Feature Channels: Evolution and Darwin

Filters close
Newswise: Bees and wasps use the same architectural solutions to join large hexagons to small hexagons
20-Jul-2023 11:45 AM EDT
Bees and wasps use the same architectural solutions to join large hexagons to small hexagons
PLOS

Bees and wasps have converged on the same architectural solutions to nest-building problems, according to a study.

Released: 26-Jul-2023 5:05 PM EDT
Global wildlife trade risks altering evolutionary history and ecosystem function, study suggests
University of Sheffield

Some of the world’s most distinct and ancient animal species, which play crucial roles in our planet’s ecosystems, are exploited for the wildlife trade across large parts of the world, according to new research from the University of Sheffield.

Released: 26-Jul-2023 5:00 PM EDT
Genetic study reveals that a captive-bred population could save endangered crocodile from extinction
Pensoft Publishers

The Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) is a critically endangered species native to the Orinoco River basin in Colombia and Venezuela.

Released: 26-Jul-2023 1:15 PM EDT
Family trees from the European Neolithic
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

The Neolithic lifestyle, based on farming instead of hunting and gathering, emerged in the Near East around 12,000 years ago and contributed profoundly to the modern way of life.

Released: 24-Jul-2023 1:00 PM EDT
Gene conferring novel function to seahorse brood pouch identified
Sophia University

A team of scientists have identified an ‘orphan’ gene—a gene with no identifiable homologous sequences in other species or lineages—in the seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis.

Newswise: How an unlikely amphibian survived its “Judgement Day”
Released: 24-Jul-2023 12:40 PM EDT
How an unlikely amphibian survived its “Judgement Day”
University of Queensland

An international team of researchers has uncovered “unprecedented” snake venom resistance in an unexpected species – the legless amphibian known as caecilians.

Released: 19-Jul-2023 1:40 PM EDT
Fission-Fusion Dynamics in the Social Networks of a North American Pitviper
Prairie Research Institute

Researchers found that rattlesnakes can buffer each other's stress response, much like humans, when they endure a stressful event together. This is the first time "social buffering" has been studied in a reptile.

Newswise: Scientists unravel evolutionary history of the Arctic flora
Released: 18-Jul-2023 6:20 PM EDT
Scientists unravel evolutionary history of the Arctic flora
Chinese Academy of Sciences

A team led by Prof. WANG Wei from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IBCAS) has unraveled the evolutionary history of the Arctic flora. The study was published in Nature Communications.

Released: 18-Jul-2023 12:00 PM EDT
Life on Earth didn’t arise as described in textbooks
University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Science

No, oxygen didn’t catalyze the swift blossoming of Earth’s first multicellular organisms. The result defies a 70-year-old assumption about what caused an explosion of oceanic fauna hundreds of millions of years ago.

Released: 14-Jul-2023 5:30 PM EDT
Genes for learning and memory are 650 million years old, study shows
University of Leicester

A team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Leicester have discovered that the genes required for learning, memory, aggression and other complex behaviours originated around 650 million years ago.

   
Released: 14-Jul-2023 5:00 PM EDT
Remote plant worlds
University of Göttingen

Oceanic islands provide useful models for ecology, biogeography and evolutionary research. Many ground-breaking findings – including Darwin's theory of evolution – have emerged from the study of species on islands and their interplay with their living and non-living environment. Now, an international research team led by the University of Göttingen has investigated the flora of the Canary Island of Tenerife. The results were surprising: the island's plant-life exhibits a remarkable diversity of forms.

Released: 14-Jul-2023 3:55 PM EDT
Virginia Tech researcher discovers new millipede species in the Los Angeles metropolis
Virginia Tech

In busy Los Angeles, few people pay attention to what’s under their feet, but a new underground movement has people looking at the subterranean world just below the surface. A team of scientists discovered a new species of millipede crawling just beneath the soil surface in Los Angeles and Orange counties. These never-before-seen creatures are pale, blind, thin, inch-long burrowers with the ability to produce a silk-like sticky substance, similar to spider silk.

Newswise: Sea snake vision evolved to regain colour
10-Jul-2023 10:10 PM EDT
Sea snake vision evolved to regain colour
University of Adelaide

An international team of scientists examining the genetic history of sea snakes have found that the species has enhanced their colour vision in response to living in brighter and more colourful marine environments.

Released: 11-Jul-2023 3:50 PM EDT
Whale of a debate put to rest
University of Otago

Researchers have finally settled a decades-long dispute about the evolutionary origins of the pygmy right whale.

Newswise: Xerces Blue butterfly genome sequenced, an icon of anthropogenic extinction
Released: 11-Jul-2023 1:20 PM EDT
Xerces Blue butterfly genome sequenced, an icon of anthropogenic extinction
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

The Xerces Blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche xerces) was native to the coastal dunes of San Francisco, in the United States. As the city grew, much of the butterfly’s habitat was destroyed and its population was relegated to Golden Gate National Park.

Released: 11-Jul-2023 7:00 AM EDT
Martian meteorites could provide clues about life on the planet
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory - EMSL

EMSL user Kim Tait is using Martian meteorites to determine if the necessary ingredients for life once existed on Mars. Tait explains how these findings could teach us about evolution of life on our own planet.

Released: 10-Jul-2023 2:20 PM EDT
More menu choices: Migrant orangutans learn a lot about food by watching the locals
Universität Leipzig

Orangutans are dependent on their mothers longer than any other non-human animal, nursing until they are at least six years old and living with her for up to three more years, learning how to find, choose, and process the exceedingly varied range of foods they eat.

Released: 6-Jul-2023 5:30 PM EDT
Southernmost crocodile newt record is a threatened new species
Pensoft Publishers

A spectacular crocodile newt from the Central Highlands of Vietnam was just published in the international peer-reviewed open-access academic journal ZooKeys.

Released: 6-Jul-2023 5:10 PM EDT
Why there are no kangaroos in Bali (and no tigers in Australia)
ETH Zürich

If you travel to Bali, you won’t see a cockatoo, but if you go to the neighbouring island of Lombok, you will. The situation is similar with marsupials: Australia is home to numerous marsupial species, such as the kangaroo and the koala. The further west you go, the sparser they become.

Newswise: Testing Yields New Evidence of Human Occupation 18,000 years ago in Oregon
Released: 6-Jul-2023 2:05 PM EDT
Testing Yields New Evidence of Human Occupation 18,000 years ago in Oregon
University of Oregon

University of Oregon archaeologists have found evidence suggesting humans occupied the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter outside of Riley, Oregon more than 18,000 years ago.

   
Newswise: Apex predator of the Cambrian likely sought soft over crunchy prey
Released: 5-Jul-2023 3:30 PM EDT
Apex predator of the Cambrian likely sought soft over crunchy prey
American Museum of Natural History

Biomechanical studies on the arachnid-like front “legs” of an extinct apex predator show that the 2-foot (60-centimeter) marine animal Anomalocaris canadensis was likely much weaker than once assumed. One of the largest animals to live during the Cambrian, it was probably agile and fast, darting after soft prey in the open water rather than pursuing hard-shelled creatures on the ocean floor.

Newswise: 64a34c24caa3e_JavaanChahlandchimp.jpg
Released: 3-Jul-2023 6:05 PM EDT
Serious monkey business: chimpanzee heart check via digital camera
University of South Australia

University of South Australia scientists have found a way to remotely measure the heart rates of chimpanzees using a digital camera and artificial intelligence. It's hoped the contact-free technique will help detect cardiac disease in the species.

Released: 30-Jun-2023 2:40 PM EDT
Scientists designed new enzyme using Antarctic bacteria and computer calculations
Uppsala University

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in predicting how to change the optimum temperature of an enzyme using large computer calculations.

Released: 29-Jun-2023 5:20 PM EDT
Sponges and their microbiome: Interacting for millions of years
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Munich)

For a number of years, mounting evidence has shown that the microbiome – the totality of all microorganisms that inhabit a living being – interacts with its host in various ways and can influence key life processes.

Released: 27-Jun-2023 6:50 PM EDT
Newly discovered Jurassic fossils are a Texas first
University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin)

A team led by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin has filled a major gap in the state’s fossil record – describing the first known Jurassic vertebrate fossils in Texas.

Newswise: New study sheds light on the evolution of animals
Released: 27-Jun-2023 6:10 PM EDT
New study sheds light on the evolution of animals
University of Oxford

A study led by the University of Oxford has brought us one step closer to solving a mystery that has puzzled naturalists since Charles Darwin: when did animals first appear in the history of Earth?

Released: 27-Jun-2023 5:10 PM EDT
A jaw-dropping conundrum: Why do mammals have a stiff lower jaw?
University of California, Berkeley

From the 20-foot-long jawbones of the filter-feeding blue whale to the short, but bone-crushing, jaws of the hyena and the delicate chin bones of a human, the pair of lower jawbones characteristic of mammals have evolved with amazing variation.

Newswise:Video Embedded orangutans-can-make-two-sounds-at-the-same-time-similar-to-human-beatboxing-study-finds
VIDEO
22-Jun-2023 1:00 PM EDT
Orangutans can make two sounds at the same time, similar to human beatboxing, study finds
University of Warwick

Orangutans can make two separate sounds simultaneously, much like songbirds or human beatboxers, according to a study led by the University of Warwick.

Newswise: Megalodon shark was warm-blooded, confirm researchers using geochemical technique
Released: 26-Jun-2023 4:05 PM EDT
Megalodon shark was warm-blooded, confirm researchers using geochemical technique
DePaul University

A new study finds that the gigantic prehistoric Megalodon or megatooth shark was warm-blooded. DePaul University paleobiologist Kenshu Shimada sheds light on the physiology of Megalodon and reveals new clues about how climate change may have led to the shark’s demise.

Released: 26-Jun-2023 4:00 PM EDT
Headlines involving the fascinating (and perilous) world of oceanography and marine biology can be viewed on the Marine Science channel
Newswise

The recent tragic loss of the Titan submersible in the depths of the North Atlantic has brought the fascinating (and very dangerous) world of Oceanography and Marine Science to the forefront. Below are some recent stories that have been added to the Marine Science channel on Newswise, including expert commentary on the Titan submersible.

       
Newswise: Humans’ evolutionary relatives butchered one another 1.45 million years ago
Released: 26-Jun-2023 3:35 PM EDT
Humans’ evolutionary relatives butchered one another 1.45 million years ago
Smithsonian Institution

Researchers from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History have identified the oldest decisive evidence of humans’ close evolutionary relatives butchering and likely eating one another.

Released: 23-Jun-2023 4:05 PM EDT
A new species of early toothed whale
PeerJ

Have you ever wondered what the earliest ancestors of today’s dolphins looked like? Then look no further, meet Olympicetus thalassodon, a new species of early odontocete, or toothed whale, that swam along the North Pacific coastline around 28 million years ago.

Newswise: ‘We’re all Asgardians’: new clues about the origin of complex life
Released: 22-Jun-2023 5:45 PM EDT
‘We’re all Asgardians’: new clues about the origin of complex life
University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin)

Thor, the legendary Norse god from the mythological city of Asgard, is not alone. According to groundbreaking research published in the journal Nature, we humans — along with eagles, starfish, daisies and every complex organism on Earth — are, in a sense, Asgardians.

Newswise: Cave excavation pushes back the clock on early human migration to Laos
Released: 21-Jun-2023 2:15 PM EDT
Cave excavation pushes back the clock on early human migration to Laos
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

15 years of archaeological work in the Tam Pa Ling cave in Laos has yielded a reliable chronology of early human occupation of the site, scientists report in Nature Communications. Excavations reveal that humans lived in the area for at least 70,000 years – and likely even longer.

Newswise: Neanderthal cave engravings are oldest known – over 57,000 years old
15-Jun-2023 10:10 AM EDT
Neanderthal cave engravings are oldest known – over 57,000 years old
PLOS

Markings on a cave wall in France are the oldest known engravings made by Neanderthals, according to a study published June 21, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jean-Claude Marquet of the University of Tours, France and colleagues.

Newswise: Modern horses have lost their additional toes, scientists confirm
19-Jun-2023 7:05 AM EDT
Modern horses have lost their additional toes, scientists confirm
University of Bristol

The distant ancestors of modern horses had hooved toes instead of a single hoof, which vanished over time, according to researchers.

Newswise: These long-necked reptiles were decapitated by their predators, fossil evidence confirms
Released: 19-Jun-2023 11:30 AM EDT
These long-necked reptiles were decapitated by their predators, fossil evidence confirms
Cell Press

In the age of dinosaurs, many marine reptiles had extremely long necks compared to reptiles today.

Newswise: Fossil study sheds light on famous spirals found in nature
Released: 16-Jun-2023 6:35 PM EDT
Fossil study sheds light on famous spirals found in nature
University of Edinburgh

Leaf arrangements in the earliest plants differ from most modern plants, overturning a long-held theory regarding the origins of a famous mathematical pattern found in nature, research shows.

Released: 16-Jun-2023 12:05 PM EDT
New butterfly species named after Smithsonian's retired museum specialist
Pensoft Publishers

When introducing a new species to science, taxonomists always get to choose its scientific name. And while there are some general rules to naming, there’s also relative freedom.

Newswise: First hominin muscle reconstruction shows 3.2 million-year-old ‘Lucy’ could stand as erect as we can
Released: 14-Jun-2023 2:25 PM EDT
First hominin muscle reconstruction shows 3.2 million-year-old ‘Lucy’ could stand as erect as we can
University of Cambridge

A Cambridge University researcher has digitally reconstructed the missing soft tissue of an early human ancestor – or hominin – for the first time, revealing a capability to stand as erect as we do today.

Released: 14-Jun-2023 1:10 PM EDT
Slightly lost bumblebees use scent to find their way home
Frontiers

Put yourself in the exoskeleton of a bumblebee for a moment: your world would be a riot of colors and scents, both essential to guide your search for pollen and nectar.

Newswise: “Viking disease” hand disorder may come from Neandertal genes
Released: 14-Jun-2023 1:10 PM EDT
“Viking disease” hand disorder may come from Neandertal genes
Oxford University Press

A new paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution, published by Oxford University Press, shows that a condition known as Dupuytren's disease is partly of Neandertal origin.

Newswise: Skipping evolution: some kangaroos didn’t hop, scientists explain
12-Jun-2023 10:50 AM EDT
Skipping evolution: some kangaroos didn’t hop, scientists explain
University of Bristol

Extinct kangaroos used alternative methods to their famous hop according to comprehensive analysis from University of Bristol and the University of Uppsala scientists.

Newswise: New method traces ancestry of hybrid plants and animals
Released: 13-Jun-2023 12:55 PM EDT
New method traces ancestry of hybrid plants and animals
Binghamton University, State University of New York

In a recent article published in the journal Nature Communications, Binghamton University Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Adam Session and Daniel S. Rokhsar, a professor of genetics, evolution and development at the University of California, Berkeley, outline a way to trace these genomes back to the polypoid hybrid’s parent species.

Newswise: Evolutionary fuel: Researchers study maintenance of an ancient chromosomal inversion
Released: 12-Jun-2023 8:30 PM EDT
Evolutionary fuel: Researchers study maintenance of an ancient chromosomal inversion
Utah State University

Genetic variation is the ultimate fuel for evolution, says Utah State University evolutionary geneticist Zachariah Gompert. But, over centuries, that fuel reservoir gets depleted in the course of natural selection and random genetic drift.

Newswise: South Africa, India and Australia shared similar volcanic activity 3.5 billion years ago
Released: 12-Jun-2023 7:00 PM EDT
South Africa, India and Australia shared similar volcanic activity 3.5 billion years ago
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Cratons are pieces of ancient continents that formed several billions of years ago. Their study provides a window as to how processes within and on the surface of Earth operated in the past.

Newswise: Which came first: the reptile or the egg?
9-Jun-2023 9:50 AM EDT
Which came first: the reptile or the egg?
University of Bristol

The earliest reptiles, birds and mammals may have borne live young, researchers from Nanjing University and University of Bristol have revealed.

Released: 8-Jun-2023 12:50 PM EDT
Lingering effects of Neanderthal DNA found in modern humans
Cornell University

Recent scientific discoveries have shown that Neanderthal genes comprise some 1 to 4% of the genome of present-day humans whose ancestors migrated out of Africa, but the question remained open on how much those genes are still actively influencing human traits — until now.

Newswise: Curly hair kept early humans cool
Released: 8-Jun-2023 12:25 PM EDT
Curly hair kept early humans cool
Loughborough University

Tightly curled scalp hair protected early humans from the sun’s radiative heat, allowing their brains to grow to sizes comparable to those of modern humans. Loughborough University researchers in the UK worked with Penn State University to study heat transfer through human hair wigs and the environment to examine how diverse hair textures affect heat gain from solar radiation.

Released: 8-Jun-2023 2:05 AM EDT
Study finds socially tolerant monkeys have better impulse control
University of Portsmouth

Socially tolerant species are better at controlling their emotions and behaviours, according to a new study of one of humanity's closest relatives.

   


close
1.6