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Evolution news
Plants 'breathe' with millions of tiny mouths—lasers illuminate evolution of stomata behavior
Plant behavior may seem rather boring compared with the frenetic excesses of animals. Yet the lives of our vegetable friends, who tirelessly feed the entire biosphere (including us), are full of exciting action. It just requires ...
Evolution
3 hours ago
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Scientists uncover how enzymes evolved to function at low temperatures
Life has evolved over billions of years, adapting to the changing environment. Similarly, enzymes—proteins that speed up biochemical reactions (catalysis) in cells—have adapted to the habitats of their host organisms. ...
Evolution
5 hours ago
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Radioisotopic ages of newly discovered fossil sites hold clues to evolution of mammals
Anatolia, the western part of modern-day Turkey that sits at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, is a fossil-rich land crucial to unlocking the mysteries surrounding the evolution of mammals over the last 10 million ...
Mountains as biodiversity engines: How uplift may shape species evolution
A new study co-authored by researchers at Indiana University sheds light on how the forces that shape mountain ranges also influence the evolution of species. In the study, "Direct effects of mountain uplift and topography ...
Evolution
23 hours ago
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Biologists discover ancient neurohormone that controls appetite
A team of biologists at Queen Mary University of London has discovered that a neurohormone controlling appetite in humans has an ancient evolutionary origin, dating back over half a billion years. The findings, published ...
Evolution
23 hours ago
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'Chimpanzee 'engineers' have implications for understanding human technological evolution
A multidisciplinary team of researchers led by Dr. Alejandra Pascual-Garrido, Research Affiliate at the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, has discovered that chimpanzees living in Gombe ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 24, 2025
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How dramatic daily swings in oxygen shaped early animal life
Imagine a world where the oxygen you need changes dramatically between day and night. Your world shifts from being rich in oxygen (oxic) in the day, so you have energy to hunt for food, to suffocatingly oxygen-free (anoxic) ...
Evolution
Mar 24, 2025
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Nature's time machine: How long-term studies unlock evolution's secrets
Georgia Tech scientists are revealing how decades-long research programs have transformed our understanding of evolution, from laboratory petri dishes to tropical islands—along the way uncovering secrets that would remain ...
Evolution
Mar 24, 2025
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Evolution: Features that help in finding a mate may lead to smaller brains
A longstanding question in evolutionary biology is how sexual selection influences how entire genomes develop. Sexual selection is where individuals with certain traits have higher reproductive success, leading to the spread ...
Evolution
Mar 22, 2025
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Origin of life: How a special group of single-celled organisms laid the foundation for complex cells
Ten years ago, nobody knew that Asgard archaea even existed. In 2015, however, researchers examining deep-sea sediments discovered gene fragments that indicated a new and previously undiscovered form of microbes.
Evolution
Mar 21, 2025
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Deadly bacteria have developed the ability to produce antimicrobials and wipe out competitors, scientists discover
A drug-resistant type of bacteria that has adapted to health care settings evolved in the past several years to weaponize an antimicrobial genetic tool, eliminating its cousins and replacing them as the dominant strain. University ...
Evolution
Mar 21, 2025
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Cloaked in color: Research finds some female hummingbirds evolve male plumage to dodge aggression
Why do humans wear clothes? One reason is that changing outfits allows people to tailor their look in hopes of attracting or avoiding attention. New research led by the University of Washington found that hummingbirds may ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 20, 2025
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From dinosaurs to birds: The origins of feather formation
Feathers are among the most complex cutaneous appendages in the animal kingdom. While their evolutionary origin has been widely debated, paleontological discoveries and developmental biology studies suggest that feathers ...
Evolution
Mar 20, 2025
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They'd rather die: The lesson that male roundworms refuse to learn
In human society, men tend to be seen as risk-takers, while women are seen as being more cautious. According to evolutionary psychologists, this difference developed in the wake of threats to each sex and their respective ...
Evolution
Mar 20, 2025
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How an organelle evolves in symbiosis with a cell: Intermediate stage sheds light on the assimilation process
Organelles in cells were originally often independent cells, which were incorporated by host cells and lost their independence in the course of evolution. A team of biologists headed by Professor Dr. Eva Nowack at Heinrich ...
Evolution
Mar 19, 2025
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Chimpanzee genes have changed over time to suit local conditions: New study
Chimpanzees are humans' closest living relatives, sharing more than 98% of our DNA. They are endangered, with fewer than 250,000 left and an annual decline of between 1.5% and 6%. This is due to habitat destruction, hunting ...
Evolution
Mar 19, 2025
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The tendency of some flowers to be 'honest' and reward pollinators with nectar is partly genetic, study suggests
Flowers can produce showy displays that appeal to pollinating insects or animals, but some "cheat" by enticing pollinators but not rewarding them with nectar. Research in New Phytologist indicates that the tendency of flowers ...
Evolution
Mar 19, 2025
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Sperm breach blastocyst defenses in primates, providing new insights into reproductive competition
In a study of early embryonic development in primates, an international research team under the leadership of Berthold Huppertz and Thomas Kroneis from Med Uni Graz has shown for the first time that sperm can penetrate the ...
Evolution
Mar 18, 2025
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Scientists uncover principles underlying the toxicity of 'selfish' genes
Lurking within the genomes of nearly all species—including plants, fungi, and even humans—are genes that are passed from generation to generation with no clear benefit to the organism. Called "selfish" genes, they can ...
Evolution
Mar 18, 2025
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Genetic study reveals hidden chapter in human evolution
Modern humans descended from not one, but at least two ancestral populations that drifted apart and later reconnected, long before modern humans spread across the globe.
Evolution
Mar 18, 2025
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More news
Gorillas match chimpanzees in self-awareness study
Koalas in Queensland show unique immunity to deadly retrovirus
A new name for one of the world's rarest rhinoceroses
Other news
Nickel(0) and boron—together at last in square-planar complexes
Listening to quantum atoms talk together thanks to acoustics
C. diff uses toxic compound to fuel growth advantage, researchers discover
Who is calling? Bats outsmart deception by solving sensory conflicts
Were large soda lakes the cradle of life?
