Trapped in amber: Fossilized dinosaur-era crab bridges evolutionary gap
Discovery pushes back when crabs came to land, freshwater to 100 million years ago. Enlarge Once upon a time, during the Cretaceous period, a tiny crab wandered out of the water onto land and somehow got trapped in amber, whi.....»»
Paleontologists find omnivorous ancestor of the giant panda, revealing it was not always just a bamboo eater
The Hammerschmiede fossil site in southern Germany has yielded finds from about 11.5 million years ago that have rewritten evolutionary history. The sole species of bear discovered to date at the site was a relative of the giant panda. Its diet, howe.....»»
New technique boosts mutation rates in fruit flies for genetics research
A new technique, TF-High-Evolutionary (TF-HighEvo), allows large-scale assessment of de-novo mutations in multicellular organisms. Developed in collaboration with researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the Friedrich Mie.....»»
An evolutionary battleground: Plants vs. microbes
Gazing out on a freshwater pond, you may see tiny green plants with oval-shaped leaves floating in clusters. In overgrown ponds, these plants coat the water's surface. These plants—called duckweed or water lentils—can grow so fast that they can d.....»»
New fossil fish species scales up evidence of Earth"s evolutionary march
Climate change and asteroids are linked with animal origin and extinction—and plate tectonics also seems to play a key evolutionary role, "groundbreaking" new fossil research reveals......»»
Long stems on flowers are an adaptation that encourages bat pollination, research suggests
Flowers that are pollinated by bats tend to have long stems that make them stand out from the surrounding foliage. New research published in New Phytologist reveals the evolutionary advantage that this characteristic provides to plants to ensure that.....»»
Archaeologists discover an ancient Neanderthal lineage that remained isolated for over 50,000 years
A fossilized Neanderthal discovered in a cave system in the Rhône Valley, France, represents an ancient and previously undescribed lineage that diverged from other currently known Neanderthals around 100,000 years ago and remained genetically isolat.....»»
Investigators identify predators threatening Madagascar"s iconic primates
In 2003, a team of primatologists led by the University of Colorado Boulder trapped, tagged and released a male ring-tailed lemur in the Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve in Madagascar. The researchers captured him one more time in 2004, but after that,.....»»
Large theropod dinosaurs thrived near South Pole, Australian tracks show
A discovery of dinosaur tracks on Australia's southern coast—dating back to the Early Cretaceous when Australia was still connected to Antarctica—indicates that large theropod dinosaurs thrived in this polar environment, prowling the river floodp.....»»
Woman orders crab soup at Myrtle Beach seafood restaurant. Gets more than crab, suit says
Woman orders crab soup at Myrtle Beach seafood restaurant. Gets more than crab, suit says.....»»
Unraveling the evolutionary secrets of how whales and dolphins adapted their backbones for aquatic life
If you've ever seen a dolphin swim, you may have wondered why they undulate their bodies up and down when swimming, instead of side to side as fishes do. Though they have a fishlike body, cetaceans (a group comprised of whales, dolphins, and porpoise.....»»
Researchers create new tool to analyze embodied carbon in more than 1 million buildings in Chicago
The built environment—which includes the construction and operation of buildings, highways, bridges and other infrastructure—is responsible for close to 40% of the global greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change......»»
From rhino horn snuff to pangolin livestock feed: A half-century of patents reveals the wildlife trade"s evolution
The bright blue blood of the horseshoe crab is used around the world to detect bacterial contamination in vaccines. Synonymous with luxury, sturgeon caviar has been patented as an antidote to impotency in China. Rhino horn is used in traditional Asia.....»»
Darwin"s fear was unjustified: Study suggests fossil record gaps not a major issue
Fossils are used to reconstruct evolutionary history, but not all animals and plants become fossils and many fossils are destroyed before we can find them (e.g., the rocks that contain the fossils are destroyed by erosion). As a result, the fossil re.....»»
From antiquity to adaptation: Tracing the genetic journey of east Asian chestnut varieties
Uncovering the genetic saga of Castanea trees, a study maps their evolutionary journey and local climate adaptations. This research reveals the genetic markers and molecular mechanisms that have allowed these nut fruit trees to adapt and flourish acr.....»»
Microscopic fossilized shells reveal ancient climate change patterns
At the end of the Paleocene and beginning of the Eocene epochs, between 59 to 51 million years ago, Earth experienced dramatic warming periods, both gradual periods stretching millions of years and sudden warming events known as hyperthermals......»»
New study shows Alaskan snow crab population collapse in Bering Sea due to climate change
A team of marine biologists from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has found that climate change is the reason for the population collapse of Alaskan snow crabs in the Bering Sea......»»
Matching dinosaur footprints found on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean
An international team of researchers led by SMU paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs has found matching sets of Early Cretaceous dinosaur footprints on what are now two different continents......»»
Prism Infosec PULSE bridges the gap between penetration testing and red teaming
Prism Infosec launched its innovative PULSE testing service to enable organizations which may not have the bandwidth or resource to dedicate to a full-scale red team exercise to assess their defence capabilities against real-world threats. PULSE addr.....»»
Paleontologists discover new predatory dinosaur with a distinctive "eyebrow"
Theropod dinosaurs are one of the most important large groups of dinosaurs, including well-known predators, such as Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus, as well as modern birds. A variety of theropods are known from the Mesozoic Era, the age of the dinosaur.....»»
"Masters of shape-shifting": How darkling beetles conquered the world
Large-scale genomic analysis of darkling beetles, a hyper-diverse insect group of more than 30,000 species worldwide, rolls back the curtain on a 150-million-year evolutionary tale of one of Earth's most ecologically important yet inconspicuous creat.....»»