Biology: Evolutionary Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

High-precision genome sequencing of buckwheat breeds hope for future harvests      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Buckwheat's high-precision chromosomal-level genome sequence has been deciphered, a key step toward unraveling the evolution of the buckwheat genome and the origins of the cultivated crop. By altering specific genes using a method independent of common genome-editing techniques, the researchers successfully developed a self-fertile buckwheat variety as well as a new type of the crop with a sticky, mochi-like texture. This breeding method may contribute to a more diverse range of orphan crops than what is possible with existing genome editing technologies.

Biology: Evolutionary
Published

Hidden moles in hidden holes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of scientists has for the first time identified two new underground mammals that could have been living, undetected, in eastern Turkey for up to 3 million years. They say it is rare to find new species of mammals today, and evidence that the true nature of biodiversity can be under-estimated.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: Marine Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Evolving elegance: Scientists connect beauty and safeguarding in ammonoid shells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

With 350 million years of evolution culminating in almost two centuries of scientific discourse, a new hypothesis emerges. Researchers propose a new explanation for why ammonoids evolved a highly elaborate, fractal-like geometry within their shells. Their analysis shows that the increasing complexity of shell structures provided a distinct advantage by offering improved protection against predators.

Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary
Published

Global consortium creates large-scale, cross-species database and universal 'clock' to estimate age in all mammalian tissues      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international research team details changes in DNA that researchers found are shared by humans and other mammals throughout history and are associated with life span and numerous other traits.

Biology: Evolutionary Ecology: Research
Published

Biologists find what colors a butterfly's world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As butterflies flit among flowers, they don't all view blossoms the same way. In a phenomenon called sexually dimorphic vision, females of some butterfly species perceive ultraviolet color while the males see light and dark. Biologists have discovered that in at least one species, the variation results from a vision gene's jump onto a sex chromosome. It's the first known finding that this kind of genetic change causes sexually dimorphic vision.

Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Ecology: Endangered Species Paleontology: General
Published

The oldest and fastest evolving moss in the world might not survive climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A 390-million-year-old moss called Takakia lives in some of Earth's most remote places, including the icy cliffs of the Tibetan Plateau. In a decade-long project, a team of scientists climbed some of the tallest peaks in the world to find Takakia, sequence its DNA for the first time, and study how climate change is impacting the moss. Their results show that Takakia is one of the fastest evolving species ever studied -- but it likely isn't evolving fast enough to survive climate change.

Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: Microbiology
Published

Parasites of viruses drive superbug evolution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered a previously unknown mechanism by which bacteria share their genetic material through virus parasites. The insights could help scientists to better understand how bacteria rapidly adapt and evolve, and how they become more virulent and resistant to antibiotics.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: Microbiology
Published

How the hospital pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii quickly adapts to new environmental conditions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Hospital-acquired infections are often hard to treat because the corresponding pathogens become increasingly resistant against antibiotics. The bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii is particularly feared, and there is great pressure to devise novel therapeutic approaches to combat it. Bioinformaticians have now detected an unexpectedly wide diversity of certain cell appendages in A. baumannii that are associated with pathogenicity. This could lead to treatment strategies that are specifically tailored to a particular pathogen.

Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary
Published

DNA tilts and stretches underlie differences in mutation rates across genomes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have changed the way to look at DNA. They show that DNA is much more than a linear sequence of building blocks; it has a 3D structure that influences the variation of human genome-wide mutation rates meaningfully and consistently, and this is likely conserved among species.

Biology: Evolutionary Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Research
Published

Researchers are using monkey poop to learn how an endangered species chooses its mates      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Northern muriquis, which live in the Atlantic forest of Brazil, are one of the most endangered species of monkey in the world. To better understand what goes on in the mating lives of muriquis, researchers turned to the monkeys' poop to help gain insight into how the primates choose their mates.

Biology: Evolutionary Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

The history and future of ancient einkorn wheat Is written in its genes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have sequenced the complete genome for einkorn wheat, the world's first domesticated crop and traced its evolutionary history. The information will help researchers identify genetic traits like tolerance to diseases, drought and heat, and re-introduce those traits to modern bread wheat.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: Marine Ecology: Sea Life Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Oldest known species of swimming jellyfish identified      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Royal Ontario Museum announces the oldest swimming jellyfish in the fossil record with the newly named Burgessomedusa phasmiformis. This 505-million-year-old swimming jellyfish from the Burgess Shale highlights diversity in the Cambrian ecosystem.

Biology: Evolutionary Mathematics: General Mathematics: Modeling Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Scientists uncover a surprising connection between number theory and evolutionary genetics      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An interdisciplinary team of mathematicians, engineers, physicists, and medical scientists has uncovered an unexpected link between pure mathematics and genetics, that reveals key insights into the structure of neutral mutations and the evolution of organisms.

Biology: Evolutionary Ecology: Invasive Species Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

When cheating pays -- survival strategy of insect uncovered      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have revealed the unique 'cheating' strategy a New Zealand insect has developed to avoid being eaten -- mimicking a highly toxic species.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: Marine Ecology: General Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life
Published

Researchers find evolutionary adaption in trout of Wyoming's Wind River Mountains      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists found that trout from lakes stocked decades ago in the Wind River Mountains have higher numbers of gill rakers, which are bony or cartilage structures in the gullets of fish that act as sieves to retain zooplankton and nourish the trout. The difference is likely a result of the trout adapting to the food sources of the once-fishless high-mountain lakes -- a change that has taken place in a relatively short period of time and at a rate that is generally consistent with the historic timing of stocking for each of the lakes.

Biology: Evolutionary Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Bees evolved from ancient supercontinent, diversified faster than suspected      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The origin of bees is tens of millions of years older than most previous estimates, a new study shows. A team led by Washington State University researchers traced the bee genealogy back more than 120 million years to an ancient supercontinent, Gondwana, which included today's continents of Africa and South America.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: Microbiology
Published

Mutation accessibility fuels influenza evolution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists showed that fixed mutations within a viral population most likely stem from how easy it is to acquire that mutation (i.e., mutation accessibility) rather than just its benefit.

Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Bees and wasps use the same architectural solutions to join large hexagons to small hexagons      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Bees and wasps have converged on the same architectural solutions to nest-building problems, according to new research.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: Microbiology
Published

'Swine flu' strain has passed from humans to swine nearly 400 times since 2009      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study of the strain of influenza A responsible for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic -- pdm09 -- shows that the virus has passed from humans to swine about 370 times since 2009, and subsequent circulation in swine has resulted in the evolution of pdm09 variants that then jumped from swine to humans.

Biology: Evolutionary Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: General
Published

New archosaur species shows that precursor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs was armored      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have described a new species of armored reptile that lived near the time of the first appearance of dinosaurs. With bony plates on its backbone, this archosaur fossil reveals that armor was a boomerang trait in the story of dinosaur and pterosaur evolution: the group's ancestors were armored, but this characteristic was lost and then independently re-evolved multiple times later among specialized dinosaurs like ankylosaurs, stegosaurs, and others.