• share
• favorite_border

Chimpanzee lip-smacks exhibit a speech-like rhythm, a group of researchers led by the University of Warwick have found

• share
• favorite_border

Climate scientists from the IBS Center for Climate Physics discover that, contrary to previously held beliefs, Neanderthal extinction was neither caused by abrupt glacial climate shifts, nor by interbreeding with Homo sapiens.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers trace the evolutionary origins of hemoglobin by resurrecting ancient proteins from more than 400 million years ago

• share
• favorite_border

A major transformation in vertebrate evolution took place when breathing shifted from being driven by head and throat muscles—like in fish and frogs—to the torso—like in reptiles and mammals. But what caused the shift? A new study posits that the intermediate step was locomotion—the mechanics follow the same pattern as inhalation and exhalation.

• share
• favorite_border

A good grip can mean the difference between life and death for lizards in a hurricane -- and as a result, populations hit more frequently by hurricanes have larger toepads. A new study from Washington University in St. Louis is the first to demonstrate evolutionary response to hurricanes on a wide geographic scale.

• share
• favorite_border

University at Buffalo and University of Chicago scientists set out to investigate the evolution of a gene that helps women stay pregnant: the progesterone receptor gene. The results come from an analysis of the DNA of 115 mammalian species.

• share
• favorite_border

Genetic research throughout Europe shows evidence of drastic population changes near the end of the Neolithic period, as shown by the arrival of ancestry related to pastoralists from the Pontic-Caspian steppe.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists Ethan A. Beseris, Steven E. Naleway and David R. Carrier recently discovered that though having a beard won’t save you from getting knocked out in a fight, it will likely save you from collateral damage.

• share
• favorite_border

Plant-derived chemicals called cardenolides – like digitoxin – have long been used to treat heart disease, and have shown potential as cancer therapies. But the compounds are very toxic, making it difficult for doctors to prescribe a dose that works without harming the patient. Researchers now show that the wormseed wallflower could be used as a model species to elucidate how plants biosynthesize cardenolides, knowledge that could aid the discovery and development of safer drugs.