Common back problems may be caused by evolution of human locomotion
A common spinal disease could be the result of some people's vertebrae, the bones that make up the spine, sharing similarities in shape to a non-human primate. The research, published in the open...
View ArticleConifer study illustrates twists of evolution
A new study offers not only a sweeping analysis of how pollination has evolved among conifers but also an illustration of how evolution—far from being a straight-ahead march of progress—sometimes...
View ArticleDiverse sea creatures evolved to reach same swimming solution
The ability to move one's body rapidly through water is a key to existence for many species on this blue planet of ours. The Persian carpet flatworm, the cuttlefish and the black ghost knifefish look...
View ArticleThe science behind spite
Psychology, biology, and mathematics have come together to show that the occurrence of altruism and spite - helping or harming others at a cost to oneself - depends on similarity not just between two...
View ArticleEvolution in action: Mate competition weeds out GM fish from population
Purdue University research found that wild-type zebrafish consistently beat out genetically modified Glofish in competition for female mates, an advantage that led to the disappearance of the transgene...
View ArticleStudy explores the moment when ancient societies began to 'take a village to...
Hillary Clinton once famously said, "It takes a village to raise a child." It turns out that's been true for centuries: New research by a University of Utah anthropologist explains how and why mothers...
View ArticleTortoise approach works best—even for evolution
When it comes to winning evolutionary fitness races, the tortoise once again prevails over the hare.
View ArticleIn evolution, 'house of cards' model wins
Using sophisticated modeling of genomic data from diverse species, Yale researchers have answered a longstanding question about which competing model of evolution works best.
View ArticlePopulation benefits of sexual selection explain the existence of males
New research from the University of East Anglia shows that an evolutionary force known as 'sexual selection' can explain the persistence of sex as a dominant mechanism for reproducing offspring.
View ArticleAgriculture, declining mobility drove humans' shift to lighter bones
Modern lifestyles have famously made humans heavier, but, in one particular way, noticeably lighter weight than our hunter-gatherer ancestors: in the bones. Now a new study of the bones of hundreds of...
View ArticleStudy finds evidence of non-adaptive evolution within cicadas
University of Montana Assistant Professor John McCutcheon has once again discovered something new about the complex and intriguing inner workings of the cicada insect.
View ArticleWhat did the first snakes look like?
The ancestral snakes in the grass actually lived in the forest, according to the most detailed look yet at the iconic reptiles.
View ArticleBirds dig deep in carving out Proteaceae evolution
Australian and South African scientists have found pollinators are driving evolutionary divergence in members of the Proteaceae family including the Leucospermum tottum.
View ArticleFaster evolution not responsible for tropical biodiversity
It's been known for more than 150 years that the tropics are home to far greater numbers of animal and plant species than the planet's temperate regions. But despite decades of study, the causes of...
View ArticleStudy suggests genetic basis for same-sex sexual behavior offers evolutionary...
(Phys.org)—A trio of researchers with the University of St. Andrews in the U.K. has found what appears to be an evolutionary advantage for same-sex sexual behavior in fruit flies. In their paper...
View ArticleComparison of bonobo anatomy to humans offers evolutionary clues
(Phys.org)—A pair of anthropology researchers, one with the University of California, the other Modesto College has found what they believe are clues to human evolutionary development by conducting a...
View ArticlePaleo study shows how elevation may affect evolution
About 34 million years ago, global temperatures took a dive, causing a sudden wave of extinctions among European mammals. In North America, however, life went on largely unscathed. A new study explains...
View ArticleQuality, quantity, and freshness in the reproductive game
(Phys.org)—Many intuitions drawn from our machine world do not smoothly extended to the biological. Whereas the screws or other fasteners used in an automobile typically tend to loosen over time with...
View ArticleEvolution is unpredictable and irreversible, biologists show
Evolutionary theorist Stephen Jay Gould is famous for describing the evolution of humans and other conscious beings as a chance accident of history. If we could go back millions of years and "run the...
View ArticleVulnerability made us human: how our early ancestors turned disability into...
A new evolutionary theory explains how critically small populations of early humans survived, despite an increased chance of hereditary disabilities being passed to offspring.
View ArticleToothed whales have survived millions of years without key antiviral proteins
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have determined that toothed whales lack functional Mx genes—a surprising discovery, since all 56 other sequenced mammals in the study possess...
View ArticleBiologists find mistletoe species lacks genes found in all other complex...
Indiana University scientists have discovered the first known instance of a plant or animal lacking several key genes involved in energy production in cells.
View ArticleGenetic study of 'co-evolution' could provide clues to better food production
In 1964, renowned biologists Peter Raven and Paul Erhlich published a landmark study that introduced the concept of co-evolution. Using butterflies and plants as primary examples, the team determined...
View ArticleSingle gene controls fish brain size and intelligence
A single gene called Angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) drives brain size and intelligence in fish according to a new study by researchers at UCL, Stockholm University and University of Helsinki.
View ArticlePeople and primates share chewing adaptations
Scientists have gained insights into how primate species have evolved through space and time by studying the anatomy of their lower jaws in relation to diet.
View ArticleKey link in turtle evolution discovered
An international team of researchers from the United States and Germany have discovered a key missing link in the evolutionary history of turtles. The new extinct species of reptile, Pappochelys, was...
View ArticleEnd of the dinosaurs gave rise to the modern 'Age of Fishes,' researchers find
A pair of paleobiologists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego have determined that the world's most numerous and diverse vertebrates – ray-finned fishes – began their ecological...
View ArticleSingle-celled predator evolves tiny, human-like 'eye'
A single-celled marine plankton evolved a miniature version of a multi-cellular eye, possibly to help see its prey better, according to University of British Columbia (UBC) research published today in...
View ArticleResearchers show how our sense of smell evolved, including in cave men
A group of scientists led by Dr Kara Hoover of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and including Professor Matthew Cobb of The University of Manchester, has studied how our sense of smell has evolved,...
View ArticleBlacklegged tick populations have expanded via migration, biologists show
Lyme disease cases are on the rise, with diagnoses occurring in areas that were historically Lyme-free. Scientists attribute the spread to the fact that populations of blacklegged ticks, which carry...
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