When the male bearded manakin snaps its wings at lightning speed, it's more than part of an elaborate, acrobatic mating ritual. The tiny muscle doing the heavy lifting is also the reason this exotic bird has evolved into ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 30, 2018
1
120
A research group at the University of Helsinki discovered the fastest event of speciation in any marine vertebrate when studying flounders in an international research collaboration project. This finding has an important ...
Evolution
May 30, 2017
2
196
There is usually no ambiguity about species delineation when distant lineages are compared. For instance, there is no doubt that dogs and cats belong to two different species. However, such distinction becomes less clear-cut ...
Evolution
Dec 27, 2016
5
1215
Biologists have discovered that the evolution of a new species can occur rapidly enough for them to observe the process in a simple laboratory flask.
Evolution
Nov 29, 2016
11
4270
Sometimes evolution proceeds much more rapidly than we might think. Genetic analysis makes it possible to detect the earliest stages of species formation and to gain a better understanding of speciation processes. For example, ...
Ecology
Feb 29, 2016
20
633
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that amphibians that use toxins to protect themselves against predators are at a higher risk of extinction than those who use other types of defence, which poses a challenge ...
Evolution
Oct 19, 2015
0
28
Birds that are related, such as Darwin's finches, but that vary in beak size and behavior specially evolved to their habitat are examples of a process called speciation. It has long been thought that dramatic changes in a ...
Evolution
Nov 20, 2014
643
0
Only a few genetic changes are needed to spur the evolution of new species—even if the original populations are still in contact and exchanging genes. Once started, however, evolutionary divergence evolves rapidly, ultimately ...
Evolution
Oct 31, 2013
4
2
In terms of biodiversity richness, Iran is considered as an extremely complex area with wide ranges in the extremes of altitude, climate and temperature. The high biodiversity of the Iranian fauna is also the result of its ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 1, 2013
0
0
Anyone who has spent time in the tropics knows that the diversity of species found there is astounding and the abundance and diversity of ants, in particular, is unparalleled. Scientists have grappled for centuries to understand ...
Evolution
Apr 22, 2013
0
0
