Feature Channels: Evolution and Darwin

Filters close
Released: 30-Jun-2022 2:05 PM EDT
Revealing ‘Evolution’s Solutions’ to Aging
Michigan State University

An international team of 114 scientists has performed the most comprehensive study of aging and longevity to date with data collected in the wild from 107 populations of 77 species of reptiles and amphibians worldwide.

Newswise: The Art of Getting DNA Out of Decades-Old Pickled Snakes
Released: 30-Jun-2022 1:05 PM EDT
The Art of Getting DNA Out of Decades-Old Pickled Snakes
Field Museum

Two levels underground, Chicago’s Field Museum has a secret bunker.

Newswise: Wildfires May Have Sparked Ecosystem Collapse During Earth’s Worst Mass Extinction
Released: 30-Jun-2022 10:40 AM EDT
Wildfires May Have Sparked Ecosystem Collapse During Earth’s Worst Mass Extinction
University College Cork

Researchers at University College Cork (UCC) and the Swedish Museum of Natural History examined the end-Permian mass extinction (252 million years ago) that eliminated almost every species on Earth, with entire ecosystems collapsing.

Newswise: Microbe Protects Honey Bees From Poor Nutrition, a Significant Cause of Colony Loss
Released: 27-Jun-2022 4:25 PM EDT
Microbe Protects Honey Bees From Poor Nutrition, a Significant Cause of Colony Loss
Indiana University

Researchers have identified a specific bacterial microbe that, when fed to honey bee larvae, can reduce the effects of nutritional stress on developing bees.

Released: 27-Jun-2022 4:20 PM EDT
Fossils in the ‘Cradle of Humankind’ May Be More Than a Million Years Older Than Previously Thought
Purdue University

The earth doesn’t give up its secrets easily – not even in the “Cradle of Humankind” in South Africa, where a wealth of fossils relating to human evolution have been found.

Newswise:Video Embedded tiny-limbs-and-long-bodies-coordinating-lizard-locomotion
VIDEO
Released: 27-Jun-2022 4:00 PM EDT
Tiny Limbs and Long Bodies: Coordinating Lizard Locomotion
Georgia Institute of Technology

Using biological experiments, robot models, and a geometric theory of locomotion, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology investigated how and why intermediate lizard species, with their elongated bodies and short limbs, might use their bodies to move. They uncovered the existence of a previously unknown spectrum of body movements in lizards, revealing a continuum of locomotion dynamics between lizardlike and snakelike movements.

Newswise: Sea Dragons’ Genes Give Clues to Their Distinctive Looks
Released: 27-Jun-2022 12:35 PM EDT
Sea Dragons’ Genes Give Clues to Their Distinctive Looks
University of Oregon

Even with plenty of fish in the sea, sea dragons stand out from the crowd. The funky, fabulous fish are bedecked with ruffly leaf-like adornments. Their spines are kinked. They’re missing their ribs and their teeth. And the responsibility of pregnancy is taken on by the males. By sequencing the genomes of two species of sea dragons, University of Oregon researchers have found genetic clues to the fish’s distinctive features: They’re missing a key group of genes found in other vertebrates. Those genes help direct the development of the face, teeth and appendages, as well as parts of the nervous system.

Newswise: Population Bottlenecks That Reduced Genetic Diversity Were Common Throughout Human History
Released: 23-Jun-2022 5:45 PM EDT
Population Bottlenecks That Reduced Genetic Diversity Were Common Throughout Human History
University of California, Berkeley

Human populations have waxed and waned over the millennia, with some cultures exploding and migrating to new areas or new continents, others dropping to such low numbers that their genetic diversity plummeted.

Newswise: 1.700-year-old Korean genomes show genetic heterogeneity in Three Kingdoms period Gaya
21-Jun-2022 10:00 AM EDT
1.700-year-old Korean genomes show genetic heterogeneity in Three Kingdoms period Gaya
University of Vienna

An international team led by The University of Vienna and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in collaboration with the National Museum of Korea has successfully sequenced and studied the whole genome of eight 1,700-year-old individuals dated to the Three Kingdoms period of Korea (approx. 57 BC-668 AD). The first published genomes from this period in Korea and bring key information for the understanding of Korean population history. The Team has been led by Pere Gelabert and Prof. Ron Pinhasi of the University of Vienna together with Prof. Jong Bhak and Asta Blazyte from the UNIST and Prof. Kidong Bae from the National Museum of Korea.

Newswise: A Rare Discovery of Long-Term Memory in Wild Frog-Eating Bats
17-Jun-2022 8:05 AM EDT
A Rare Discovery of Long-Term Memory in Wild Frog-Eating Bats
Ohio State University

Frog-eating bats trained by researchers to associate a phone ringtone with a tasty treat were able to remember what they learned for up to four years in the wild, new research has found.

Newswise: Triassic Revolution: Animals Grew Back Faster and Smarter After Mass Extinction
Released: 20-Jun-2022 4:05 AM EDT
Triassic Revolution: Animals Grew Back Faster and Smarter After Mass Extinction
University of Bristol

Palaeontologists in the UK and China have shown that the natural world bounced back vigorously following the End-Permian Extinction.

Newswise: Invasive Wasp Tests Nature’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Released: 16-Jun-2022 10:30 AM EDT
Invasive Wasp Tests Nature’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Dartmouth College

A wasp that has already caused major damage in the Southern Hemisphere could spread throughout North America, although nature’s defenses are currently keeping the insect under control, according to a Dartmouth study.

Newswise: Researchers Discover Crocodile Species That Likely Preyed on Human Ancestors
Released: 15-Jun-2022 5:05 PM EDT
Researchers Discover Crocodile Species That Likely Preyed on Human Ancestors
University of Iowa

Millions of years ago, giant dwarf crocodiles roamed a part of Africa with a taste for our human ancestors.

Newswise: A Large Predator From the Pyrenees
Released: 15-Jun-2022 10:15 AM EDT
A Large Predator From the Pyrenees
PeerJ

A fossilized lower jaw has led an international team of palaeontologists, headed by Bastien Mennecart from the Natural History Museum Basel, to discover a new species of predator that once lived in Europe.

Newswise: Native Bee Key to Social Evolution
Released: 15-Jun-2022 9:55 AM EDT
Native Bee Key to Social Evolution
Flinders University

Studying the unusual social behaviour of an Australian native bee has enabled Flinders University researchers to obtain a clear understanding about the earliest stages of social evolution.

Newswise: Parasitic Worms Reveal New Insights Into the Evolution of Sex and Sex Chromosomes
Released: 15-Jun-2022 8:15 AM EDT
Parasitic Worms Reveal New Insights Into the Evolution of Sex and Sex Chromosomes
University of Vienna

Studying two highly divergent phyla of worms that contain numerous parasites that cause human and livestock diseases, the research group of Qi Zhou from the University of Vienna and Zhejiang University, sheds light on how sexual reproduction and subsequent great diversity of sex chromosomes might have evolved.

Newswise: DNA Evolves at Different Rates, Depending on Chromosome Structure
Released: 14-Jun-2022 8:05 AM EDT
DNA Evolves at Different Rates, Depending on Chromosome Structure
Indiana University

The structure of how DNA is stored in archaea makes a significant difference to how quickly it evolves, according to a new study by Indiana University researchers.

   
Newswise: New research questions hypotheses about climate-controlled ecosystem change during the origin of dinosaurs in Argentina
Released: 13-Jun-2022 2:05 PM EDT
New research questions hypotheses about climate-controlled ecosystem change during the origin of dinosaurs in Argentina
University of Utah

A group of researchers from CONICET and the University of Utah demonstrated that during the time of the first dinosaurs, variations in the diversity and abundance of the plant and vertebrate animal species cannot be related to the climatic changes recorded throughout its deposition, in contrast with previous hypotheses.

Newswise: ‘Fantastic giant tortoise,’ believed extinct, confirmed alive in the Galápagos
Released: 9-Jun-2022 4:05 PM EDT
‘Fantastic giant tortoise,’ believed extinct, confirmed alive in the Galápagos
Princeton University

Princeton geneticist Stephen Gaughran recently confirmed that 'Fernanda' comes from the same species as a tortoise collected from Fernandina Island more than a century ago, and those two are genetically distinct from all other Galápagos tortoises.

Newswise: Genetic intermixing in Indonesia contributed to cultural “explosion” across the Pacific
Released: 9-Jun-2022 2:40 PM EDT
Genetic intermixing in Indonesia contributed to cultural “explosion” across the Pacific
Australian National University

DNA analysis of ancient human remains has shed new light on an "explosion" of intermixing cultures and genetics in an island region north of Australia known as Wallacea - an imprint that is still detectable in East Indonesians today.

Released: 9-Jun-2022 7:05 AM EDT
Lessons on how to sleep: What we can learn from worms
University of Tsukuba

Sleep regulation in a worm is not as different from sleep regulation in mammals, including humans, as you may think. Therefore, knowing how worms switch between being asleep and being awake can tell us a lot of useful information about sleep patterns in humans and what cells regulate them.

Newswise: “Ugly” reef fishes are most in need of conservation support
31-May-2022 3:10 PM EDT
“Ugly” reef fishes are most in need of conservation support
PLOS

Machine learning enables largest study to date on aesthetic preferences and fish ecology.

Released: 7-Jun-2022 1:05 AM EDT
New Study Deepens Understanding of How Animals See, and What Colors
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Gathering vision data for hundreds of vertebrates and invertebrates, University of Arkansas biologists have deepened scientists’ understanding of animal vision, including the colors they see.

Newswise: Pequenos primatas com faces mais expressivas do que se pensava
Released: 2-Jun-2022 8:40 AM EDT
Pequenos primatas com faces mais expressivas do que se pensava
Kyoto University

Universidade de Quioto adaptou o sistema humano de codificação de acção facial, ou FACS, como uma ferramenta para comparações sistemáticas de músculos faciais entre espécies. As contrações musculares faciais movem porções da pele, produzindo um conjunto de mudanças de aparência que são visíveis no rosto. O FACS analisa e classifica os movimentos visíveis feitos pelos músculos faciais através das chamadas unidades de acção.

Newswise: The Persistent Effects of Colonialism in Caribbean Science
Released: 2-Jun-2022 2:05 AM EDT
The Persistent Effects of Colonialism in Caribbean Science
Florida Museum of Natural History

Prior to the first world war, sprawling European empires collectively controlled roughly 80% of Earth’s landmass.

Newswise: The First International Study of Its Kind Assesses the Status of All Reptile Species: At Least 2,000 Species of Reptiles Are Threatened
Released: 1-Jun-2022 5:05 PM EDT
The First International Study of Its Kind Assesses the Status of All Reptile Species: At Least 2,000 Species of Reptiles Are Threatened
Tel Aviv University

The new assessment will enable researchers to understand the conservation needs of threatened species and find intelligent conservation solutions

Newswise: Small, Rare Crayfish Thought Extinct Is Rediscovered in Cave in Huntsville (Ala.) City Limits
Released: 1-Jun-2022 10:45 AM EDT
Small, Rare Crayfish Thought Extinct Is Rediscovered in Cave in Huntsville (Ala.) City Limits
University of Alabama Huntsville

A small, rare crayfish thought to be extinct for 30 years has been rediscovered in a cave in the City of Huntsville in northern Alabama by a team led by an assistant professor at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

Released: 1-Jun-2022 9:55 AM EDT
India’s relic forests reveal a new species of leopard gecko
Pensoft Publishers

Deep in the forests of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in India lives a colourful gecko species that only now revealed its true identity. Meet Eublepharis pictus, also known as the Painted Leopard Gecko.

Newswise: Great White Sharks May Have Contributed to Megalodon Extinction
Released: 1-Jun-2022 1:05 AM EDT
Great White Sharks May Have Contributed to Megalodon Extinction
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Megatooth sharks like, Otodus megalodon, more commonly known as megalodon, lived between 23 and 3.6 million years ago in oceans around the globe and possibly reached as large as 20 metres in length.

Released: 26-May-2022 4:55 PM EDT
Archaeology: First Pompeiian human genome sequenced
Scientific Reports

The first successfully sequenced human genome from an individual who died in Pompeii, Italy, after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE is presented this week in a study published in Scientific Reports.

Newswise: “Fuel of evolution” more abundant than previously thought in wild animals
Released: 26-May-2022 4:15 PM EDT
“Fuel of evolution” more abundant than previously thought in wild animals
Australian National University

The raw material for evolution is much more abundant in wild animals than we previously believed, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU).

Newswise: More reptile species may be at risk of extinction than previously thought
23-May-2022 11:10 AM EDT
More reptile species may be at risk of extinction than previously thought
PLOS

Machine learning tool estimates extinction risk for species previously unprioritized for conservation.

Newswise: Hot-blooded T. rex and cold-blooded Stegosaurus: chemical clues reveal dinosaur metabolisms
Released: 25-May-2022 5:50 PM EDT
Hot-blooded T. rex and cold-blooded Stegosaurus: chemical clues reveal dinosaur metabolisms
Field Museum

For decades, paleontologists have debated whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded, like modern mammals and birds, or cold-blooded, like modern reptiles.

Released: 25-May-2022 4:45 PM EDT
Children and Adolescents Can Walk Efficiently at the Same Pace as Adults
Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH)

Ana Mateos and Jesús Rodríguez, scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), have published an experimental energy study in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology, which shows that children and adolescents can walk at a speed close to the optimal pace for adults, with hardly any locomotion energy costs or departing from their own optimal speed.

Newswise: Snake, Lizard T Cell Mystery
Released: 25-May-2022 4:05 PM EDT
Snake, Lizard T Cell Mystery
Flinders University

The intriguing Australian sleepy lizard has raised new questions about vertebrate immunity after the surprise discovery of the evolutionary disappearance of genes needed for some T cell production in squamates.

Newswise: Skydiving salamanders live in world's tallest trees
Released: 23-May-2022 4:00 PM EDT
Skydiving salamanders live in world's tallest trees
University of California, Berkeley

Salamanders that live their entire lives in the crowns of the world's tallest trees, California's coast redwoods, have evolved a behavior well-adapted to the dangers of falling from high places: the ability to parachute, glide and maneuver in mid-air.

Newswise: A family of termites has been traversing the world’s oceans for millions of years
Released: 23-May-2022 12:25 PM EDT
A family of termites has been traversing the world’s oceans for millions of years
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University - OIST

A new study has mapped out the natural history of drywood termites—the second largest family of termites.

Newswise: Fly researchers find another layer to the code of life
Released: 19-May-2022 4:20 PM EDT
Fly researchers find another layer to the code of life
Duke University

A new examination of the way different tissues read information from genes has discovered that the brain and testes appear to be extraordinarily open to the use of many different kinds of code to produce a given protein.

Newswise: Tooth unlocks mystery of Denisovans in Asia
Released: 18-May-2022 6:10 PM EDT
Tooth unlocks mystery of Denisovans in Asia
Flinders University

What links a finger bone and some fossil teeth found in a cave in the remote Altai Mountains of Siberia to a single tooth found in a cave in the limestone landscapes of tropical Laos?

Newswise:Video Embedded study-finds-parrots-use-their-heads-as-a-third-limb
VIDEO
Released: 18-May-2022 11:05 AM EDT
Study Finds Parrots Use Their Heads as a “Third Limb”
New York Institute of Technology, New York Tech

For the first time, researchers find that parrots climb by using their head as a third “limb.”

Newswise: Chimpanzees combine calls to form numerous vocal sequences
Released: 17-May-2022 11:10 AM EDT
Chimpanzees combine calls to form numerous vocal sequences
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Humans are the only species on earth known to use language. We do this by combining sounds to form words and words to form hierarchically structured sentences.

Released: 17-May-2022 6:05 AM EDT
Early Earth: Tungsten isotopes in seawater provide insights into the co-evolution of Earth's mantle and continents
University of Vienna

In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, Andrea Mundl-Petermeier and Sebastian Viehmann of the Department of Lithospheric Research at the University of Vienna have demonstrated that a new geochemical archive - 182Tungsten in banded iron formations - can be used to simultaneously trace both the evolution of the Earth's mantle and continents throughout Earth’s history. This offers new opportunities to better understand the Precambrian Earth in the future.

Newswise: Discovered: 150-year-old platypus and echidna specimens that proved some mammals lay eggs
Released: 12-May-2022 3:35 PM EDT
Discovered: 150-year-old platypus and echidna specimens that proved some mammals lay eggs
University of Cambridge

Jars of tiny platypus and echidna specimens, collected in the late 1800s by the scientist William Caldwell, have been discovered in the stores of Cambridge’s University Museum of Zoology.

Released: 12-May-2022 12:05 PM EDT
Jellyfish’s Stinging Cells Hold Clues to Biodiversity
Cornell University

The cnidocytes – or stinging cells – that are characteristic of sea anemones, hydrae, corals and jellyfish, and make us careful of our feet while wading in the ocean, are also an excellent model for understanding the emergence of new cell types, according to new Cornell research.

Newswise: What Caused This Megatooth Shark’s Massive Toothache?
Released: 12-May-2022 12:05 PM EDT
What Caused This Megatooth Shark’s Massive Toothache?
North Carolina State University

Did the world’s largest prehistoric shark need an orthodontist, or did it just have a bad lunch?

Newswise:Video Embedded from-cavefish-to-humans-evolution-of-metabolism-in-cavefish-may-provide-insight-into-treatments-for-a-host-of-diseases-such-as-diabetes-heart-disease-and-stroke
VIDEO
11-May-2022 9:55 AM EDT
From Cavefish to Humans: Evolution of Metabolism in Cavefish May Provide Insight Into Treatments for a Host of Diseases Such as Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stroke
Stowers Institute for Medical Research

New research examines how cavefish developed unique metabolic adaptations to survive in nutrient-scarce environments. The study created a genome-wide map of liver tissue for two independent colonies of cavefish along with river fish to understand how cavefish metabolism evolved and how this may be applicable for humans.

   
Newswise: How Shark Teeth Can Decipher Evolutionary Processes
Released: 12-May-2022 4:05 AM EDT
How Shark Teeth Can Decipher Evolutionary Processes
University of Vienna

From embryo to turtle cracker: a team led by palaeobiologist Julia Türtscher from the University of Vienna studied the multiple changes in tooth shape in the tiger shark. The study, recently published in the Journal of Anatomy, is also central in drawing conclusions about extinct species from the myriad of preserved shark teeth in the field of palaeontology.

Newswise: Complex human childbirth and cognitive abilities a result of walking upright
Released: 10-May-2022 12:55 PM EDT
Complex human childbirth and cognitive abilities a result of walking upright
University of Zurich

During human birth, the fetus typically navigates a tight, convoluted birth canal by flexing and rotating its head at various stages.

Newswise: Brain Size Determined The Chances of Survival Among Large Animals
Released: 9-May-2022 1:25 PM EDT
Brain Size Determined The Chances of Survival Among Large Animals
Tel Aviv University

Researchers at Tel Aviv University, and the University of Naples, have examined the mass extinction of large animals over the past tens of thousands of years and found that extinct species had, on average, much smaller brains than species that survived.

Newswise:Video Embedded spider-can-hide-underwater-for-30-minutes
VIDEO
Released: 9-May-2022 12:00 AM EDT
Spider can hide underwater for 30 minutes
Binghamton University, State University of New York

A tropical spider species uses a “film” of air to hide underwater from predators for as long as 30 minutes, according to faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.



close
2.1418