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Categories: Anthropology: General, Ecology: Trees
Published Earliest evidence of wine consumption in the Americas found in Caribbean
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have found what they believe to be the earliest known evidence of wine drinking in the Americas, inside ceramic artefacts recovered from a small Caribbean island.
Published Humanity's earliest recorded kiss occurred in Mesopotamia 4,500 years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Written sources from Mesopotamia suggest that kissing in relation to sex was practiced by the peoples of the ancient Middle East 4,500 years ago.
Published Homo sapiens likely arose from multiple closely related populations
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In testing the genetic material of current populations in Africa and comparing against existing fossil evidence of early Homo sapiens populations there, researchers have uncovered a new model of human evolution -- overturning previous beliefs that a single African population gave rise to all humans.
Published New study illustrates unique genetic landscape in Newfoundland and Labrador with links to Ireland and England
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has produced the most detailed genetic analysis of people living in the Canadian province of Newfoundland to date, demonstrating a unique founder population structure that could be used for the identification and study of health-related genetic variants.
Published Researcher uses mammal DNA to zoom into the human genome with unprecedented resolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have precisely identified base pairs of the human genome that remained consistent over millions of years of mammalian evolution, and which play a crucial role in human disease. The team analyzed the genomes of 240 mammals, including humans and identified base pairs that were 'constrained' -- meaning they remained generally consistent -- across mammal species over the course of evolution. The most constrained base pairs in mammals were over seven times more likely to be causal for human disease and complex trait, and over 11 times more likely when researchers looked at the most constrained base pairs in primates alone.
Published Scientists discover fire records embedded within sand dunes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows that sand dunes can serve as repositories of fire history and aid in expanding scientific understanding of fire regimes around the world.
Published Human ancestors preferred mosaic landscapes and high ecosystem diversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study finds that early human species adapted to mosaic landscapes and diverse food resources, which would have increased our ancestor's resilience to past shifts in climate.
Published Preserving pine forests by understanding beetle flight
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers study the flight performance of the mountain pine beetle from a fluid mechanics and an entomological perspective. Understanding these aspects of the insect's flight could improve estimates of its spread through the environment and preserve pine forests. To examine insect flight, the team employed a type of model previously used for idealized airfoils. They showed that it can be successfully applied to multiple individual animals across biological sex, insect age, and body size. In doing so, the model can predict how these factors impact flight characteristics.
Published Beetles and their biodiversity in dead wood
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Which energy type promotes the biodiversity of beetles living in dead wood in the forest? That depends entirely on where the beetles are in the food chain.
Published Exploring the underground connections between trees
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Fungal networks interconnecting trees in a forest is a key factor that determines the nature of forests and their response to climate change. These networks have also been viewed as a means for trees to help their offspring and other tree-friends, according to the increasingly popular 'mother-tree hypothesis'. An international group of researchers re-examined the evidence for and against this hypothesis in a new study.
Published Evidence of Ice Age human migrations from China to the Americas and Japan
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have used mitochondrial DNA to trace a female lineage from northern coastal China to the Americas. By integrating contemporary and ancient mitochondrial DNA, the team found evidence of at least two migrations: one during the last ice age, and one during the subsequent melting period. Around the same time as the second migration, another branch of the same lineage migrated to Japan, which could explain Paleolithic archeological similarities between the Americas, China, and Japan.
Published Nose shape gene inherited from Neanderthals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Humans inherited genetic material from Neanderthals that affects the shape of our noses, finds a new study.
Published Archaeologists map hidden NT landscape where first Australians lived more than 60,000 years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have used sub-surface imaging and aerial surveys to see through floodplains in the Red Lily Lagoon area of West Arnhem Land in Australia. These ground-breaking methods showed how this important landscape in the Northern Territory was altered as sea levels rose about 8,000 years ago.
Published Research reveals longstanding cultural continuity at oldest occupied site in West Africa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Stone tools recovered from near the Senegalese coast extend occupation of the region back to 150 thousand years ago and are comparable to those seen across Africa at this time, but uniquely persist in the region until 10 thousand years ago.
Published Scientists recover an ancient woman's DNA from a 20,000-year-old pendant
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international research team has for the first time successfully isolated ancient human DNA from a Paleolithic artefact: a pierced deer tooth discovered in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia. To preserve the integrity of the artefact, they developed a new, nondestructive method for isolating DNA from ancient bones and teeth. From the DNA retrieved they were able to reconstruct a precise genetic profile of the woman who used or wore the pendant, as well as of the deer from which the tooth was taken. Genetic dates obtained for the DNA from both the woman and the deer show that the pendant was made between 19,000 and 25,000 years ago. The tooth remains fully intact after analysis, providing testimony to a new era in ancient DNA research, in which it may become possible to directly identify the users of ornaments and tools produced in the deep past.
Published Scientists present evidence for a billion-years arms race between viruses and their hosts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have proposed a new evolutionary model for the origin of a kingdom of viruses called Bamfordvirae, suggesting a billion-years evolutionary arms race between two groups within this kingdom and their hosts.
Published New research redefines mammalian tree of life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists from around the globe are using the largest mammalian genomic dataset in history to determine the evolutionary history of the human genome in the context of mammalian evolutionary history. Their ultimate goal is to better identify the genetic basis for traits and diseases in people and other species.
Published Mushrooms and their post-rain, electrical conversations
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Certain types of fungi can communicate with each other via electrical signals. But much remains unknown about how and when they do so. A group of researchers recently headed to the forest to measure the electrical signals of Laccaria bicolor mushrooms, finding that their electrical signals increased following rainfall.
Published Information 'deleted' from the human genome may be what made us human
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source What the human genome is lacking compared with the genomes of other primates might have been as crucial to the development of humankind as what has been added during our evolutionary history, according to a new study led by researchers at Yale and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The new findings, published April 28 in the journal Science, fill an important gap in what is known about historical changes to the human genome.
Published Elephant ecosystems in decline
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Global space for Asian elephant habitats has been in rapid decline since the 1700s, a new report reveals. More than 3 million square kilometers of the Asian elephant's historic habitat range has been lost in just three centuries and may underlie present-day conflicts between elephants and people.