The evolution of mucus: How did we get all this slime?
From the slime coating slugs to the saliva in our mouths, many slippery bodily fluids contain mucus. So how did this marvel of biology evolve?
From the slime coating slugs to the saliva in our mouths, many slippery bodily fluids contain mucus. So how did this marvel of biology evolve?
Evolution
Aug 26, 2022
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171
A team of researchers at Universidade de São Paulo has found that bird species that have a central position in frugivory networks tend to belong to more stable lineages over macroevolutionary time scales. In their paper ...
Parents, you might know the feeling. When kids get pushy and demanding, it's a tempting fantasy to shove them out of the house and let them survive on their own. Of course, we'd never put our babies in harm's way, but according ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 16, 2020
1
133
New research suggests that the first dinosaurs laid soft-shelled eggs—a finding that contradicts established thought. The study, led by the American Museum of Natural History and Yale University and published today in the ...
Archaeology
Jun 17, 2020
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360
People want to help each other, even when it costs them something, and even when the motivations to help don't always align, a new study suggests.
Social Sciences
Jun 3, 2020
9
921
Almost any grocery store is filled with products made from corn, also known as maize, in every aisle: fresh corn, canned corn, corn cereal, taco shells, tortilla chips, popcorn, corn sweeteners in hundreds of products, corn ...
Archaeology
Jun 3, 2020
1
1117
(PhysOrg.com) -- It seems we may have parasites to thank for the existence of sex as we know it. Indiana University biologists have found that, although sexual reproduction between two individuals is costly from an evolutionary ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 7, 2011
3
0
University of Maryland researcher Cheng-Yu Li was in the lab one day when he noticed a fish with a protruding jaw: A telltale sign that it was incubating eggs in its mouth, keeping its offspring safe until they were big enough ...
Ecology
Aug 2, 2024
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58
A new study from The University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University has found evidence of what's long been suspected—that men are more likely to be risk-takers than women.
Social Sciences
Jun 7, 2024
3
140
A component of the human intestinal flora that has been little studied to date is the focus of a new study from Germany. Plasmids are small extrachromosomal genetic elements that frequently occur in bacterial cells and can ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 16, 2024
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104