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 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:05:01 EDT Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:05:01 EDT 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/2008/07/080724074203.htm It has long been debated whether dinosaurs were part of the 'Terrestrial Revolution' that occurred some 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous when birds, mammals, flowering plants, insects and reptiles all underwent a rapid expansion. During their last 50 million years of existence, dinosaurs were not expanding as actively as had been previously thought and that the apparent explosion of dinosaur diversity may be largely explained by sampling bias. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080724074203.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080721112616.htm Human ancestors fought back against an ancient retrovirus with a defense mechanism that our bodies still use today. Evidence of this battle has been preserved in our DNA for millions of years. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080721112616.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080722225339.htm Ice age climate change and ancient flooding -- but not barriers created by rivers -- may have promoted the evolution of new insect species in the Amazon region of South America, a new study suggests. The Amazon basin is home to the richest diversity of life on earth, yet the reasons why this came to be are not well understood. Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080722225339.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080716085125.htm High-resolution industrial computed tomography was used to scan the Homo Liujiang cranium fossil, and the three-dimensional virtual brain image was reconstructed. The brain morphology of Liujiang is assigned to Late Homo sapiens. Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080716085125.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080717201837.htm "Survival of the fittest" is the catch phrase of evolution by natural selection. While natural selection favors the most fit organisms around, evolutionary biologists have long wondered whether this leads to the best possible organisms in the long run. A team of researchers has developed a new theory, which suggests that life may not always be optimal. Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080717201837.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715104932.htm A large-scale genetic study of native North Americans offers new insights into the migration of a small group of Athapaskan natives from their subarctic home in northwest North America to the southwestern United States. The migration, which left no known archaeological trace, is believed to have occurred about 500 years ago. Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715104932.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080717140435.htm It's a long way from the dull hums of the amorous midshipman fish to the strains of a Puccini aria -- or, alas, even to the simplest Celine Dion melody. But the neural circuitry that led to the human love song -- not to mention birdsongs, frog thrums and mating calls of all manner of vertebrates -- was likely laid down hundreds of millions of years ago with the hums and grunts of the homely piscine. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080717140435.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080717140459.htm Some bacterial cells can swim, morph into new forms and even become dangerously virulent -- all without initial involvement of DNA. Researchers describe how bacteria accomplish this amazing feat in the journal Science -- and in doing so provide a glimpse of what the earliest forms of life on Earth may have looked like. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080717140459.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715204741.htm Some 40,000 years ago, Cro-Magnons -- the first people who had a skeleton that looked anatomically modern -- entered Europe, coming from Africa. Geneticists now show that a Cro-Magnoid individual who lived in Southern Italy 28,000 years ago was a modern European, genetically as well as anatomically. They conclude that the Neandertal people, who lived in Europe for nearly 300,000 years, are not the ancestors of modern Europeans. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715204741.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715090413.htm Research published in Nature Genetics has established an identical mechanism of genetic imprinting, a process involved in marsupial and human fetal development, which evolved 150 million years ago. Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715090413.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080714092622.htm Six-thousand year old bones excavated in Jericho may help a joint Israeli-Palestinian-German research group combat tuberculosis. The bones, which were all excavated between 50 and 70 years ago, will be tested for tuberculosis, leprosy, leishmania and malaria. However, the primary focus will be tuberculosis. Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080714092622.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080711090057.htm New research may be disproving much of the conventional wisdom about the diversity of marine fossils and extinction rates. While previous research showed eventual recoveries in the diversity of fossils after periods of extinction, new work shows that the number of species comes back up quickly -- at least on a geological time scale -- and then stays relatively flat. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080711090057.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708200639.htm New research has shown that the evolutionary pressures arising from the older, faster, but less accurate, part of the brain may have shaped the more recent development of the slower-acting but more precise cortex, found in humans and higher animals. Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708200639.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080709144213.htm Hidden away in museums for more that 100 years, some recently rediscovered flatfish fossils have filled a puzzling gap in the story of evolution and answered a question that initially stumped even Charles Darwin. Opponents of evolution have insisted that adult flatfishes, which have both eyes on one side of the head, could not have evolved gradually. A slightly asymmetrical skull offers no advantage. No such fish -- fossil or living -- had ever been discovered, until now. Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080709144213.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080709110839.htm After taking a fresh look at an old fossil, researchers determined that the brains of the ancestors of modern neotropical primates were as small as those of their early fossil simian counterparts in the Old World. This means one of the hallmarks of primate biology, increased brain size, arose independently in isolated groups -- the platyrrhines of the Americas and the catarrhines of Africa and Eurasia. Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080709110839.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708182536.htm The traces of organic material found in fossil feathers are remnants of pigments that once gave birds their color, according to Yale scientists whose paper in Biology Letters opens up the potential to depict the original coloration of fossilized birds and their ancestors, the dinosaurs. Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708182536.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080707171748.htm When it comes to cellular communication networks, a primitive single-celled microbe that answers to the name of Monosiga brevicollis has a leg up on animals composed of billions of cells. It commands a signaling network more elaborate and diverse than found in any multicellular organism higher up on the evolutionary tree, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080707171748.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080707134402.htm The accepted timeframe for the beginnings of life on Earth is now being questioned, after scientists found a key indicator to the earliest life forms in diamonds from Jack Hills in Western Australia. The 4.2 billion-year-old diamonds found trapped inside the Jack Hills zircon crystals are the oldest-known samples of Earth's carbon. The team's discovery of very high concentrations of carbon 12, or "light carbon" within these crystals is remarkable as it is a feature usually associated with organic life. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080707134402.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080701140658.htm Scientists have found that a complex, highly conserved and extremely important mechanism of controlling genes is over 150 million years old. The findings have provided new insights into the evolution of genomic or parental imprinting and epigenetic regulation in mammals. A failure of these sophisticated processes is associated with many human genetic diseases, psychiatric and autoimmune disorders and aging. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080701140658.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080701165050.htm What do humans and single-celled choanoflagellates have in common? More than you'd think. New research into the choanoflagellate genome shows these ancient organisms have similar levels of proteins that cells in more complex organisms, including humans, use to communicate with each other. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080701165050.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080701141030.htm A complete mandible of Homo erectus was discovered at the Thomas I quarry in Casablanca by a French-Moroccan team. This mandible is the oldest human fossil uncovered from scientific excavations in Morocco. The discovery will help better define northern Africa's possible role in first populating southern Europe. A Homo erectus half-jaw had already been found at the Thomas I quarry in 1969, but it was a chance discovery and therefore with no archeological context. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080701141030.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080626145058.htm Measuring and testing the teeth of living primates could provide a window into the behavior of the earliest human ancestors, based on their fossilized remains. New research takes us one step closer to understanding the relationship between canine teeth, body size and the lives of primates. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080626145058.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080627163156.htm Scientists are using new genetic and microbotanical techniques to distinguish domesticated maize from its wild relatives as well as to identify ancient sites of maize agriculture. These new analyses suggest that maize may have been domesticated in Mexico as early as 10,000 years ago. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080627163156.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080625140643.htm New exquisitely preserved fossils from Latvia cast light on a key event in our own evolutionary history, when our ancestors left the water and ventured onto land. Scientists have reconstructed parts of the animal and explain the transformation in the new issue of Nature. Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080625140643.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080626141117.htm The largest ever study of bird genetics redraws the avian evolutionary tree, challenges current classifications, alters our understanding of avian evolution, and provides a resource for future studies. Early Bird, centered at the Field Museum, examined DNA from all major living bird groups. Scientists built and analyzed a dataset of more than 32 kilobases of nuclear DNA sequences from 19 locations on the DNA of each of 169 species -- equivalent to a small genome project. Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080626141117.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080625123013.htm The Drosophila simulans species complex continues to serve as an important model system for the study of new species formation. The complex is comprised of the cosmopolitan species, D. simulans, and two island endemics, D. mauritiana and D. sechellia. A substantial amount of effort has gone into reconstructing the natural history of the complex, in part to infer the context in which functional divergence among the species has arisen. Researchers now provide evidence that both island species were isolated at about the same time, estimated at ~250,000 years ago. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080625123013.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080619203301.htm Researchers have determined that there are hundreds of biological differences between the sexes when it comes to gene expression in the cerebral cortex of humans and other primates. These findings indicate that some of these differences arose a very long time ago and have been preserved through evolution. These conserved differences constitute a signature of sex differences in the brain. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080619203301.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080619142102.htm What makes a human different from a chimp? Researchers have come one important step closer to answering such evolutionary questions correctly. In the current issue of Science they uncover systematic errors in existing methods that compare genetic sequences of different species to learn about their evolutionary relationships. They present a new computational tool that provides accurate insights into the evolution of DNA and protein sequences. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080619142102.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080620115905.htm A new discovery provides conclusive evidence that the "selfish" gene does exist. In studying genomes, the word "selfish" does not refer to self-centered behavior but rather to the blind tendency of genes wanting to continue their existence into the next generation. Biologists have isolated a region on the honey bee genome that houses this "selfish" gene in female workers bees. Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080620115905.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080618133715.htm Research on the genome of a marine creature is shedding new light on a key area of the tree of life. Because amphioxus is evolving slowly -- its body plan remains similar to that of fossils from the Cambrian time -- the animal serves as an intriguing comparison point for tracing how vertebrates have evolved and adapted. This includes new information about how vertebrates have employed old genes for new functions. Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080618133715.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080617204459.htm An Italian research team found that the evolutionary origin and maintenance of male homosexuality in human populations could be explained by a model based around the idea of sexually antagonistic selection, in which genetic factors spread in the population by giving a reproductive advantage to one sex while disadvantaging the other. Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080617204459.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080617204512.htm New research shows that the second most diverse group of hard corals first evolved in the deep sea, and not in shallow waters. Stylasterids, or lace corals, diversified in deep waters before launching at least three successful invasions of shallow water tropical habitats in the past 40 million years. This finding provides the first strong evidence that a group of deep-sea animals invaded and diversified in shallow waters. Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080617204512.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080613111131.htm Researchers is uncovering the truth behind the largest marsupial ever to walk the earth -- the 2.5 tonne wombat-like Diprotodon. Standing 1.8 meters tall and reaching up to 3.5 meters in length, this huge beast lived more than 100,000 years ago, and despite being one of the most celebrated examples of Australia's Pleistocene "megafauna", there is very little known about them. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080613111131.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080612150144.htm Experts explain how and why we find things funny and identify the reason humor is common to all human societies, its fundamental role in the evolution of homo sapiens and its continuing importance in the cognitive development of infants. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080612150144.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080613092514.htm Scientists have confirmed for the first time that an important component of early genetic material which has been found in meteorite fragments is extraterrestrial in origin. The finding suggests that parts of the raw materials to make the first molecules of DNA and RNA may have come from the stars. Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080613092514.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611161038.htm A large genetic study of the extinct woolly mammoth has revealed that the species was not one large homogenous group, as scientists previously had assumed, and that it did not have much genetic diversity. The discovery is particularly interesting because it rules out human hunting as a contributing factor, leaving climate change and disease as the most probable causes of extinction. Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611161038.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080609195604.htm A propensity for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder might be beneficial to a group of Kenyan nomads, according to new research in BMC Evolutionary Biology. Scientists have shown that an ADHD-associated version of the gene DRD4 is associated with better health in nomadic tribesmen, and yet may cause malnourishment in their settled cousins. Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080609195604.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080607232647.htm Scientists find evidence of tetrapods living in Antarctica during the early Triassic epoch, about 245 million years ago. The fossils were created when fine sand from an overflowing river poured into the animals' burrows and hardened into casts of the open spaces. The largest preserved piece is about 14 inches long, 6 inches wide and 3 inches deep. The burrows' relatively small size prompted scientists to speculate that their owners might have been small lizardlike reptiles called Procolophonids or an early mammal relative called Thrinaxodon. Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080607232647.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080606104814.htm Australian researchers have discovered a remarkable 380-million-year-old fossil placoderm fish with intact embryo and mineralized umbilical cord. The discovery makes the fossil the world's oldest known vertebrate mother. It also provides the earliest evidence of vertebrate sexual reproduction, wherein the males (which possessed clasping organs similar to modern sharks and rays) internally fertilized females. Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080606104814.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080602075844.htm What are the genes implicated in upright walking of humans? The discovery of four families in which some members only walk on all fours may help us understand how humans, unlike other primates, are able to walk for long periods on only two legs. Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080602075844.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080602214249.htm A new PLoS Biology article investigates the evolution of genomic imprinting in a specific region of the mammalian genome. The work shows that different regions became imprinted at different times during mammalian evolution. Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080602214249.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080531074905.htm Nautilus, the ancient living ancestors of modern cephalopods, have both long and short-term memory, despite lacking the brain structures that modern cephalopods evolved for long-term memory. Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080531074905.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080529141329.htm The contentious debate about why insects evolved to put the interests of the colony over the individual has been reignited by new research from the University of Leeds, showing that they do so to increase the chances that their genes will be passed on. Fri, 30 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080529141329.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080527105742.htm Biologists have discovered that a fundamental building block in the cells of flowering plants evolved independently, yet almost identically, on a separate branch of the evolutionary tree -- in an ancient plant group called lycophytes that originated at least 420 million years ago. Wed, 28 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080527105742.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080523163046.htm Genetic evidence that overturns existing theories about human migration into Island Southeast Asia (covering the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysian Borneo) taking the timeline back by nearly 10,000 years has been discovered. Mon, 26 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080523163046.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080522210025.htm A statistical approach to studying genetic variation promises to shed new light on the history of human migration. Application of the method has already turned up such surprising findings as a strong Mongolian contribution to the genes of the Native American Pima people and gene flow from the north of Europe to Eastern Siberia. Sat, 24 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080522210025.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080521131541.htm The description of an ancient amphibian that millions of years ago swam in quiet pools and caught mayflies on the surrounding land in Texas has set to rest one of the greatest current controversies in vertebrate evolution. Wed, 21 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080521131541.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080520090547.htm Researchers have extracted genes from the extinct Tasmanian tiger, inserted it into a mouse and observed a biological function -- this is a world first for the use of the DNA of an extinct species to induce a functional response in another living organism. Tue, 20 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080520090547.htm