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Evolution news
Primate brain size does not predict their intelligence
Chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans are our closest relatives, and like us they have relatively large brains and they are very intelligent. But do animals with larger brains really perform better in cognitive tests? A research ...
Plants & Animals
22 hours ago
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The surprising organisation of avian brains
Birds and mammals have the largest brains in relation to their body. Apart from that, however, they have little in common, according to scientific opinion since the 19th century: mammalian brains have a neocortex, i.e. a ...
Plants & Animals
23 hours ago
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34
Researchers show conscious processes in birds' brains for the first time
By measuring brain signals, a neuroscience research group at the University of Tübingen has demonstrated for the first time that corvid songbirds possess subjective experiences. Simultaneously recording behavior and brain ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 25, 2020
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Tracking shape changes in Amazon fish after major river is dammed
A team of biologists led by Craig Albertson and Ph.D. student Chaise Gilbert at the University of Massachusetts Amherst report this week on their comparison between museum collections of cichlid fishes collected before a ...
Evolution
Sep 24, 2020
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104
Scientists discover why tarantulas come in vivid blues and greens
Why are some tarantulas so vividly colored? Scientists have puzzled over why these large, hairy spiders, active primarily during the evening and at night-time, would sport such vibrant blue and green colouration—especially ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 24, 2020
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Penicillium camemberti: a history of domestication on cheese
The white, fluffy layer that covers Camembert is made of a mold resulting from human selection, similar to the way dogs were domesticated from wolves. A collaboration involving French scientists from the CNRS has shown, through ...
Evolution
Sep 24, 2020
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Genome duplications as evolutionary adaptation strategy
Genome duplications play a major role in the development of forms and structures of plant organisms and their changes across long periods of evolution. Heidelberg University biologists under the direction of Prof. Dr. Marcus ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 23, 2020
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Placing barthelonids in evolutionary context
New species of microbial life are continually being identified, but localizing them on a phylogenetic tree is a challenge. Now, researchers at the University of Tsukuba have pinpointed barthelonids, a genus of free-living ...
Evolution
Sep 23, 2020
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65
Genetics or social environment: Who wins in the influence of behaviors?
Interactions between individuals of the same species shape many aspects of their biology, including their social behavior. Social genetic effects occur when the phenotype of an individual, defined as a set of their observable ...
Evolution
Sep 22, 2020
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6
Biodiversity hypothesis called into question
Biologists have long considered the origins and continued coexistence of the immense diversity of species found in our environment. How can we explain the fact that no single species predominates? A generally accepted hypothesis ...
Evolution
Sep 21, 2020
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1194
Epigenetics linked to genetic differences between domesticated and wild chickens
Some of the genetic differences that have arisen between domesticated chickens and their wild ancestors, the red junglefowl, are linked to epigenetic changes, according to a new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 21, 2020
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185
Researchers find cardiovascular health similarities between chimpanzees, humans
Doctors like to remind patients not to monkey around with their health, suggesting that a good diet and regular exercise improve longevity.
Plants & Animals
Sep 21, 2020
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171
Evolutionary paths: Scientists find new patterns in protein evolution
A group of scientists from Russia studied the trends in the evolution of amino acid sequences of proteins in vertebrates and insects and traced the factors influencing the process of evolution. The research results are published ...
Evolution
Sep 21, 2020
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6
Your cells look young for their age, compared to a chimp's
Many humans live to see their 70s and 80s, some even reach 100 years old. But life is much shorter for our closest animal relatives. Chimpanzees, for example, rarely make it past age 50, despite sharing almost 99% of our ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 21, 2020
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166
Like humans, chimpanzees can suffer for life if orphaned before adulthood
Researchers observed three chimpanzee communities of the Tai National Park. They kept full demographic records and collected fecal samples to conduct paternity tests on all new community members, for up to 30 years. Catherine ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 18, 2020
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Chimpanzees in volatile habitats evolved to behave more flexibly
One of the reasons humans are so resilient is our ability to mold our behavior to ever changing situations. It wasn't so long ago that many of us hugged when we met. In the middle of a pandemic, in which close contact between ...
Evolution
Sep 18, 2020
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Human genetics: A look in the mirror
Who are we? Where did we come from? How did we get here? Throughout the ages, humans have sought answers to these questions, pursuing wisdom through religion, philosophy, and eventually science. Evolutionary analyses published ...
Evolution
Sep 18, 2020
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Psychologists suggest using magic tricks to learn more about how the minds of animals work
A small team of psychology researchers at the University of Cambridge has published a Perspective piece in the journal Science suggesting that magic tricks be used by researchers seeking to learn more about how the minds ...
Discovery of microbes with mixed membranes sheds new light on early evolution of life
Current research suggests that more complex life-forms, including humans, evolved from a symbiosis event of Bacteria and another single-celled organism known as Archaea. However, evidence of a transition period in which the ...
Evolution
Sep 17, 2020
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Mapping cavefish brains leads to neural origin of behavioral evolution
For more than 1 million years, independent cavefish populations that are geographically and hydrologically isolated from one another have evolved to include about 29 different populations. Among them, the tiny Mexican tetra, ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 16, 2020
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More news
Tortoise hatchlings found to orient toward objects resembling faces
Genetic adaption to climate change is swift in crop pests
Why rats would win 'Australian Survivor'
Ancient bony fish forces rethink of how sharks evolved
Origin of a complex life form revealed
Reviewing research about the evolution of complex cognition in birds
Other news
The realization of active microscale Marangoni surfers
New measurements show moon has hazardous radiation levels
Materials scientists learn how to make liquid crystal shape-shift
Bird genes are multitaskers, say scientists
Back to Venus: Upstart company wants to beat NASA in search for life
Diagnostic tool for coronavirus makes significant step forward
New method allows precise gene control by light
A clearer view of what makes glass rigid
Secure nano-carrier delivers medications directly to cells
Rapid evolution under climate change
Domesticated chickens have smaller brains
Marine heatwaves are human-made
Wolves have been caring for the pack for at least 1.3 million years
The male Y chromosome does more than we thought
