Study of giant viruses shakes up tree of life

A new study of giant viruses supports the idea that viruses are ancient living organisms and not inanimate molecular remnants run amok, as some scientists have argued. The study reshapes the universal family tree, adding ...

Jack-of-all-trades slows down evolutionary tree

All living organisms are tips of an evolutionary tree that emerged over 3.5 billion years from a single common ancestor. Research in the Department of Bionanoscience at Delft University of Technology has provided the first ...

The first crocodile ancestors

Did you know that birds and crocodiles are practically cousins? Around 230 million years ago, you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between the two different lineages. This is because birds and crocodilians (which ...

Fish fossil yields jaw-dropping data on Man's past

The ancestor of all creatures with jaws and a backbone was not a sleek, shark-like beast but a toothless, armoured fish, said a study Wednesday that rewrites Man's evolutionary history.

Getting a leg up on whale and dolphin evolution

When the ancestors of living cetaceans—whales, dolphins and porpoises—first dipped their toes into water, a series of evolutionary changes were sparked that ultimately nestled these swimming mammals into the larger hoofed ...

Biologists report how whales have changed over 35 million years

(PhysOrg.com) -- Whales are remarkably diverse, with 84 living species of dramatically different sizes and more than 400 other species that have gone extinct, including some that lived partly on land. Why are there so many ...

Oldest existing lizard-like fossil hints at scaly origins

The fossilised remains of a reptile closely related to lizards are the oldest yet to be discovered. Two new fossil jaws discovered in Vellberg, Germany provide the first direct evidence that the ancestors of lizards, snakes ...

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