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Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Paleontology: Dinosaurs

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Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

360-million-year-old Irish fossil provides oldest evidence of plant self-defense in wood      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered the oldest evidence of plant self-defense in wood in a 360-million-year-old fossil from south-eastern Ireland. Plants can protect their wood from infection and water loss by forming special structures called 'tyloses'. These prevent bacterial and fungal pathogens from getting into the heartwood of living trees and damaging it. However, it was not previously known how early in the evolution of plants woody species became capable of forming such defenses. Published today in Nature Plants is the oldest evidence of tylosis formation from Late Devonian (360-million-year-old) fossil wood from the Hook Head Peninsula area, Co. Wexford, Ireland.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: Zoology Ecology: Extinction Environmental: Biodiversity Paleontology: General
Published

Neuroptera: Greater insect diversity in the Cretaceous period      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An LMU team has studied the biodiversity of larvae from the insect order neuroptera over the past 100 million years.

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

Evolution of two contagious cancers affecting Tasmanian devils underlines unpredictability of disease threat      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Evolution of two contagious cancers affecting Tasmanian devils underlines unpredictability of disease threat. Scientists have traced the family trees of two transmissible cancers that affect Tasmanian devils and have pinpointed mutations which may drive growth of deadly diseases.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

How can a pollinating insect be recognized in the fossil record?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Insect pollination is a decisive process for the survival and evolution of angiosperm (flowering) plants and, to a lesser extent, gymnosperms (without visible flower or fruit). There is a growing interest in studies on the origins of the relationship between insects and plants, especially in the current context of the progressive decline of pollinating insects on a global scale and its impact on food production. Pollinating insects can be recognized in the fossil record, although to date, there has been no protocol for their differentiation. Fossil pollinators have been found in both rock and amber deposits, and it is in rock deposits that the first evidence of plant pollination by insects is being studied across the globe. But how can we determine which was a true insect pollinator in the past?

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Molecular Biology: Zoology
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Tracking a new path to octopus and squid sensing capabilities      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research has traced the evolutionary adaptations of octopus and squid sensing capabilities. The researchers describe for the first time the structure of an octopus chemotactile receptor, which octopus arms use for taste-by-touch exploration of the seafloor.

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

Study reveals how pollinators cope with plant toxins      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Pollinators such as honeybees produce special enzymes that detoxify defence chemicals produced by plants, new research shows.

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

Biologists determine the evolutionary age of individual cell types providing critical insights for animal development      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has recently made a significant discovery about the evolutionary age of different type of cells in a small animal called Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). By using single-cell transcriptomic data and refined phylostratigraphy, the team determines the transcriptomic age of individual cells, which means they are able to estimate the evolutionary origin of different cells based on the age of the genes expressed in the cells.

Anthropology: General Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Oldest bat skeletons ever found described from Wyoming fossils      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have described a new species of bat based on the oldest bat skeletons ever recovered. The study on the extinct bat, which lived in Wyoming about 52 million years ago, supports the idea that bats diversified rapidly on multiple continents during this time.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular
Published

Study compares de novo proteins with randomly produced proteins      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In a series of experiments, a team of researchers have compared de novo proteins with random-sequence proteins, looking at their stability and solubility. The results are set to advance basic research in this new field.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Sea Life
Published

How skates learned to fly through water      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Genes are not the only drivers of evolution. The iconic fins of skates are caused by changes in the non-coding genome and its three-dimensional structure, an international research team reports.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology
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Scientists track evolution of microbes on the skin's surface      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered that Staphylococcus aureus can rapidly evolve within a single person's microbiome. They found that in people with eczema, S. aureus tends to evolve to a variant with a mutation in a specific gene that helps it grow faster on the skin.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Earth Science
Published

British flower study reveals surprise about plants' sex life      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study of Britain's native flowering plants has led to new insights into the mysterious process that allows wild plants to breed across species -- one of plants' most powerful evolutionary forces.  When wild flowering plants are sizing up others they may often end up in a marriage between close relatives rather than neighbors, a new study has revealed.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems
Published

In Florida study, nonnative leaf-litter ants are replacing native ants      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new look at decades of data from museum collections and surveys of leaf-litter ants in Florida reveals a steady decline in native ants and simultaneous increase in nonnative ants -- even in protected natural areas of the state, researchers report.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Environmental: Ecosystems Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Woolly mammoths evolved smaller ears and woolier coats over the 700,000 years that they roamed the Siberian steppes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers compared the genomes of woolly mammoths with modern day elephants to find out what made woolly mammoths unique, both as individuals and as a species. The investigators report that many of the woolly mammoth's trademark features -- including their woolly coats and large fat deposits -- were already genetically encoded in the earliest woolly mammoths, but these and other traits became more defined over the species' 700,000+ year existence. They also identified a gene with several mutations that may have been responsible for the woolly mammoth's miniscule ears.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular
Published

Blind dating in bacteria evolution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers reconstructed long-extinct proteins of a UV protection system of cyanobacteria. The surprising result: the proteins were already compatible with each other when they first met. This discovery expands the knowledge horizon on the rules of evolution.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Geoscience: Geography
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A cold-specialized icefish species underwent major genetic changes as it migrated to temperate waters      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Biologists have explored the genetic mechanisms underlying the transition from freezing Antarctic waters to more temperature waters by Antarctic Notothenioid fish.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Earth Science
Published

A detailed map of the microverse: Microbial niches      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

What defines the habitat -- the ecological niche -- of a microorganism? It is a combination of environmental factors such as temperature, moisture, and nutrient content. But the exact contribution of each of these factors is difficult to predict. A research team has redefined microbial niches by determining which microorganisms live together.