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Genomic study reveals fungal domestication by leafcutter ants

While our human ancestors began domesticating food crops around 10,000 years ago, a lineage of ants called the "attines" became fungus farmers 60 million years earlier. The attine ants and their fungal crop mutually depend ...

The darker side of human rights for great apes

The Spanish government has announced plans to ban harmful experiments on great apes as part of a wider initiative to give them increased rights closer to the ones humans enjoy.

Study traces wild cat eye color diversity to ancient ancestor

Fans of Clementine, the cat who recently captivated TikTok with her rare eye color, should take note. The piercing golden gaze of cheetahs, the striking blue stare of snow leopards, and the luminous green glare of leopards ...

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Evolution
New insights into sauropod evolution: Discovery of tail clubs in India
Plants & Animals
The evolutionary history of rats has more holes than Swiss cheese, but researchers are trying to close them
Evolution
Seal species carries 'genetic scars' after being hunted to the edge of extinction, new research reveals
Evolution
Plant lineage study provides insights into the ecological and evolutionary effects of different reproductive strategies
Plants & Animals
Sea robins use leg-like fins to taste and navigate seafloor, researchers discover
Plants & Animals
Bird study shows that grounded running styles conserve energy
Evolution
Cretaceous fireflies reveal early evolution of insect bioluminescence
Plants & Animals
Closely related plants shows species use different methods to adapt to extreme environments, study shows
Evolution
Bronze age Lactobacillus genomes reveal origins of kefir cheese
Evolution
New evolutionary model revises the origins of biodiversity
Evolution
Brazilian fossils reveal early evolution of mammalian jaw and middle ear
Plants & Animals
New fossil species reshapes understanding of grape family history
Plants & Animals
Naked mole-rat found to have lost infection-resistant proteins
Evolution
Unveiling ancient life: New method sheds light on early cellular and metabolic evolution
Evolution
Ancient DNA helps uncover the Iberian lynx's potential secret weapon against extinction
Evolution
Researchers discover tumors inherited by generations of jellyfish-like creatures
Evolution
3D field-based tracking and field experiments of octopus and fish unlock the secrets of multispecies hunting
Evolution
Extreme polar light environment of the North and South Poles sustains biodiversity, researchers suggest
Evolution
How diversity in heat tolerance can help protect coral reefs
Evolution
New database covers distribution and evolutionary history of megadiverse flowering plant family on isolated islands

Other news

Cell & Microbiology
Lighting the way with accurate and safe 3D embryo imaging
Cell & Microbiology
Biomolecular condensates can split membranes without the aid of proteins, study finds
Biochemistry
Barnacle-inspired polymers could present new way to design antibiotics, researchers say
General Physics
Researchers discover new isotope plutonium-227
Astronomy
A sharper view of the Milky Way with Gaia and machine learning
Condensed Matter
Theoretical study demonstrates existence of giant photocaloric effects in ferroelectric perovskites
Molecular & Computational biology
Genetic mechanism unlocks a key secret behind disease infection in crops
Social Sciences
Carefully exposing children to more misinformation can make them better fact-checkers, study suggests
Mathematics
In double breakthrough, mathematician helps solve two long-standing problems
Planetary Sciences
Jupiter's Great Red Spot shows unexpected size changes
Paleontology & Fossils
Scientists recreate the head of this ancient 9-foot-long bug
Archaeology
Fossils and fires: Insights into early modern human activity in the jungles of Southeast Asia
Astronomy
Black hole destroys star, goes after another
Archaeology
Underwater caves yield clues that may help explain early expansion of Homo sapiens into Mediterranean islands
Plants & Animals
Scientists study elephant wrinkles to understand their purpose
Optics & Photonics
Quantum physicists tap into entanglement to improve the precision of optical atomic clocks
Earth Sciences
Snowflake dance analysis could improve rain forecasts
Astronomy
Astronomers race to capture image of exoplanet near star
Plants & Animals
Team uncovers the complex social life of rats, with potential implications for human psychiatry
Planetary Sciences
Hubble and New Horizons offer dual perspectives on Uranus to inform exoplanet research

Pandas gave bamboo the thumbs up at least six million years ago

When is a thumb not a thumb? When it's an elongated wrist bone of the giant panda used to grasp bamboo. Through its long evolutionary history, the panda's hand has never developed a truly opposable thumb and instead evolved ...

The evolution of evolutionary developmental biology

Studying evolution by focusing solely on fossils would leave many questions unanswered, but evolutionary developmental biology (otherwise known as "evo-devo") helps fill in the gaps.

How did vertebrates first evolve jaws?

Five-hundred million years ago, it was relatively safe to go back in the water. That's because creatures of the deep had not yet evolved jaws. In a new pair of studies in eLife and Development, scientists reveal clues about ...

Observing different mating tactics in the Japanese scorpionfly

Owing to the high competition and the prevalence of natural selection, many male insects must develop alternative tactics to mate with a female. Weaker males who lose in a competition (or loser males) may resort to hovering ...

Ancient microbes may help us find extraterrestrial life forms

Using light-capturing proteins in living microbes, scientists have reconstructed what life was like for some of Earth's earliest organisms. These efforts could help us recognize signs of life on other planets, whose atmospheres ...