ago in the inland sea that flowed east of the Rocky ...

Ancient fish illuminates one of the mysteries of childhood

Remember dropping your milk teeth? After a lot of wiggling the tooth finally dropped out. But in your hand was only the enamel-covered crown: the entire root of the tooth had somehow disappeared. In a paper published in Nature, ...

Skeletons in the pre-Cambrian closet

The Cambrian explosion marked a major blossoming in the tree of life around 540 million years ago. Nearly all of the major phyla in the animal kingdom appeared in a sudden burst of evolution. One of the drivers of this rapid ...

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