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Evolution news
Human or seal? Who has the best underwater hearing?
Millions of years ago, all mammals lived on land, but at some point, several species left land and evolved to a life in the sea: think of seals and whales, which today are adapted to life under water.
Plants & Animals
9 hours ago
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Blind cave creatures light the way towards further understanding of human traits with DNA
In watery underground caverns, there are creatures that live in an eternal midnight. Over the course of generations, these animals have adapted to their isolated and unique environments, and scientists believe their pasty ...
Evolution
10 hours ago
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28
Yorkicystis, the 500-million-year-old relative of starfish that lost its skeleton
After four years of digging for fossils in a churchyard in York, Pennsylvania, amateur paleontologist Chris Haefner made an intriguing find. "I knew it was worth keeping," he said. He posted his discovery on Facebook.
Evolution
14 hours ago
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147
Ancient crocodile found in Peru sheds new light on their origin
A team of researchers at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, working with colleagues from the U.S. and France, has uncovered a prehistoric crocodile fossil in Peru. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society ...
When does resistance to toxins evolve in animals?
Does a snake die when it bites its lip? Why will a mongoose survive a scorpion's sting, but we humans perish? These questions occupied the minds of toxin-enthusiasts and Master's students in Biology Jory van Thiel and Roel ...
Plants & Animals
May 23, 2022
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Evolution experiment with bacteria challenges conventional wisdom about size and the cost of production
In 1988, a biologist at Michigan State University, Richard Lenski, set up 12 flasks of E. coli and his group has maintained and followed their evolution ever since. Periodically, subsamples are frozen, enabling scientists ...
Evolution
May 23, 2022
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657
A family of termites has been traversing the world's oceans for millions of years
Termites are a type of cockroach that split from other cockroaches around 150 million years ago and evolved to live socially in colonies. Today, there are many different kinds of termites. Some form large colonies with millions ...
Evolution
May 23, 2022
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Proposed global initiative to study female health across species
Giraffes have the highest blood pressure of all mammals—up to 300/200, more than double that of a typical human. But pregnant giraffes don't suffer from pre-eclampsia, a dangerous disorder caused by hypertension.
Evolution
May 20, 2022
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Developmental origin of the adrenal cortex in humans and cynomolgus monkeys
Sitting atop each kidney and measuring only around two centimeters long, the adrenal glands are tiny but mighty. These glands produce steroid hormones, including those involved in stress response, blood pressure maintenance, ...
Evolution
May 20, 2022
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142
Discovery of 'ghost' fossils reveals plankton resilience to past global warming events
An international team of scientists from UCL (University College London), the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museum (London) and the University of Florence have found a remarkable type of fossilization ...
Evolution
May 19, 2022
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Genetic predictability steadily erodes during evolution, new study shows
A critical goal in genetics and evolution is predicting the effects of mutations that may happen in the future and inferring the effects of those that happened in the past. To make these predictions, scientists generally ...
Evolution
May 19, 2022
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Study finds parrots use their heads as a 'third limb'
No vertebrate (fish, mammal, bird, reptile, or amphibian) has ever had an odd number of limbs. Despite this "forbidden phenotype," some animals seem to use other body parts as a third or fifth "limb" to move from one place ...
Plants & Animals
May 19, 2022
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587
Two-step molecular process rewires nutrient transport in wild thale cress
New research in plants that colonized the base of an active stratovolcano reveals that two simple molecular steps rewired nutrient transport, enabling adaptation.
Evolution
May 18, 2022
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Important genetic origin of our senses identified
Having a head is quite an advantage. Although this may sound banal, it had to be tested in a long evolutionary process: As animal life developed, invertebrates initially dominated the oceans. These had already developed head ...
Evolution
May 18, 2022
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It's a female bonobo's world—ecologists propose new tools to assess sex and power among wild animals
In the wild, it might seem like male animals run the show. But in a review publishing in Trends in Ecology & Evolution on May 18, researchers lay a new framework to assess power distribution between the sexes, and its application ...
Plants & Animals
May 18, 2022
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New insights on link between genetic mutations and biological evolution
In biological evolution, we know that it's all about the survival of the fittest: organisms that develop genetic traits that allow them to better adapt to their physical environment are more likely to thrive, and thus pass ...
Evolution
May 17, 2022
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Chimpanzees found to combine calls to form numerous vocal sequences
Humans are the only species on earth known to use language. We do this by combining sounds to form words and words to form hierarchically-structured sentences. The question of where this extraordinary capacity originates ...
Plants & Animals
May 17, 2022
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453
Algae reveal clues about climate changes over millions of years
Organisms adjust their cell walls according to environmental conditions such as temperature. Some adaptations involve changes in lipids, which may still be preserved long after the rest of the organisms has been degraded. ...
Evolution
May 13, 2022
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Study reveals evolution of crab group Thoracotremata
Thoracotremata (Brachyura, Decapoda) is the most derived crab group, encompassing 1,248 extant species. It currently comprises four superfamilies: Grapsoidea MacLeay, Ocypodoidea Rafinesque, Cryptochiroidea Paulson and Pinnotheroidea ...
Plants & Animals
May 13, 2022
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Jellyfish's stinging cells hold clues to the emergence of new cell types
The cnidocytes—or stinging cells—that are characteristic of sea anemones, hydrae, corals and jellyfish, and make us careful of our feet while wading in the ocean, are also an excellent model for understanding the emergence ...
Evolution
May 12, 2022
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More news
The origin of life: A paradigm shift
Sugar aversion hampers cockroach coupling
Other news
A candlelight-like glow from a flexible organic LED
Study shows that scavengers, such as raccoons, can be picky eaters
Scientists discover a gene that plays a critical role in embryo development
While the fetal clock develops, mom's behavior tells the time
Developing next-generation superconducting cables
Scientists use quantum computers to simulate quantum materials
The case for speaking politely to animals
Why are male mice afraid of bananas?
Gene-edited tomatoes could be a new source of vitamin D
