Crocodile evolution rebooted by Ice Age glaciations
Crocodiles are resilient animals from a lineage that has survived for over 200 million years. Skilled swimmers, crocodiles can travel long distances and live in freshwater to marine environments. But they can't roam far overland. American crocodiles.....»»
Timing plant evolution with a fast-ticking epigenetic clock
Recent discoveries in the field of epigenetics, the study of inheritance of traits that occur without changing the DNA sequence, have shown that chronological age in mammals correlates with epigenetic changes that accumulate during the lifetime of an.....»»
Did animal evolution begin with a predatory lifestyle?
Were the first animals predators or filter feeders like the sponges living in today's oceans? And what role did symbiosis with algae play, as with reef-building corals? Surprising findings by a research group led by Prof. Dr. Thomas W. Holstein of He.....»»
Genome study reveals 30 years of Darwin"s finch evolution
An international team of researchers has released a 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.....»»
Human evolution: Hominins challenge giant hyenas for carcasses in Prehistoric simulations
Hominins—the group that includes humans and our extinct relatives—may have been capable of competing with giant hyenas for carcasses abandoned by saber-toothed cats and jaguars during the late-early Pleistocene era (approximately 1.2 to 0.8 milli.....»»
Investigating the evolution of a double oxygen-neon white dwarf merger remnant
A research group led by assistant professor Wu Chengyuan from Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has investigated the evolution of post-merger remnant resulting from the coalescence of double oxygen-neon white dwarfs. They have f.....»»
Extreme weight loss: Star sheds unexpected amounts of mass just before going supernova
A newly discovered nearby supernova whose star ejected up to a full solar mass of material in the year prior to its explosion is challenging the standard theory of stellar evolution. The new observations are giving astronomers insight into what happe.....»»
Astronomers shed light on evolutionary paths of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies
A new paper entitled "Evolutionary Paths of Active Galactic Nuclei and Their Host Galaxies," published on August 17, 2023, in Nature Astronomy, provides critical new insights on the co-evolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies......»»
Kindness has persisted in a competitive world—cultural evolution can explain why
Recently, I was walking with some fellow parents after nursery drop-off when we came across a five-pound note lying on the pavement. We stood around it for a moment, a bit awkwardly, until someone suggested putting it on a nearby bench. Then one of t.....»»
Study reveals cosmic surprises about star formation from the dawn of time
A groundbreaking international study has unveiled remarkable insights into the early evolution of galaxies, shedding light on the fundamental processes that have shaped our universe. The findings were published in Nature Astronomy......»»
Astronomers find abundance of Milky Way–like galaxies in early universe, rewriting cosmic evolution theories
Galaxies from the early universe are more like our own Milky Way than previously thought, flipping the entire narrative of how scientists think about structure formation in the universe, according to new research published today......»»
Greenwashing: A threat to a "nature positive" world
Researchers have identified the threat greenwashing poses to a "nature positive" world, one where environmental decline halts and biodiversity outcomes improve. The research is published in Nature Ecology & Evolution......»»
Dinosaur feathers reveal traces of ancient proteins
Paleontologists at University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland have discovered X-ray evidence of proteins in fossil feathers that sheds new light on feather evolution......»»
Avian flu hits bird paradise of Galapagos Islands
The Galapagos National Park said Tuesday that it had detected its first cases of avian flu on the remote islands, home to unique bird species that helped inspire the theory of evolution......»»
How bats evolved to avoid cancer
A new paper titled "Long-read sequencing reveals rapid evolution of immunity and cancer-related genes in bats" in Genome Biology and Evolution shows that rapid evolution in bats may account for the animals' extraordinary ability to both host and surv.....»»
Tiny sea creatures reveal the ancient origins of neurons
A study in the journal Cell sheds new light on the evolution of neurons, focusing on the placozoans, a millimeter-sized marine animal. Researchers at the Center for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona find evidence that specialized secretory cells found.....»»
Grassland expansion was not a main driver of mammal evolution in Plio-Pleistocene Africa, research suggests
Mammal evolution in Africa, including that of modern human ancestors, through the late Cenozoic (Plio-Pleistocene, ~5.3 million years ago) may not have been driven by the expansion of grasslands as previously thought, new research has suggested......»»
Scientists compare humans and chimpanzees to uncover evolution of language-relevant brain areas
Language is one aspect that makes us human. Other animals can learn words or calls and communicate, but the ability to generate an infinite number of utterances based on a small number of syntactic rules is unique to humans......»»
Atomic Ru coordinated by channel ammonia in V-doped tungsten bronze for highly efficient hydrogen-evolution reaction
The utilization of hydrogen produced through electrochemical water splitting is widely regarded as an optimal pathway towards achieving the imminent objective of carbon neutrality......»»
Long-lived lakes as a driving force behind the evolution of freshwater snails
In long-lived lakes that existed for millions of years freshwater snails developed a particularly high diversity of species. A new study by SNSB paleobiologist Thomas A. Neubauer now shows the importance of these ecosystems for the evolution of fresh.....»»
The earliest deep-sea vertebrates revealed by unusual trace fossils
Scientists have discovered a missing evolution puzzle piece in 130-million-year-old rocks. The discovery is a result of an international collaboration, in which the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Portugal) is involved......»»