Genetic research sheds light on what the earliest animals looked like
For more than a century, biologists have wondered what the earliest animals were like when they first arose in the ancient oceans more than half a billion years ago.
For more than a century, biologists have wondered what the earliest animals were like when they first arose in the ancient oceans more than half a billion years ago.
Evolution
May 17, 2023
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276
Plump and ponderous, tardigrades earned the nickname "water bears" when scientists first observed the 0.02-inch-long animals' distinctive lumbering gaits in the 18th century. Their dumpy plod, however, raises the question ...
General Physics
Aug 27, 2021
3
1406
To determine where a sound is coming from, animal brains analyze the minute difference in time it takes a sound to reach each ear—a cue known as interaural time difference. What happens to the cue once the signals get to ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 18, 2019
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480
An international group of researchers including biologists from the University of Maryland found that at least four species of marine ribbon worms independently evolved the ability to regrow a head after amputation.
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 6, 2019
6
1367
It's one of the greatest mysteries of modern science: how did life begin exactly? While most scientists believe that all lifeforms evolved from a common, primitive ancestor microorganism, the details are blurry. What kinds ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 26, 2016
20
1975
Strong fists for defending ourselves and opposable thumbs for work as fine as threading a needle—hand specialisation is widely believed to have given humans a major evolutionary advantage.
Evolution
Jul 14, 2015
33
2306
(Phys.org)—A pair of anthropology researchers, one with the University of California, the other Modesto College has found what they believe are clues to human evolutionary development by conducting a long term study of ...
An international team of researchers has decoded the genome of a creature whose evolutionary history is both enigmatic and illuminating: the African coelacanth. A sea-cave dwelling, five-foot long fish with limb-like fins, ...
Biotechnology
Apr 17, 2013
11
0
(Phys.org) —University of Arizona geneticists have discovered the oldest known genetic branch of the human Y chromosome – the hereditary factor determining male sex.
Biotechnology
Mar 4, 2013
7
0
An international team of researchers has reconstructed the common ancestor of placental mammals—an extremely diverse group including animals ranging from rodents to whales to humans—using the world's largest dataset of ...
Archaeology
Feb 7, 2013
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0