Feature Channels: Evolution and Darwin

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Released: 17-Oct-2023 4:05 AM EDT
New study reveals similarities between chimpanzee and human language development
University of Portsmouth

Scientists from the University of Portsmouth examining the evolutionary roots of language say they’ve discovered chimp vocal development is not far off from humans.

Newswise: Extinct ape gets a facelift, 12 million years later
Released: 16-Oct-2023 5:05 PM EDT
Extinct ape gets a facelift, 12 million years later
American Museum of Natural History

A new study led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn College, and the Catalan Institute of Paleontology Miquel Crusafont has reconstructed the well-preserved but damaged skull of a great ape species that lived about 12 million years ago.

Newswise: Leading scientists, philosophers identify nature’s missing evolutionary law
Released: 16-Oct-2023 5:05 PM EDT
Leading scientists, philosophers identify nature’s missing evolutionary law
Carnegie Institution for Science

A paper in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today describes “a missing law of nature,” recognizing for the first time an important norm within the natural world’s workings.

Released: 16-Oct-2023 3:05 PM EDT
Genomic analysis in snakes shows link between neutral, functional genetic diversity
Ohio State University

A new study suggests making a transition from “old school” genetics to “new school” genomics for species conservation purposes probably isn’t necessary in all cases.

Newswise: How do caterpillars acquire chubby legs: NUS scientists trace the origins to an ancient genetic program associated with crabs
Released: 13-Oct-2023 5:05 AM EDT
How do caterpillars acquire chubby legs: NUS scientists trace the origins to an ancient genetic program associated with crabs
National University of Singapore (NUS)

Adult insects, including butterflies and moths, typically have only three pairs of legs. But the existence of extra legs in caterpillars – chubby abdominal appendeages also known as ‘prolegs’ – has long posed an evolutionary mystery to biologists.

Newswise: Evolutionary secrets of ‘Old Tom’ and the killer whales of Eden revealed by genetic study
Released: 11-Oct-2023 5:05 PM EDT
Evolutionary secrets of ‘Old Tom’ and the killer whales of Eden revealed by genetic study
Flinders University

Evolutionary biologists have for the first time decoded the genetic lineage of a famous killer whale and a pod that once worked alongside whale hunters off the coast of New South Wales.

Newswise: Long-term lizard study challenges the rules of evolutionary biology
9-Oct-2023 10:00 AM EDT
Long-term lizard study challenges the rules of evolutionary biology
Georgia Institute of Technology

James Stroud, assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, measured natural selection in four Anolis lizard species in the wild for five consecutive time periods over three years.

5-Oct-2023 12:15 PM EDT
No Lizard Is an Island
Washington University in St. Louis

Research from Washington University in St. Louis and the Georgia Institute of Technology provides a more complete explanation of how evolution plays out among species that live side-by-side.

Released: 6-Oct-2023 8:05 AM EDT
The end of genes: routine test reveals unique divergence in genetic code
Earlham Institute (EI)

Scientists testing a new method of sequencing single cells have unexpectedly changed our understanding of the rules of genetics.

Newswise: New research into pangolin genomics may aid in conservation efforts
Released: 6-Oct-2023 5:05 AM EDT
New research into pangolin genomics may aid in conservation efforts
Oxford University Press

A new paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution, published by Oxford University Press, for the first time provides a comprehensive set of genomic resources for pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, that researchers believe will be integral for protecting these threatened mammals.

Newswise: How Insects Evolved to Ultrafast Flight (And Back)
29-Sep-2023 2:40 PM EDT
How Insects Evolved to Ultrafast Flight (And Back)
Georgia Institute of Technology

This asynchronous beating comes from how the flight muscles interact with the physics of the insect’s springy exoskeleton. This decoupling of neural commands and muscle contractions is common in only four distinct insect groups. For years, scientists assumed these four groups evolved these ultrafast wingbeats separately, but research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) shows that they evolved from a single common ancestor. This discovery demonstrates evolution has repeatedly turned on and off this particular mode of flight. The researchers developed physics models and robotics to test how these transitions could occur.

Newswise: Birders & AI Push Bird Conservation to the Next Level
Released: 4-Oct-2023 10:05 AM EDT
Birders & AI Push Bird Conservation to the Next Level
Cornell University

For the first time, big data and artificial intelligence (AI) are being used to model hidden patterns in nature, not just for one bird species, but for entire ecological communities across continents. And the models follow each species’ full annual life cycle, from breeding to fall migration to nonbreeding grounds, and back north again during spring migration.

Newswise: DNA from discarded whale bones suggests loss of genetic diversity due to commercial whaling
Released: 4-Oct-2023 7:05 AM EDT
DNA from discarded whale bones suggests loss of genetic diversity due to commercial whaling
Oregon State University

Commercial whaling in the 20th century decimated populations of large whales but also appears to have had a lasting impact on the genetic diversity of today’s surviving whales, new research from Oregon State University shows.

Newswise: Genome study reveals 30 years of Darwin’s finch evolution
Released: 2-Oct-2023 8:05 AM EDT
Genome study reveals 30 years of Darwin’s finch evolution
Uppsala University

An international team of researchers has released a landmark study on contemporary evolutionary change in natural populations. Their study uses one of the largest genomic datasets ever produced for animals in their natural environment, comprising nearly 4,000 Darwin’s finches.

Released: 20-Sep-2023 1:45 PM EDT
Prehistoric fish fills 100 million year gap in evolution of the skull
University of Birmingham

A 455-million-year-old fossil fish provides a new perspective on how vertebrates evolved to protect their brains, a study has found.

Newswise: Uncovering Camel Spiders' Hidden Evolutionary Secrets with a Modern Genetic Tree
Released: 19-Sep-2023 11:05 AM EDT
Uncovering Camel Spiders' Hidden Evolutionary Secrets with a Modern Genetic Tree
Hebrew University of Jerusalem

In a new study led by the laboratories of Prof. Prashant Sharma of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Dr. Efrat Gavish-Regev of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a team of researchers has uncovering the mysteries surrounding camel spiders (Solifugae), by successfully establishing the first-ever comprehensive molecular tree (phylogeny) of this enigmatic arachnid order.

Released: 18-Sep-2023 5:05 PM EDT
Study finds human-driven mass extinction is eliminating entire branches of the tree of life
Stanford University

The passenger pigeon. The Tasmanian tiger. The Baiji, or Yangtze river dolphin. These rank among the best-known recent victims of what many scientists have declared the sixth mass extinction, as human actions are wiping out vertebrate animal species hundreds of times faster than they would otherwise disappear.

Released: 7-Sep-2023 4:05 PM EDT
The sense of order distinguishes humans from other animals
Stockholm University

Remembering the order of information is central for a person when participating in conversations, planning everyday life, or undergoing an education.

Newswise: Research unravels how spider mites quickly evolve resistance to toxins
Released: 30-Aug-2023 5:05 PM EDT
Research unravels how spider mites quickly evolve resistance to toxins
University of Utah

University of Utah biologist Richard Clark has published research this month that sheds new light on how the two-spotted spider mite mite, known to science as Tetranychus urticae, quickly evolves resistance to foreign compounds, known as xenobiotics.

Newswise: Endangered bats’ ruling roost discovered in Fiji
Released: 29-Aug-2023 7:05 PM EDT
Endangered bats’ ruling roost discovered in Fiji
University of Adelaide

A cave containing thousands of endangered Pacific Sheath-tailed bats has been discovered on Vanua Balavu, an island on the remote Lau archipelago in Fiji.



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