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Evolution news
The ornate horns of ancient marvel Lokiceratops point to evolutionary insights
What do you get when you cross Norse mythology with a 78-million-year-old ancestor to the Triceratops? Answer: Lokiceratops rangiformis, a plant-eating dinosaur with a very fancy set of horns.
Evolution
22 hours ago
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How glacier algae are challenging the way we think about evolution
People often underestimate tiny beings. But microscopic algal cells not only evolved to thrive in one of the most extreme habitats on Earth—glaciers—but are also shaping them.
Evolution
Jun 19, 2024
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Interaction with insects accelerates plant evolution, research finds
A team of researchers at the University of Zurich has discovered that plants benefit from a greater variety of interactions with pollinators and herbivores. Plants that are pollinated by insects and have to defend themselves ...
Evolution
Jun 19, 2024
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Unexpected diversity of light-sensing proteins goes beyond vision in frogs
Frogs have maintained a surprising diversity of light-sensing proteins over evolutionary time, according to a new study led by a Penn State researcher. Light-sensing proteins, called opsins, enable vision in sighted animals, ...
Evolution
Jun 18, 2024
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Extended maternal care is a central factor to animal and human longevity, modeling study suggests
The relationship between mother and child may offer clues to the mystery of why humans live longer lives than expected for their size—and shed new light on what it means to be human.
Evolution
Jun 17, 2024
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Beetles conquered Earth by evolving their own biochemical laboratory, new study finds
As organisms diversified on planet Earth, some branches of the tree of life became exceptionally diverse, others far less so. Still others went extinct. Why evolution favored certain groups over others is a long-standing ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 17, 2024
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Modern human DNA contains bits from all over the Neanderthal genome, except the Y chromosome. What happened?
Neanderthals, the closest cousins of modern humans, lived in parts of Europe and Asia until their extinction some 30,000 years ago.
Evolution
Jun 17, 2024
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New analysis determines ancient polar sea reptile fossil is oldest ever found in Southern Hemisphere
An international team of scientists has identified the oldest fossil of a sea-going reptile from the Southern Hemisphere—a nothosaur vertebra found on New Zealand's South Island. 246 million years ago, at the beginning ...
Evolution
Jun 17, 2024
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Researchers discover that ants from millions of years ago used the same sensory organs as modern ants
A multidisciplinary team of scientists from several institutions in Japan, working with colleagues at the American Museum of Natural History, has found evidence that some types of ants that lived during the Cretaceous Period ...
Study on architecture of heart offers new understanding of human evolution
An international research team from Swansea University and UBC Okanagan (UBCO) has uncovered a new insight into human evolution by comparing humans' hearts with those of other great apes.
Evolution
Jun 14, 2024
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Tiny New Zealand bird delivers a lesson in birdsong evolution
Parrots, songbirds, and hummingbirds can learn to make new sounds. No-one knew, but New Zealand's smallest bird, the rifleman or titipounamu, may have a rudimentary version of the same talent.
Plants & Animals
Jun 14, 2024
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Modern seeds aren't ready for climate change: Smallholder farmers may hold the key to future food security
Humans have radically altered the evolution of agricultural plants since World War Two, remaking our seed system with industrial agricultural practices to feed a growing population. Yet in the changing climate of decades ...
Evolution
Jun 13, 2024
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Discovery of microfossil in China from the 518-million-year-old Qingjiang biota sheds light on adaptive evolution
Microbial sulfate reduction dating back to the Paleoarchean plays a crucial role in driving global carbon and sulfur cycles in ancient and modern Earth. Over 150 species of sulfate reducers from bacterial and archaeal phyla ...
Evolution
Jun 12, 2024
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Polyandrous birds evolve faster than monogamous ones, new study finds
New research led by the University of Bath's Milner Centre for Evolution shows that shorebird species where females breed with multiple males in each season evolve significantly faster than monogamous species. Their findings ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 12, 2024
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Scientists reconstruct ancient genomes of the two most deadly malaria parasites to identify origin and spread
In a study appearing in Nature, an international team of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, reconstructed the evolutionary history and global spread of malaria over ...
Evolution
Jun 12, 2024
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An air-filled sac within birds' lungs is believed to modify mechanics of flight while soaring
Soaring birds—like osprey, eagles, falcons, even vultures—can stay aloft in the air seemingly forever, rarely flapping their wings. They glide along rising air currents in a way that has fascinated humans and scientists ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 12, 2024
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Researchers find rare organ preservation in Brazilian fossil fishes
Fossils in Brazil indicate a more complex evolutionary history for ray-finned fish brains than previously anticipated, according to new research.
Evolution
Jun 12, 2024
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Study adds new sea cucumber species to the research toolbox
Scientists have a handful of standard research organisms, including fruit flies and mice, that they use to study the evolutionary development (evo-devo) of animal lineages over time. Yet the more research organisms they can ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 7, 2024
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Fish out of water: How killifish embryos adapt their development
The annual killifish lives in regions with extreme drought. A research group at the University of Basel now reports in Science that the early embryogenesis of killifish diverges from that of other species. Unlike other fish, ...
Evolution
Jun 6, 2024
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Marsupials key to discovering the origin of heater organs in mammals
Around 100 million years ago, a remarkable evolutionary shift allowed placental mammals to diversify and conquer many cold regions of our planet. New research from Stockholm University shows that the typical mammalian heater ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 6, 2024
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More news
How sharks survived a major spike in Earth's temperature
Tracing the evolution of ferns' surprisingly sweet defense strategy
Small birds boast range of flight styles thanks to evolutionary edge
Other news
New computational tool helps interpret AI models in genomics
New photonic chip spawns nested topological frequency comb
New insights into how cell shape influences protein transport rates
An alternative way to manipulate quantum states
Hurricane changed 'rules of the game' in monkey society
AI can help forecast toxic 'blue-green tides'
Researchers uncover enzyme communication mechanism that could aid drug development
New, small, ancient crocodile-like reptile described in Brazil
