Last update: 14 hours ago

Long live the long-limbed African chicken

Evolution news

Long live the long-limbed African chicken

Pick your chicken wisely. The choice could make or break your marriage.

Plants & Animals

14 hours ago

Environment, not evolution, might underlie some human-ape differences

Apes' abilities have been unfairly measured, throwing into doubt the assumed belief that human infants are superior to adult chimpanzees, according to a new study by leaders in the field of ape cognition.

Evolution

Jul 15, 2019

186

Out of Africa and into an archaic human melting pot

Genetic analysis has revealed that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with at least five different archaic human groups as they moved out of Africa and across Eurasia.

Evolution

Jul 15, 2019

571

Fossil of smallest Old World monkey species discovered in Kenya

Researchers from the National Museums of Kenya, University of Arkansas, University of Missouri and Duke University have announced the discovery of a tiny monkey that lived in Kenya 4.2 million years ago.

Evolution

Jul 15, 2019

239

The nose of E. coli zips open and closed

With ice-cold electron microscopy microbiologists from Leiden gain more insight into how bacteria respond to their environment. Publication in mBio.

Evolution

Jul 11, 2019

Neural sleep patterns emerged at least 450 million years ago, researchers find

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found that neural signatures in sleeping zebrafish are analogous to those of humans, suggesting that the brain activity evolved at least 450 million years ago, ...

Evolution

Jul 10, 2019

Unprecedented display of concern and 'consolation' toward an unknown monkey offers hope for endangered macaques

A wild group of endangered Barbary macaques have been observed, for the first time, "consoling" and adopting an injured juvenile from a neighbouring group. The observations by a scientist from Oxford University and the International ...

Plants & Animals

Jul 10, 2019

395

Best male biathletes 'more attractive'

Top male biathletes are more attractive to the opposite sex, according to a new study by scientists at the universities of Exeter and Bristol.

Evolution

Jul 10, 2019

204

Human pregnancy dependent on cells evolved in platypus-like animal 300 million years ago

Platelet cells, which prevent mammals from bleeding non-stop, first evolved around 300 million years ago in an egg-laying animal similar to the modern duck-billed platypus, finds joint research by UCL and Yale University.

Evolution

Jul 09, 2019

1326

Body plan evolution not as simple as once believed

The role of Hox genes in changing the layout of different body parts during evolution has been challenged by a study led by researchers out of the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Biological Sciences.

Evolution

Jul 09, 2019

489

Study highlights nitrogen efficiency gains in corn hybrids over 70 years

During the past 70 years, hybrid corn varieties have increased both yield and nitrogen use efficiency at nearly the same pace, largely by preserving leaf function during grain filling. The Purdue University study's findings ...

Plants & Animals

Jul 09, 2019

The parallel ecomorph evolution of scorpionflies: The evidence is in the DNA

With only a few cases of ethanol to preserve tissue samples for total genomic DNA analysis, a trio covered much ground in the mountains of Japan and Korea to elucidate the evolution of the scorpionfly. The rugged scientists ...

Evolution

Jul 08, 2019

Scientists find high mutation rates within huge, old-growth trees

The towering, hundred-year-old Sitka spruce trees growing in the heart of Vancouver Island's Carmanah Valley appear placid and unchanging.

Evolution

Jul 08, 2019

873

Live fast and die young, or play the long game? Scientists map 121 animal life cycles

Scientists have pinpointed the "pace" and "shape" of life as the two key elements in animal life cycles that affect how different species get by in the world. Their findings, which come from a detailed assessment of 121 species ...

Evolution

Jul 08, 2019

Grazing animals drove domestication of grain crops

Many familiar grains today, like quinoa, amaranth, millets, hemp and buckwheat, have traits that indicate that they co-evolved for dispersion by large grazing mammals. During the Pleistocene, massive herds directed the ecology ...

Evolution

Jul 08, 2019

116

Tracking evolution through teeth: The small-fry ancestor of the great white shark

Mackerel sharks (Lamniformes) are a group consisting of some of the most iconic sharks we know, including the mako shark (the fastest shark in the world), the infamous great white shark, and Megalodon, the biggest predatory ...

Plants & Animals

Jul 05, 2019

Creation of big data tool leads to new ideas on form and function of insect eggs

Sometimes disproving an old hypothesis is as important as proving a new one. In a new paper in Nature, Cassandra G. Extavour manages to do both, while helping create a tool that will enable similar big-data studies moving ...

Evolution

Jul 04, 2019

Lunar and solar eclipses make animals do strange things

For most animals, the structure of their day—and indeed their year—depends on the light-dark cycle. These regular and rhythmic cycles in the length of days tell animals when they should be foraging, when they should be ...

Plants & Animals

Jul 03, 2019

Neutral evolution shapes lifespan and aging

Different African killifish species vary extensively in their lifespans—from just a few months to several years. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne investigated how different lifespans ...

Evolution

Jul 03, 2019