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.
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).
Machine learning tool estimates extinction risk for species previously unprioritized for conservation.
For decades, paleontologists have debated whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded, like modern mammals and birds, or cold-blooded, like modern reptiles.
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.
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.
How could a human mother tell that her child is upset? Humans can distinguish the meanings of facial expressions of our fellow species either explicitly through speech or implicitly by context.
The term biodiversity invites images of lush rainforests, dynamic estuaries, and other biomes where a kaleidoscope of species interact within their communities. We could assume the same holds true for biodiversity at the microscopic level.
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.
A new study has mapped out the natural history of drywood termites—the second largest family of termites.
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.
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?
For the first time, researchers find that parrots climb by using their head as a third “limb.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
Did the world’s largest prehistoric shark need an orthodontist, or did it just have a bad lunch?
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.
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.
During human birth, the fetus typically navigates a tight, convoluted birth canal by flexing and rotating its head at various stages.
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.
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.
Unchecked gillnetting has pushed the world’s smallest porpoise to the brink of extinction: there are roughly 10 vaquitas remaining in the Gulf of California in Mexico.
Squid, octopus, and cuttlefish – even to scientists who study them – are wonderfully weird creatures.
Cornell University researchers have identified a shift that occurs in canine coronavirus that may provide clues as to how it transmits from animals to humans.
A new study published today in Animal Behaviour shows for the first time that brilliant iridescence and gloss found in some animals can have a protective function by working as a form of deceptive warning colouration, and that it is the key feature of iridescence, its changing colours, that is important for this effect.
New research published today in eLife by researchers from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP) and the University of Bristol (UB) moves back the moment of the radiation of squamates ―the group of reptiles that includes lizards, snakes and worm lizards― to the Jurassic, a long time before current estimates.
Una nueva investigación publicada hoy en eLife por personal investigador del Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP) y la Universidad de Bristol (UB) retrasa el momento de la radiación de los escamosos ―el grupo de reptiles que incluye lagartos, serpientes y lagartos gusanos― al Jurásico, mucho antes de las estimaciones hechas hasta el momento.
A new study from the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates reveals that new additions of vertebrate specimens to natural history collections are declining precipitously. The authors suggest that it is vital to maintain collecting efforts in order to address future unforeseen ecological issues.
You may assume that metropolitan areas are devoid of wildlife, but that is very far from the truth.
The origin of complex cells started without oxygen, new research suggests.
New research shows that the increase in primate ecotourism is having a negative effect on monkey’s behaviour. The study, led by the University of Portsmouth, found that this fast-growing tourism sector where tourists can conveniently reach primates via motor boats is causing stress-related behaviours in monkeys.
Vervet monkeys are quick and clever planners of the best route to follow on foraging trips, shows a new study.
Three intercellular pathways in crickets signal the formation of dorsal wings.
The discovery of pottery from the ancient Lapita culture by researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) has shed new light on how Papua New Guinea served as a launching pad for the colonisation of the Pacific – one of the greatest migrations in human history.
Researchers in NUI Galway have shown, for the first time, that smaller species of scorpions, with smaller pincers, have more potent venoms compared to larger species with robust claws.
Flying reptiles could change the colour of their feathers, research finds.
A biologist from the Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University working with researchers from Germany and Myanmar has discovered two of the world’s newest stream frogs in Myanmar highlighting the remaining diversity of ecosystems in Southeast Asia and cautions all those involved of the need to conserve our forests before our valuable wildlife become extinct.
Crows and ravens are well known for their black color and the harsh “caw” sound they make. They are intelligent birds that use tools, solve complex abstract problems and speak a volume of words. But what is less well appreciated is how diverse they are. Their diversity is accompanied by their ability to live all over the world in a variety of habitats.
In Triceratops Traits, students work alongside paleontologists to solve an evolutionary mystery by analyzing and interpreting data from the fossil record under the premise that natural laws have operated the same throughout the history of life on Earth to fit 7th grade learning standards in Utah and 6th-8th grades around the U.S.
CSUDH Associate Professor of Biology Sonal Singhal's 2011 paper about lizard species was recognized by Evolution, the Society for the Study of Evolution's prestigious international journal.
The ancient human remains unearthed in the Bacho Kiro cave (in present-day Bulgaria) and recently genetically described were surprisingly reported to be more closely related to contemporary East Asians than contemporary Europeans.
While octopus and cuttlefish are famous for their use of camouflage to match the color of the substrate, a third type of cephalopod—the squid—has never been reported displaying this ability.
Can’t resist your pup’s adoring expression when he begs for a treat? A new study reveals key anatomical features that could explain what makes dogs’ faces so appealing. The findings also suggest that humans contributed to dogs’ ability to form facial expressions through thousands of years of selective breeding.
Like diseases affecting humans, parasites can wage a deadly evolutionary “arms race” against their hosts. But can hosts and parasites upgrade their weapons at the same rate?
A newly published study of orb-weaving spiders has yielded some extraordinary results: The spiders are using their webs as extended auditory arrays to capture sounds, possibly giving spiders advanced warning of incoming prey or predators.
Long considered exclusively male, a new study of fruit flies finds sperm become partly female after mating.
Researchers at the University of Bristol have found that beetles first roamed the world in the Carboniferous and later diversified alongside the earliest dinosaurs during the Triassic and Jurassic.
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