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Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Paleontology: Dinosaurs

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Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life
Published

Like ancient mariners, ancestors of Prochlorococcus microbes rode out to sea on exoskeleton particles      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Throughout the ocean, billions upon billions of plant-like microbes make up an invisible floating forest. As they drift, the tiny organisms use sunlight to suck up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Collectively, these photosynthesizing plankton, or phytoplankton, absorb almost as much CO2 as the world’s terrestrial forests. A measurable fraction of their carbon-capturing muscle comes from Prochlorococcus — an emerald-tinged free-floater that is the most abundant phytoplankton in the oceans today. New research suggests the microbe's ancient coastal ancestors colonized the ocean by rafting out on chitin particles.

Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
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Giants of the Jurassic seas were twice the size of a killer whale      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

There have been heated debates over the size of Jurassic animals. The speculation was set to continue, but now a chance discovery in an Oxfordshire museum has led to palaeontologists publishing a paper on a Jurassic species potentially reaching a whopping 14.4 meters -- twice the size of a killer whale.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology
Published

A journey to the origins of multicellular life: Long-term experimental evolution in the lab      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Over 3,000 generations of laboratory evolution, researchers watched as their model organism, 'snowflake yeast,' began to adapt as multicellular individuals. In new research, the team shows how snowflake yeast evolved to be physically stronger and more than 20,000 times larger than their ancestor. Their study is the first major report on the ongoing Multicellularity Long-Term Evolution Experiment (MuLTEE), which the team hopes to run for decades.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Crops evolved by swapping genetic modules between cells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Comparing individual cells across corn, sorghum, and millet reveals evolutionary differences among these important cereal crops, according to a new study. The findings bring researchers closer to pinpointing which genes control important agricultural traits such as drought tolerance, which will help scientists faced with a changing climate adapt crops to drier environments.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species
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African rhinos share retroviruses not found in Asian rhinos or other related species      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Rhinoceros belong to a mammalian order called odd-toed ungulates that also include horses and tapirs. They are found in Africa and Asia. Until recently, evidence suggested that throughout their evolutionary history, gamma-retroviruses such as Murine leukemia virus had not colonized their genomes, unlike most other mammalian orders. The colonization process is called retroviral endogenization and has resulted in most mammalian genomes being comprised of up to ten percent retroviral like sequences.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular
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Scientists develop gene silencing DNA enzyme that can target a single molecule      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a DNA enzyme -- or DNAzyme -- that can distinguish between two RNA strands inside a cell and cut the disease-associated strand while leaving the healthy strand intact. This breakthrough 'gene silencing' technology could revolutionize the development of DNAzymes for treating cancer, infectious diseases and neurological disorders.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Geoscience: Geography
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Smallest shifting fastest: Bird species body size predicts rate of change in a warming world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Birds across the Americas are getting smaller and longer-winged as the world warms, and the smallest-bodied species are changing the fastest.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology
Published

The evolution of honey bee brains      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have proposed a new model for the evolution of higher brain functions and behaviors in the Hymenoptera order of insects. The team compared the Kenyon cells, a type of neuronal cell, in the mushroom bodies (a part of the insect brain involved in learning, memory and sensory integration) of 'primitive' sawflies and sophisticated honey bees. They found that three diverse, specialized Kenyon cell subtypes in honey bee brains appear to have evolved from a single, multifunctional Kenyon cell-subtype ancestor. In the future, this research could help us better understand the evolution of some of our own higher brain functions and behaviors.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Molecular
Published

Scientists discover the dynamics of an 'extra' chromosome in fruit flies      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Most chromosomes have been around for millions of years. Now, researchers have revealed the dynamics of a new, very young chromosome in fruit flies that is similar to chromosomes that arise in humans and is associated with treatment-resistant cancer and infertility. The findings may one day lead to developing more targeted therapies for treating these conditions.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Environmental: General
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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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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Fossil find in California shakes up the natural history of cycad plants      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

According to researchers, a new analysis of an 80-million-year-old permineralized pollen cone found in the Campanian Holz Shale formation located in Silverado Canyon, California, offers a more accurate cycad natural history -- one where the plants diversified during the Cretaceous.

Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Earth Science Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: General
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.

Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Ecosystem evolution in Africa      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research pushes back the oldest evidence of C4 grass-dominated habitats in Africa -- and globally -- by more than 10 million years, with important implications for primate evolution and the origins of tropical C4 grasslands and savanna ecosystems across the African continent and around the world.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics
Published

Genomes from 240 mammal species explain human disease risks      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Why is it that certain mammals have an exceptional sense of smell, some hibernate, and yet others, including humans, are predisposed to disease? A major international research project has surveyed and analyzed the genomes of 240 different mammals. The results show how the genomes of humans and other mammals have developed over the course of evolution. The research shows which regions have important functions in mammals, which genetic changes have led to specific characteristics in different species and which mutations can cause disease.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds
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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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Mudskippers could be key to understanding evolution of blinking      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Blinking is crucial for the eye. It's how animals clean their eyes, protect them, and even communicate. But how and why did blinking originate? Researchers have studied the mudskipper, an amphibious fish that spends most of its day on land, to better understand why blinking is a fundamental behavior for life on land.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Algae in Swedish lakes provide insights to how complex life on Earth developed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By studying green algae in Swedish lakes, a research team has succeeded in identifying which environmental conditions promote multicellularity. The results give us new clues to the amazing paths of evolution.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Nature Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Colorado's spicy ancient history of chili peppers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Recently identified chili pepper fossils from Boulder and Denver museums challenge millions of years of global tomato evolutionary history. Now, that's some spicy science!