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Categories: Biology: Evolutionary

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Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Marine Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

'Missing' early sea sponges discovered      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Geobiologists reported a 550 million-year-old sea sponge that had been missing from the fossil record. The discovery sheds new light on a conundrum that has stumped zoologists and paleontologists for years.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Sea Life Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

Small, but smart: How symbiotic bacteria adapt to big environmental changes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Lucinid clams, inconspicuous inhabitants of the seafloor and one of the most diverse group of animals in the ocean, rely on symbiotic bacteria for their survival. Researchers now reveal the evolutionary journey of these tiny tenants. Faced with a drastically changing environment following the closure of the Isthmus of Panama, they acquired new metabolic skills to enable their own survival. Understanding the adaptive strategies of bacteria provides insight into their potential responses to challenging environmental changes, such as those caused by human activities.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Animals Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Food drove the evolution of giraffes' long neck      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study explores body proportions of Masai giraffes, lending insight into why giraffes have such long necks and how this trait might have evolved.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: Marine Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: General
Published

An unlikely hero in evolution: Worms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

One of Earth's most consequential bursts of biodiversity -- a 30-million-year period of explosive evolutionary changes spawning innumerable new species -- may have the most modest of creatures to thank for the vital stage in life's history: worms.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Extinction Paleontology: Dinosaurs Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Musankwa sanyatiensis, a new dinosaur from Zimbabwe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Fossils found on the shoreline of Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe represent a completely new dinosaur species. This remarkable find, named Musankwa sanyatiensis, marks only the fourth dinosaur species named from Zimbabwe.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research
Published

Tracing the evolution of ferns' surprisingly sweet defense strategy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Plants and the animals that eat them have evolved together in fascinating ways, creating a dynamic interplay of survival strategies. Many plants have developed physical and chemical defenses to fend off herbivores. A well-known strategy in flowering plants is to produce nectar to attract 'ant bodyguards.' Recent research explores the evolution of this same defense strategy in ferns.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Researchers expose new symbiosis origin theories, identify experimental systems for plant life      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research work on symbiosis -- a mutually beneficial relationship between living organisms -- is pushing back against the newer theory of a 'single-origin' of root nodule symbiosis (RNS) -- that all symbiosis between plant root nodules and nitrogen-fixing bacteria stems from one point--instead suggesting a 'multiple-origin' theory of sybiosis which opens a better understanding for genetically engineering crops.

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

Complete X and Y chromosome sequences of living great ape species determined      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Newly generated, complete genomes for the sex chromosomes of six primate species may inform conservation of these endangered species and shed light on sex-related genetic diseases in both humans and our closest living relatives.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

What makes some plant groups so successful?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers involved in cataloguing the world's plant species are hunting for answers as to what makes some groups of plants so successful. One of their major goals is to predict more accurately which lineages of flowering plants -- some of which are of huge importance to people and to ecosystems -- are at a greater risk from global climate change.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Animals Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: General
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Smarter foragers do not forage smarter      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Why do primates have big brains? In the Panamanian rainforest, scientists pitted large-brained primates against smaller-brained mammals to find out who was the smartest forager.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General
Published

A unified account of Darwinism's varieties      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new article examines the question of what Darwinism is and how its nonscientific uses relate to the scientific theory of evolution. The authors observe that while some people claim Darwinism's meaning should be limited to scientific content, others call for its abolition altogether. The authors propose a unified account of these varieties of Darwinism.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Zoology Ecology: Extinction Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Bringing back an ancient bird      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using ancient DNA extracted from the toe bone of a museum specimen, biologists have sequenced the genome of an extinct, flightless bird called the little bush moa, shedding light into an unknown corner of avian genetic history. The work is the first complete genetic map of the turkey-sized bird whose distant living cousins include the ostrich, emu, and kiwi.

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

Genetic mosaicism more common than thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers found that approximately one in 40 human bone marrow cells carry massive chromosomal alterations without causing any apparent disease or abnormality. Even so-called normal cells carry all sorts of genetic mutations, meaning there are more genetic differences between individual cells in our bodies than between different human beings. The discovery was enabled by a single-cell sequencing technology called Strand-seq, a unique DNA sequencing technique that can reveal subtle details of genomes in single cells that are too difficult to detect with other methods.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

How killifish embryos use suspended animation to survive over 8 months of drought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The African turquoise killifish lives in ephemeral ponds in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. To survive the annual dry season, the fish's embryos enter a state of extreme suspended animation or 'diapause' for approximately 8 months. Now, researchers have uncovered the mechanisms that enabled the killifish to evolve this extreme survival state.

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

Echidnapus identified from an 'Age of Monotremes'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Entomologist sheds light on 250-year-old mystery of the German cockroach      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Sexual parasitism helped anglerfish invade the deep sea during a time of global warming      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

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.