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Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Offbeat: Earth and Climate

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Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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Scales or feathers? It all comes down to a few genes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scales, spines, feathers and hair are examples of vertebrate skin appendages, which constitute a remarkably diverse group of micro-organs. Despite their natural multitude of forms, these appendages share early developmental processes at the embryonic stage. Researchers have discovered how to permanently transform the scales that normally cover the feet of chickens into feathers, by specifically modifying the expression of certain genes.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Animals Ecology: Invasive Species Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Is it an ant? Is it a plant? No, it's a spider!      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A species of tiny, colorful jumping spider employs two lines of defense to avoid being eaten: camouflaging with plants and walking like an ant. Researchers report that this combination of camouflage and movement mimicry helps the spiders evade spider-eating spiders but does not deter hungry praying mantises.

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

What did the earliest animals look like?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Surprisingly, genome comparisons have failed to resolve a major question in animal evolution: Which living animals are the descendants of the earliest animals to evolve in the world's oceans? Scientists performed a detailed chromosomal analysis that comes down definitively in favor of comb jellies, or ctenophores, as the most recent common ancestor of all animals, or the sister taxa to all animals. Sponges evolved later.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Marine Ecology: Animals Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life
Published

Jaw shapes of 90 shark species show: Evolution driven by habitat      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers investigated how the jaw shape of sharks has changed over the course of evolution. Their conclusion: in the most widespread shark species, the jaws show relatively little variation in shape over millions of years; most variable jaws were found for deep-sea sharks.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Nature Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: General
Published

Butterfly tree of life reveals an origin in North America      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered where butterflies originated and which plants the first butterflies relied on for food. To reach these conclusions, researchers created the world's largest butterfly tree of life, which they used as a guide to trace trace the evolution of butterflies through time in a four-dimensional puzzle that led back to North and Central America.

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

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

How bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Bacteria can rapidly evolve resistance to antibiotics by adapting special pumps to flush them out of their cells, according to new research. Antimicrobial resistance is a growing problem of global significance. The rise of resistant 'superbugs' threatens our ability to use antimicrobials like antibiotics to treat and prevent the spread of infections caused by microorganisms. It is hoped that the findings will improve how antibiotics are used to help prevent further spread of antimicrobial resistance.

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: Biochemistry Biology: General Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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A jumping conclusion: Fossil insect ID'd as new genus, species of prodigious leaper, the froghopper      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A fossil arthropod entombed in 100-million-year-old Burmese amber has been identified as a new genus and species of froghopper, known today as an insect with prodigious leaping ability in adulthood following a nymphal stage spent covered in a frothy fluid.

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
Published

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: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Kangaroo Island ants 'play dead' to avoid predators      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

They're well known for their industrious work, but now a species of ant on Kangaroo Island is also showing that it is skilled at 'playing dead', a behavior that researchers believe is a recorded world first.

Biology: Botany Biology: Microbiology Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Geochemistry Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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.

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

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.