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Evolution news
Ancient fossil sheds big light on evolution enigma, solving a 100-year arthropod mystery
For over a century, the Cambrian arthropod Helmetia expansa remained a mystery. Discovered by paleontologist Charles Doolittle Walcott in 1918, it was initially classified as a crustacean. Despite frequent mentions in research ...
Evolution
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Scientists unveil evolutionary conservation and innovation in mammalian hypothalamus development
The hypothalamus is a small but critical region at the base of the brain that controls the autonomic nervous system, regulates body temperature, signals hunger and thirst, exerts hormonal control over the pituitary gland, ...
Evolution
1 hour ago
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Flex appeal: The trade-off between armor and efficiency in sea turtle shells
When we picture sea turtles in the wild, it's easy to envision them as armored warriors—their hard, resilient shells serving as near-impenetrable shields against oceanic threats like sharks. These sleek, streamlined shells ...
Plants & Animals
7 hours ago
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Multiple antibiotic resistance is auxiliary to bacterial fitness and adaptability, study shows
Could a gene regulatory network in gut microbes have evolved its elaborate and tightly regulated molecular machinery only to pump out antibiotics indiscriminately? Researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology ...
Evolution
Apr 7, 2025
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Reptiles in open habitats display brighter colors, study finds
Reptiles living in open habitats generally have brighter coloration than species living in denser vegetation. This is shown in a new study from Lund University in Sweden. The study, published in Nature Communications, suggests ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 7, 2025
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How we used AI to trace the evolution of bacteria on Earth
Bacteria are the most diverse organisms on Earth, with a number of species that's difficult to quantify. They're also incredibly old
Evolution
Apr 5, 2025
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Battle of the sex chromosomes: How competition affects X vs. Y sperm fitness
In evolutionary terms, fitness is defined as an organism's ability to survive and reproduce its genes into the next generation. Genes influence fitness, sometimes competing against each other within an organism.
Evolution
Apr 4, 2025
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Bonobos combine calls in similar ways to human language, study finds
Bonobos—our closest living relatives—create complex and meaningful combinations of calls resembling the word combinations of humans.
Plants & Animals
Apr 3, 2025
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Molecular clock analysis shows bacteria used oxygen long before widespread photosynthesis
Microbial organisms dominate life on Earth, but tracing their early history and evolution is difficult because they rarely fossilize. Determining when exactly a particular group of microbes first appeared is especially hard. ...
Evolution
Apr 3, 2025
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Bizarre-looking dinosaur challenges what we know about the evolution of fingers
Oviraptorosaurs are weird dinosaurs that look a bit like flightless birds. But these ancient animals aren't just funny-looking fossils. As my team's new research published in Royal Society Open Science shows, they can help ...
Evolution
Apr 3, 2025
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Study reveals that migrating roach fish have sharper eyesight
Roach fish that migrate between different lakes and water courses have larger pupils and better eyesight than roach that stay in one place. The adaptation makes it easier for the red-eyed freshwater migrants to find food ...
Evolution
Apr 3, 2025
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E. coli evolutionary map could lead to precision medicine against antibiotic resistance
The first-of-its-kind in-depth bacterial evolutionary map could pave the way for the development of precision treatments for certain antibiotic-resistant infections, such as urinary tract infections.
Evolution
Apr 3, 2025
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Genetic basis of camouflage in alpine Corydalis plants revealed
Camouflage is a common defensive strategy among animals. By modifying their coloration and patterning, animals evade predators or ambush prey. Notably, more than 40% of alpine plant species in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and ...
Evolution
Apr 2, 2025
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Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid, research reveals
More mammals were living on the ground several million years before the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs, new research led by the University of Bristol has revealed.
Evolution
Apr 1, 2025
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Giving up on photosynthesis: How a borrowed bacterial gene allows some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet
A group of diatom species belonging to the Nitzschia genus gave up on photosynthesis and now get their carbon straight from their environment, thanks to a bacterial gene picked up by an ancestor. Gregory Jedd of Temasek Life ...
Evolution
Apr 1, 2025
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Biomechanical 'size matching' explains floral isolation in bumblebee-pollinated elephant-nose flowers
Buzz pollination—a process in which bees extract pollen by vibrating flowers—occurs in more than 20,000 plant species. Among the most specialized examples are the wildflowers of the Pedicularis genus (Orobanchaceae), ...
Evolution
Mar 31, 2025
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Bird flu could be on the cusp of transmitting between humans—but there are ways to slow down viral evolution
Disease forecasts are like weather forecasts: We cannot predict the finer details of a particular outbreak or a particular storm, but we can often identify when these threats are emerging and prepare accordingly.
Evolution
Mar 31, 2025
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Horses, donkeys and zebras have adaptations that break normal genomic rules
A genetic mutation in horses that would typically halt protein production has become a molecular asset. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Vanderbilt University have identified a rare instance of genetic recoding ...
New simulation of life on Earth reveals hidden diversity of undiscovered species
In a study published in Systematic Biology, researchers from Imperial College London, UCL, Dalhousie University and the United Nations Environment Program World Conservation Monitoring Center described how their new simulation ...
Evolution
Mar 31, 2025
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Plesiosaur discovery sheds light on early Jurassic evolution and plausible endemism
A newly described plesiosaur fossil from southern Germany is providing crucial evidence about the diversification of these ancient marine reptiles during the Early Jurassic.
Evolution
Mar 31, 2025
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More news
Other news
New research finds fluorescence in feathers of Long-eared Owls
Predicting animal movements under global change
Using orbital cycles to understand early life
Scientists shed light on life and times of 'Fiona' the pregnant ichthyosaur
Sperm don't just swim, they screw their way forward
Nurturing mothers help baby monkeys recognize key facial expressions
A new dissipation-based method to probe quantum correlations
