Feature Channels: Evolution and Darwin

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Newswise: Study Uncovers Molecular Mechanisms During Shrew’s Brain Changes
Released: 21-Nov-2024 11:45 AM EST
Study Uncovers Molecular Mechanisms During Shrew’s Brain Changes
Stony Brook University

New research led by William R. Thomas, PhD, with Professor Liliana M. Dávalos, PhD, in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, shows how the Eurasian common shrew (Sorex araneus) changes its brain and bodily size throughout the year. The study, published online in eLife, reveals how changes in gene expression enable these small mammals to shrink their brain in winter and regrow it in spring, defying the typical mammalian pattern where organ size does not change. Their findings offer genetic clues to neurological and metabolic health in mammals.

Newswise: Cambrian Fossil From Utah Illuminates Origins of Vertebrate Life
Released: 18-Nov-2024 6:25 PM EST
Cambrian Fossil From Utah Illuminates Origins of Vertebrate Life
University of Utah

Fossils recovered from Utah's West Desert and held in the Natural History Museum of Utah offer new insights into the origins of vertebrate life during the Cambrian Period.

Newswise: Decoding Ficus Hispida: New Insights Into Sex Determination in Plants
Released: 12-Nov-2024 12:40 AM EST
Decoding Ficus Hispida: New Insights Into Sex Determination in Plants
Chinese Academy of Sciences

A recent study in Ficus hispida genomics has unlocked the genetic mechanisms driving this fig tree’s unique reproductive system. The fully sequenced genome, a first of its kind for Ficus, reveals critical insights into how sex is determined in these plants—a factor crucial to their survival and ecological role. This research is a milestone for advancing the understanding of dioecy in plants and could open new doors for plant breeding and ecosystem management.

Newswise: A New Wrinkle in Turtles: Their Genomes Fold in a Unique Way, Iowa State Researchers Find
Released: 11-Nov-2024 4:10 PM EST
A New Wrinkle in Turtles: Their Genomes Fold in a Unique Way, Iowa State Researchers Find
Iowa State University

A new study led by an Iowa State University evolutionary biologist described for the first time the three-dimensional architecture of turtle genomes, which fold in a configuration unlike any other animal observed so far.

Newswise: Fossil of Huge Terror Bird Offers New Information About Wildlife in South America 12 Million Years Ago
31-Oct-2024 2:00 PM EDT
Fossil of Huge Terror Bird Offers New Information About Wildlife in South America 12 Million Years Ago
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Researchers including a Johns Hopkins University evolutionary biologist report they have analyzed a fossil of an extinct giant meat-eating bird — which they say could be the largest known member of its kind — providing new information about animal life in northern South America millions of years ago.

Newswise: Evolution in Action: How Ethnic Tibetan Women Thrive in Thin Oxygen at High Altitudes
18-Oct-2024 4:35 PM EDT
Evolution in Action: How Ethnic Tibetan Women Thrive in Thin Oxygen at High Altitudes
Case Western Reserve University

New study from Case Western Reserve University reveals link between oxygen delivery and reproductive success among women living on the high Tibetan Plateau

Newswise: Underwater Caves Yield New Clues About Sicily’s First Residents
3-Oct-2024 6:05 AM EDT
Underwater Caves Yield New Clues About Sicily’s First Residents
Washington University in St. Louis

Archaeological surveys led by scientists at Washington University in St. Louis suggest that coastal and underwater cave sites in southern Sicily contain important new clues about the path and fate of early human migrants to the island.

Newswise: Macaques Give Birth More Easily Than Women: No Maternal Mortality at Birth
7-Oct-2024 1:00 AM EDT
Macaques Give Birth More Easily Than Women: No Maternal Mortality at Birth
University of Vienna

An international research team led by the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna has used long-term demographic data from Japanese macaques – a monkey species within the family of Old World monkeys – to show that, unlike humans, there is no maternal mortality in these primates linked to childbirth.

   
Newswise: Study of Monkey Fossils Found in Cave Sheds Light on the Animals’ Extinction Centuries Ago
Released: 2-Oct-2024 11:05 AM EDT
Study of Monkey Fossils Found in Cave Sheds Light on the Animals’ Extinction Centuries Ago
Johns Hopkins Medicine

By studying rare fossils of jaws and other skull parts of a long-extinct Caribbean monkey, a team of researchers that includes a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine professor says it has uncovered new evidence documenting the anatomy and ecology of an extinct primate once found on Hispaniola — the Caribbean island on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located.

Newswise: Brazilian Fossils Reveal Jaw-Dropping Discovery in Mammal Evolution
23-Sep-2024 4:05 AM EDT
Brazilian Fossils Reveal Jaw-Dropping Discovery in Mammal Evolution
University of Bristol

The discovery of new cynodont fossils from southern Brazil by a team of palaeontologists from the University of Bristol, alongside colleagues from Argentina and Brazil, has led to a significant breakthrough in understanding the evolution of mammals.

20-Sep-2024 7:05 PM EDT
In November the Famous ‘Lucy’ Fossil Discovery Turns 50, Continues to Impact Human Origins Scientific Research
Arizona State University (ASU)

Fifty years ago—on November 24, 1974—only a few years after humans’ first steps on the moon, a young paleoanthropologist, Donald Johanson, walking in the dusty landscape of the Afar Rift Valley of Ethiopia discovered the first human ancestor fossil who reliably walked upright on two feet—“Lucy.”

Newswise: An Unexpected Result: The Mammalian Inner Ear Is a Striking Example of Convergent Evolution
Released: 17-Sep-2024 5:00 AM EDT
An Unexpected Result: The Mammalian Inner Ear Is a Striking Example of Convergent Evolution
University of Vienna

A new study reveals the surprisingly convergent evolution in the inner ear of mammals. An international research team led by Nicole Grunstra from the University of Vienna and Anne Le Maître from the Konrad Lorenz Institute (KLI) for Evolution and Cognition Research (Klosterneuburg) showed that a group of highly divergent mammals known as Afrotheria and distantly related, but ecologically very similar mammals independently evolved similar inner ear shapes. The study has just been published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.

Released: 16-Sep-2024 11:05 AM EDT
Wayne State Study Seeks Insight Into the Evolution of Parasitic Wasps
Wayne State University Division of Research

Glen Hood, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological sciences in Wayne State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was recently awarded a National Science Foundation grant for his study of parasitic wasps.

Newswise: $1.8M NIH Grant to FAU Engineering Fuels Quest to Decode Human Evolution
Released: 3-Sep-2024 8:30 AM EDT
$1.8M NIH Grant to FAU Engineering Fuels Quest to Decode Human Evolution
Florida Atlantic University

FAU has received a five-year NIH grant to further research on designing and applying statistical methods to identify regions of the genome affected by natural selection, which is an important evolutionary force that enables humans to adapt to new environments and fight disease-causing pathogens.

Newswise:Video Embedded fossil-hotspots-in-africa-obscure-a-more-complete-picture-of-human-evolution2
VIDEO
Released: 20-Aug-2024 9:05 AM EDT
Fossil hotspots in Africa obscure a more complete picture of human evolution
George Washington University

New study shows how the mismatch between where fossils are preserved and where humans likely lived may influence our understanding of early human evolution.

Newswise: ‘Baby Talk:’ Decoding How Children’s Vocal and Cognitive Cues Sway Adults
Released: 6-Aug-2024 8:30 AM EDT
‘Baby Talk:’ Decoding How Children’s Vocal and Cognitive Cues Sway Adults
Florida Atlantic University

In infancy, caregivers rely on facial expressions and vocal cues to understand a baby's needs and emotions, as babies do not use language. A new study shows that while facial expressions are important, they are less effective than vocal and cognitive signals. Adults are more focused on a child's voice when assessing emotional states and helplessness, but use cognitive content, such as reasoning abilities, to gauge intelligence. When a child's vocal immaturity conflicts with advanced cognitive abilities, caregivers prioritize vocal cues for emotional needs and cognitive cues for intelligence, highlighting how different cues influence judgments in early childhood.

Newswise: Prehistoric Pompeii discovered: Most pristine trilobite fossils ever found shake up scientific understanding of the long extinct group
26-Jun-2024 8:05 AM EDT
Prehistoric Pompeii discovered: Most pristine trilobite fossils ever found shake up scientific understanding of the long extinct group
University of Bristol

Researchers have described some of the best-preserved three-dimensional trilobite fossils ever discovered. The fossils, which are more than 500 million years old, were collected in the High Atlas of Morocco and are being referred to by scientists as “Pompeii” trilobites due to their remarkable preservation in ash.

Newswise: New Fossil Bovids from Kromdraai
Released: 9-May-2024 8:05 AM EDT
New Fossil Bovids from Kromdraai
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

New Fossil Bovids from Kromdraai shed light on South Africa's ancient ecosystems.

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