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Categories: Biology: General, Paleontology: General
Published Florida fossil porcupine solves a prickly dilemma 10-million years in the making



An exceptionally rare fossilized porcupine skeleton discovered in Florida has allowed researchers to trace the evolutionary history for one of North America's rarest mammals.
Published Echidnapus identified from an 'Age of Monotremes'



Australian researchers have found evidence of the oldest known platypus and a new species, dubbed 'echidnapus', which has a platypus-like anatomy alongside features that more closely resemble an echidna.
Published Investigating the origin of circatidal rhythms in freshwater snails



While most organisms have biological clocks synchronized with the day-night cycle (circadian rhythms), marine animals in tidal areas have also developed circatidal rhythms to align with the tidal cycle. Comparing the activity and genetic expression of snails from tidal and non-tidal areas, researchers demonstrate that circatidal rhythms develop as snails adapt to tidal environments. These findings highlight the flexibility of biological clocks, enabling organisms to adjust their rhythms according to the environment.
Published On repeat: Biologists observe recurring evolutionary changes, over time, in stick insects



An evolutionary biologist reports evidence of repeatable evolution in populations of stick insects.
Published Entomologist sheds light on 250-year-old mystery of the German cockroach



Entomologists have solved the 250-year-old origin puzzle of the most prevalent indoor urban pest insect on the planet: the German cockroach. The team's research findings, representing the genomic analyses of over 280 specimens from 17 countries and six continents, show that this species evolved some 2,100 years ago from an outdoor-living species in Asia.
Published Observing mammalian cells with superfast soft X-rays



Researchers have developed a new technique to view living mammalian cells. The team used a powerful laser, called a soft X-ray free electron laser, to emit ultrafast pulses of illumination at the speed of femtoseconds, or quadrillionths of a second. With this they could capture images of carbon-based structures in living cells for the first time, before the soft X-ray radiation damaged them.
Published New approach to Epstein-Barr virus and resulting diseases



The Epstein-Barr virus can cause a spectrum of diseases, including a range of cancers. Emerging data now show that inhibition of a specific metabolic pathway in infected cells can diminish latent infection and therefore the risk of downstream disease.
Published Psychedelic drug-induced hyperconnectivity in the brain helps clarify altered subjective experiences



A new study shows that the use of psilocybin, a compound found in the widely known 'magic mushrooms,' initiates a pattern of hyperconnectivity in the brain linked to the ego-modifying effects and feelings of oceanic boundlessness. The findings help explain the so-called mystical experiences people report during the use of psychedelics and are pertinent to the psychotherapeutic applications of psychedelic drugs to treat psychiatric disorders such as depression.
Published New 'atlas' provides unprecedented insights on how genes function in early embryo development



Biologists have provided new insights on a longstanding puzzle in biology: How complex organisms arise from a single fertilized cell. Producing a new 'gene atlas' with 4-D imaging, the researchers captured unprecedented insights on how embryonic development unfolds.
Published Designing a better nest to help endangered turtles



With Ontario's eight species of turtles considered at risk, a new nest designed by researchers has the potential to significantly bolster their struggling populations. The habitat is the first designed for turtles in rock barren landscapes, such as the research site around Georgian Bay. It uses moss and lichen. The researchers found that the design provided a more stable environment for incubating eggs compared to natural sites, where the probability of an egg hatching was only 10 per cent compared to 41 per cent in the created site.
Published Birdsong and human voice built from same genetic blueprint



Humans have been long fascinated by bird song and the cacophony of other avian sounds -- from coos and honks to quacks and peeps. But little is known about how the unique vocal organ of birds -- the syrinx -- varies from species to species or its deeper evolutionary origins. A trio of recent studies is changing that. The studies include high-resolution anatomical scans of syrinxes from hummingbirds and ostriches -- the world's smallest and largest bird species -- and the discovery that the syrinx and larynx, the vocal organ of reptiles and mammals, including humans, share the same developmental programming.
Published Mistaken identity cleared up of foodborne pathogen causing severe symptoms in children



Researchers have developed a quantitative real-time PCR-based detection method for the emerging zoonotic organism Escherichia albertii. They found that E. albertii survives in the human intestinal tract for about four weeks at least.
Published Novel approach to interrogate tissue-specific protein-protein interactions



Multicellular organisms, like animals and plants, have complex cells with diverse functions. This complexity arises from the need for cells to produce distinct proteins that interact with each other. This interaction is crucial for cells to carry out their specific tasks and to form complex molecular machinery. However, our current understanding of such protein-protein interactions often lacks cellular contexts because they were usually studied in an in vitro system or in cells isolated from their tissue environment. Effective methods to investigate protein-protein interactions in a tissue-specific manner are largely missing.
Published Tracking down the genetic causes of lupus to personalize treatment



Treatment of autoimmune diseases like lupus has long relied on steroids to knock down the immune system, but more targeted therapies are currently undergoing clinical trials. To make sure these therapies get to the patients who will benefit, work is needed to identify the specific mutations behind each patient's disease. Researchers now report several dozen mutations associated with oversensitive toll-like receptors -- a major cause of autoimmune disease -- and linked two mutations to patients.
Published Sexual parasitism helped anglerfish invade the deep sea during a time of global warming



Members of the vertebrate group including anglerfishes are unique in possessing a characteristic known as sexual parasitism, in which males temporarily attach or permanently fuse with females to mate. Now, researchers show that sexual parasitism arose during a time of major global warming and rapid transition for anglerfishes from the ocean floor to the deep, open sea.
Published Ancient people hunted extinct elephants at Tagua Tagua Lake in Chile 12,000 years ago



Thousands of years ago, early hunter-gatherers returned regularly to Tagua Tagua Lake in Chile to hunt ancient elephants and take advantage of other local resources, according to a new study.
Published Community science volunteers can set scientific world abuzz with new bumble bee sightings



Community science volunteers -- laypeople with an interest in bees and conservation -- significantly contribute to the scientific knowledge of native bumble bees across Canada and the United States. It's buzz worthy confirmation that community science programs can play an important role in monitoring the changing distributions of bumble bees and more.
Published Exploring diversity in cell division



Animals and fungi predominantly use two different modes of cell division -- called open and closed mitosis, respectively. A new study has shown that different species of Ichthyosporea -- marine protists that are close relatives of both animals and fungi -- use either open and closed mitosis, closely correlated to whether the species has multinucleate life cycle stages. The study demonstrates the way animals do cell division might have evolved long before animals themselves did and how this is linked to an organism's life cycle.
Published Sweet move: a modified sugar enhances antisense oligonucleotide safety and efficacy



Researchers found that adding a newly developed modified sugar, BNAP-AEO, to gapmer antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) increased their affinity for target RNAs, thus significantly enhancing their gene-silencing effects in vitro and in vivo. The BNAP-AEO modification also decreased gapmer ASO toxicity to the central nervous system (CNS), suggesting that it could improve the clinical application of ASO treatment of CNS disease.
Published Australian study proves 'humans are planet's most frightening predator'



A new study demonstrates that kangaroos, wallabies and other Australian marsupials fear humans far more than any other predator.