http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/evolution/ Evolution Theory. Evolution news articles delving into and supporting the theory of evolution. Science articles, photos and more. en-us Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:05:01 EST Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/evolution/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110202853.htm Were dinosaurs "warm-blooded" like present-day mammals and birds, or "cold-blooded" like present day lizards? The implications of this simple-sounding question go beyond deciding whether or not you'd snuggle up to a dinosaur on a cold winter's evening. In a new study, researchers have found strong evidence that many dinosaur species were probably warm-blooded. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110202853.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110171750.htm Fossil plants provide clues as to what our planet looked like millions of years ago. Identifying fossil plants can be tricky, however, when plant organs fail to be preserved. Researchers recently discovered abundant fossilized specimens of a conifer (previously known as "Libocedrus" prechilensis) found in Argentinean Patagonia. Characteristics of these fossils match those currently found only in tropical, montane New Guinea and the Moluccas. This discovery helps to explain the remarkable plant and insect diversity found in Eocene Patagonia. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110171750.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110135411.htm Penguins that died 44,000 years ago in Antarctica have provided extraordinary frozen DNA samples that challenge the accuracy of traditional genetic aging measurements, and suggest those approaches have been routinely underestimating the age of many specimens by 200 to 600 percent. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110135411.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110065917.htm Natural history plans to chart life on earth, yet the discipline risks being buried under a landslide of painstakingly collected data that isn't always used. Now researchers at London's Natural History Museum have created a social networking tool called "Scratchpads" where natural historians can get together and share their data. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110065917.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105121050.htm Despite their fearsome fangs, male sabertoothed cats may have been less aggressive than many of their feline cousins, says a new study of male-female size differences in extinct big cats. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105121050.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105102726.htm Spanish researchers have studied the fossil record of hadrosaurs, the so-called "duck-billed" dinosaurs, in the Iberian Peninsula for the purpose of determining that they were the last of their kind to inhabit the European continent before disappearing during the K/T extinction event that occurred 65.5 million years ago. Most notable among these fossils is the discovery of a new hadrosaur, the Arenysaurus ardevoli, found in Huesca, Spain. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105102726.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105143710.htm Breaking up may not be hard to do, say scientists who've found a population of tropical butterflies that may be splitting into two distinct species. The cause of this particular break-up? A shift in wing color and mate preference. In a new study, the researchers describe the relationship between diverging color patterns in Heliconius butterflies and the long-term divergence of populations into new and distinct species. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105143710.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104132706.htm Scientists have an ambitious new strategy for untangling the evolutionary history of humans and their biological relatives: Create a genetic menagerie made of the DNA of more than 10,000 vertebrate species. The plan, proposed by an international consortium of scientists, is to obtain, preserve, and sequence the DNA of approximately one species for each genus of living mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104132706.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103145603.htm A painstaking genomic and proteomic analysis has found a new evolutionary mechanism that accounts for some of the biological complexity of human beings. The scientists who found the mechanism say it helps humans cope with the consequences of inefficient natural selection. It fosters complexity by enabling human proteins to become more specialized over time. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103145603.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104122538.htm A long forgotten fossil skull in the collections of the Natural History Museum in London has now provided crucial clues to the early stages of the lengthy evolutionary history of Tyrannosaurus rex and related large carnivorous dinosaurs. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104122538.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171204.htm The legendary "man-eating lions of Tsavo" that terrorized a railroad camp in Kenya more than a century ago likely consumed about 35 people -- far fewer than popular estimates of 135 victims, according to a new analysis. The study also yields surprises about the predatory behavior of lions. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171204.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102121449.htm Ever since the Falklands wolf was described by Darwin himself, the origin of this now-extinct canid found only on the Falkland Islands far off the east coast of Argentina has remained a mystery. Now, researchers who have compared DNA from four of the world's dozen or so known Falklands wolf museum specimens to that of living canids offer new insight into the evolutionary ancestry of these enigmatic carnivores. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102121449.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171726.htm A major conclusion of the work is that for some organisms, possibly including humans, continued evolution will not translate into ever-increasing fitness. Moreover, a population may accrue mutations at a constant rate --- a pattern long considered the hallmark of "neutral" or non-Darwinian evolution --- even when the mutations experience Darwinian selection. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171726.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091027101415.htm When Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species 150 years ago, he deliberately avoided the subject of the origin of life. This, coupled with the mention of the 'Creator' in the last paragraph of the book, led us to believe he was not willing to commit on the matter. An international team now refutes that idea and shows that the British naturalist did explain in other documents how our first ancestors could have come into being. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091027101415.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091027170853.htm Isotopic measurements performed on fossil land snail shells found in ancient soils on the subtropical eastern Canary Islands resulted in oxygen isotope ratios that suggest the Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa has become progressively drier over the past 50,000 years, according to new research. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091027170853.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029125532.htm Biologists have shown that independent but similar molecular changes turned a harmless digestive enzyme into a toxin in two unrelated species -- a shrew and a lizard -- giving each a venomous bite. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029125532.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091030125046.htm Paleontologists have discovered a new species of dinosaur that lived 112 million years ago during the early Cretaceous of central Montana. The new dinosaur, a species of ankylosaur is the biological version of an army tank. It is protected by a plate-like armor with two sets of sharp spikes on each side of the head, and a skull so thick that even 'raptors' could leave barely more than a scratch. Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091030125046.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026152816.htm Why do crosses between two species often yield sterile or inviable progeny (for instance, mules emerging from a cross between a horse and a donkey)? New research suggests that the solution to this problem lies in the "dark matter of the genome": heterochromatin, a tightly packed, gene-poor compartment of DNA found within the genomes of all nucleated cells. Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026152816.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029113756.htm Spanish researchers have confirmed that the largest bat in Europe, Nyctalus lasiopterus, was present in north-eastern Spain during the Late Pleistocene. The Greater Noctule fossils found in the excavation site at Abric Romani prove that this bat had a greater geographical presence more than 10,000 years ago than it does today, having declined due to the reduction in vegetation cover. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029113756.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029141217.htm Geoscientists have corroborated evidence that oxygen production began in Earth's oceans at least 100 million years before the Great Oxidation Event (GOE). The researchers analyzed 2.5 billion-year-old black shales, which revealed that episodes of hydrogen sulfide accumulation in the oxygen-free deep ocean occurred nearly 100 million years before the GOE. Scientists have long believed that the early ocean was characterized by high amounts of dissolved iron. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029141217.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016224153.htm The Cambrian Explosion is widely regarded as one of the most relevant episodes in the history of life on Earth, when the vast majority of animal phyla first appear in the fossil record. However, the causes of its origin have been object of debate for decades. A novel theory formulates that the geologically induced increase on marine calcium, as a result of volcanic activity, might be the key for understanding this important stage in evolution. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016224153.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026220018.htm Researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism in fruit flies that prevents two closely related species from reproducing, a finding that offers clues to how species evolve. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026220018.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026152934.htm Just in time for Halloween, researchers have announced the discovery of a new, real-world "monster" -- what they are calling a "unicorn" fly that lived about 100 million years ago and is being described as a new family, genus and species of fly never before observed. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026152934.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091021115147.htm Researchers have carried out molecular genetic analysis of the Y chromosome (transmitted only by males) of the aboriginal population of the Canary Islands to determine their origin and the extent to which they have survived in the current population. The results suggest a North African origin for these paternal lineages which, unlike maternal lineages, have declined to the point of being practically replaced today by European lineages. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091021115147.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091025205016.htm Why did Barack Obama win the US election and did the fact he is over six feet tall influence the voters? Researchers argue that due to 'a hangover from our evolutionary past' factors like age, sex, height and weight play a major part in the determining our choice of leaders. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091025205016.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020094100.htm Genetic information from an extinct species of bison preserved in permafrost for thousands of years could help improve modern agricultural livestock and breeding programs, according to researchers. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020094100.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623150619.htm A new study describes recent excavations in Jordan that reveal evidence of the world's oldest known granaries. Scientists provide evidence that these granaries precede the emergence of fully domesticated plants and large-scale sedentary communities by at least 1,000 years. Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623150619.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020203420.htm Researchers report the oldest archaeological evidence of early human activities in a grassland environment, dating to two million years ago. The article highlights new research and its implications concerning the environments in which human ancestors evolved. Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020203420.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013105335.htm Research has previously assumed that animals and plants developed different genetic programs for cell death. Now scientists have shown that parts of the genetic programs that determine programmed cell death in plants and animals are actually evolutionarily related and moreover function in a similar way. Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013105335.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019162933.htm Although advances in medical care have improved standards of living over time, humans aren't entirely sheltered from the forces of natural selection, a new study shows. Researchers decided to find out if natural selection is still at work in humans today. The result? Humans are still evolving. In fact, we're likely to evolve at roughly the same rates as other living things, findings suggest. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019162933.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029151443.htm Change in language can be compared with evolution in the world of animals and plants. According to a Dutch researcher, an individual user of language can spark off an evolution of his or her language. His new approach, comparing linguistic change with evolution, offers a number of advantages for the study of linguistic change. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029151443.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091018141716.htm A 21-year experiment that distills the essence of evolution in laboratory flasks not only demonstrates natural selection at work, but could lead to biotechnology and medical research advances, researchers say. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091018141716.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016121827.htm Researchers have identified the first fish known to have switched from ultraviolet vision to violet vision, or the ability to see blue light. The discovery is also the first example of an animal deleting a molecule to change its visual spectrum. The findings on scabbardfish link molecular evolution to functional changes and the possible environmental factors driving them. Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016121827.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013201749.htm Researchers have identified a new type of flying reptile, providing the first clear evidence of an unusual and controversial type of evolution. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013201749.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091012230441.htm Researchers working in Colombia's Cerrejón coal mine have unearthed the first megafossil evidence of a neotropical rainforest. Titanoboa, the world's biggest snake, lived in this forest 58 million years ago at temperatures 3-5 C warmer than in rainforests today, indicating that rainforests flourished during warm periods. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091012230441.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090728223020.htm Hungry, sexual organisms replaced well-fed, clonal organisms in the Caribbean Sea as the Isthmus of Panama arose, separating the Caribbean from the Pacific, report researchers. The fossil record shows that if a species could shift from clonal to sexual reproduction it survived. Otherwise it was destined for extinction, millions of years later. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090728223020.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091009090436.htm The raptor-like Archaeopteryx has long been viewed as the archetypal first bird, but new research reveals that it was actually a lot less "bird-like" than scientists had believed. Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091009090436.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091008143001.htm An international team of paleontologists has discovered a new species of mammal that lived in China's Liaoning Province 123 million years ago. This remarkably well preserved fossil offers important insight into how the mammalian middle ear evolved. Such exquisite dinosaur-age mammals provide evidence of how developmental mechanisms have impacted the evolution of the earliest mammals. Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091008143001.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091008113341.htm Among the many surprises associated with the discovery of the oldest known, nearly complete skeleton of a hominid is the finding that this species took its first steps toward bipedalism not on the open, grassy savanna, as generations of scientists -- going back to Charles Darwin -- hypothesized, but in a wooded landscape. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091008113341.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006135109.htm A new investigation of a fossilized tracksite in southern Africa shows how early dinosaurs made on-the-fly adjustments to their movements to cope with slippery and sloping terrain. Differences in how early dinosaurs made these adjustments provide insight into the later evolution of the group. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006135109.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002182631.htm Understanding the evolution and domestication of maize is important for many researchers. As one of the most important crops worldwide and one that appears very different from its wild relatives because of domestication, understanding exactly how maize has evolved has many practical benefits and may help improve crop yields. Researchers recently compared corn kernel development to its closest wild relative and have overturned some commonly held beliefs on the domestication of maize. Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002182631.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001110548.htm For the first time, scientists have thoroughly described Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia. Several new studies offer the first comprehensive, peer-reviewed description of the Ardipithecus fossils, which include a partial skeleton of a female, nicknamed "Ardi." Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001110548.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929203027.htm The world's largest living lizard species, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), is vulnerable to extinction and yet little is known about its natural history. New research by a team of palaeontologists and archaeologists from Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia, who studied fossil evidence from Australia, Timor, Flores, Java and India, shows that Komodo Dragons most likely evolved in Australia and dispersed westward to Indonesia. Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929203027.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928205415.htm A fossil of a bird-like dinosaur with four wings has been discovered in northeastern China. The specimen bridges a critical gap in the transition from dinosaurs to birds, and reveals new insights into the origin evolution of feathers. Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928205415.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928131210.htm Scientists have uncovered the evolutionary ancestry of the prion gene, which may reveal new understandings of how the prion protein causes diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as "mad cow disease." Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928131210.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090927145354.htm The retroviruses which gave rise to HIV have been battling it out with mammal immune systems since mammals first evolved around 100 million years ago -- about 85 million years earlier than previously thought, scientists now believe. Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090927145354.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924141049.htm Today's Scandinavians are not descended from the people who came to Scandinavia at the conclusion of the last ice age but, apparently, from a population that arrived later, concurrently with the introduction of agriculture. This is one conclusion of a new study straddling the borderline between genetics and archaeology. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924141049.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924185533.htm A comprehensive study that builds on previous phylogenetic research on cetaceans and that combines morphology, genetics, and behavior confirms that the closest living relative is the hippo and demonstrates that the closest fossil relative is Indohyus. These evolutionary relationships imply that stem whales adapted to water first, and then to carnivory. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924185533.htm