Evolutionary Biology News

May 21, 2024

Top Headlines

Researchers Discover Hidden Step in Dinosaur Feather Evolution

May 21, 2024 — Scientists discover 'zoned development' in dinosaur skin, with zones of reptile-style scales and zones of bird-like skin with feathers. A new dinosaur skin fossil has been found to be composed of silica -- the same as ...

Evolutionary History of Extinct Duck Revealed

May 20, 2024 — The study's findings show mergansers arrived in the New Zealand region at least seven million years ago from the Northern Hemisphere, in a separate colonisation event to that which led to the Brazilian ...

Diverse Headgear in Hoofed Mammals Evolved from Common Ancestor

May 20, 2024 — From the small ossicones on a giraffe to the gigantic antlers of a male moose -- which can grow as wide as a car -- the headgear of ruminant hooved mammals is extremely diverse, and new research suggests that despite the physical differences, ...

How Do Genetically Identical Water Fleas Develop Into Male or Female?

May 13, 2024 — Researchers have used a novel combination of short-read and long-read RNA sequencing to identify the different isoforms of genes expressed in the crustacean Daphnia magna. Males and females are genetically identical, but using this technique the ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:58pm EDT

A New 'Rule of Biology' May Have Come to Light, Expanding Insight Into Evolution and Aging

May 16, 2024 — A molecular biologist may have found a new 'rule of biology.' The rule challenges long-held notions that most living organisms prefer stability over ...

Modern Plant Enzyme Partners With Surprisingly Ancient Protein

May 17, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that a protein responsible for the synthesis of a key plant material evolved much earlier than suspected. This new research explored the origin and evolution of the ...

Some Mice May Owe Their Monogamy to a Newly Evolved Type of Cell

May 15, 2024 — What makes the oldfield mouse steadfastly monogamous throughout its life while its closest rodent relatives are promiscuous? The answer may be a previously unknown hormone-generating cell. Scientists ...

How Did Sabre-Toothed Tigers Acquire Their Long Upper Canine Teeth?

May 16, 2024 — In a groundbreaking study an international team of scientists has investigated the evolutionary patterns behind the development of sabre teeth, with some unexpected results along the ...

Iconic Baobabs: The Origin and Long-Distance Travels of Upside Down Trees

May 15, 2024 — The research cracks the code on the iconic baobab tree's origin story, revealing their surprising origins in Madagascar and incredible long-distance dispersals to Africa and Australia. The study ...

Persistent Strain of Cholera Defends Itself Against Forces of Change, Scientists Find

May 13, 2024 — A longstanding mystery about the strain of Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) responsible for the seventh global cholera pandemic is how this lineage has ...

Insights Into Protein Evolution

May 13, 2024 — A research team has unveiled a breakthrough in understanding how specific genetic sequences, known as pseudogenes, ...

Island Birds More Adaptable Than Previously Thought

May 13, 2024 — The researchers found that birds were more evolutionarily similar on smaller, more isolated islands than on larger, less remote places. The team had expected to find that forested areas had more ...

Like Dad and Like Mum...all in One Plant

May 13, 2024 — Scientists have established a system to generate clonal sex cells in tomato plants and used them to design the genomes of offspring. The fertilization of a clonal egg from one parent by a clonal ...

Cellular Activity Hints That Recycling Is in Our DNA

May 10, 2024 — Introns are perhaps one of our genome's biggest mysteries. They are DNA sequences that interrupt the sensible protein-coding information in your genes, and need to be 'spliced ...

New Sex-Determining Mechanism in African Butterfly Discovered

May 9, 2024 — In a study of a species of African butterfly, researchers have discovered a previously undescribed molecular mechanism of how the sex of an embryo is initially ...

Limited Adaptability Makes Freshwater Bacteria Vulnerable to Climate Change

May 8, 2024 — Freshwater bacteria with small genomes frequently undergo prolonged periods of adaptive stagnation. Based on genomic analyses of samples from European lakes, researchers uncovered specific ...

Chimps Learn and Improve Tool-Using Skills Even as Adults, Study Finds

May 7, 2024 — Chimpanzees continue to learn and hone their skills well into adulthood, a capacity that might be essential for the evolution of complex and varied tool use, according to a new ...

Engineers Develop Innovative Microbiome Analysis Software Tools

May 7, 2024 — Engineers have developed two new graph-based computational tools for tracking genomic variation within ...

Genomes of 'Star Algae' Shed Light on Origin of Plants

May 3, 2024 — Land plants cover the surface of our planet and often tower over us. They form complex bodies with multiple organs that consist of a broad range of cell types. Developing this morphological ...

Researchers Parse Oddity of Distantly Related Bats in Solomon Islands That Appear Identical

Apr. 30, 2024 — A study of body size in leaf-nosed bats of the Solomon Islands has revealed surprising genetic diversity among nearly indistinguishable species on different ...

Unlocking the Genetic Mysteries Behind Plant Adaptation: New Insights Into the Evolution of a Water-Saving Trait in the Pineapple Family (Bromeliaceae)

Apr. 30, 2024 — Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in understanding how genetic drivers influence the evolution of a specific photosynthesis mechanism in Tillandsia (air plants). This sheds light on the ...

Surprising Evolutionary Pattern in Yeast Study

Apr. 26, 2024 — Research study reports intriguing findings made through innovative artificial intelligence analysis about yeasts -- small fungi that are key contributors to biotechnology, food production, and human ...

AI Deciphers New Gene Regulatory Code in Plants and Makes Accurate Predictions for Newly Sequenced Genomes

Apr. 26, 2024 — Elucidating the relationship between the sequences of non-coding regulatory elements and their target genes is key to understanding gene regulation and its variation between plant species and ...

These Jacks-of-All-Trades Are Masters, Too: Yeast Study Helps Answer Age-Old Biology Question

Apr. 25, 2024 — The results suggest that internal -- not external -- factors are the primary drivers of variation in the types of carbon yeasts can eat, and the researchers found no evidence that metabolic ...

Curiosity Promotes Biodiversity

Apr. 25, 2024 — Cichlid fishes exhibit differing degrees of curiosity. The cause for this lies in their genes, as reported by researchers. This trait influences the cichlids' ability to adapt to new ...

Color Variants in Cuckoos: The Advantages of Rareness

Apr. 24, 2024 — Every cuckoo is an adopted child -- raised by foster parents, into whose nest the cuckoo mother smuggled her egg. The cuckoo mother is aided in this subterfuge by her resemblance to a bird of prey. ...

How Parasites Shape Complex Food Webs

Apr. 24, 2024 — A new study sheds light on how parasites, often overlooked, can dramatically affect the balance between predator and prey populations. Researchers developed a groundbreaking mathematical framework ...

Scientists Unveil Genetics Behind Development of Gliding

Apr. 24, 2024 — Researchers explain the genomic and developmental basis of the patagium, the thin skin membrane that allows some mammalian species to soar through the ...

Bioluminescence First Evolved in Animals at Least 540 Million Years Ago

Apr. 23, 2024 — Bioluminescence first evolved in animals at least 540 million years ago in a group of marine invertebrates called octocorals, according to the results of a new study. The study focuses on an ancient ...

Marine Microbial Populations: Potential Sensors of the Global Change in the Ocean

Apr. 18, 2024 — Animal and plant populations have been extensively studied, which has helped to understand ecosystem processes and evolutionary adaptations. However, this has not been the case with microbial ...

RNA's Hidden Potential: New Study Unveils Its Role in Early Life and Future Bioengineering

Apr. 18, 2024 — The origin of life continues to remain a matter of debate. The ribonucleic acid (RNA) world hypothesis proposes that 'ribozymes' which store genetic information and possess catalytic ...

Mountain Chickadees Have Remarkable Memories. A New Study Explains Why

Apr. 17, 2024 — Mountain chickadees have among the best spatial memory in the animal kingdom. New research identifies the genes at play and offers insight into how a shifting climate may impact the evolution of this ...

New Butterfly Species Created 200,000 Years Ago by Two Species Interbreeding

Apr. 17, 2024 — Researchers have shown that an Amazonian butterfly is a hybrid species, formed by two other species breeding together almost 200,000 years ago. Researchers have shown that an Amazonian butterfly is a ...

Reproductive Success Improves After a Single Generation in the Wild for Descendants of Some Hatchery-Origin Chinook Salmon

Apr. 16, 2024 — Researchers who created 'family trees' for nearly 10,000 fish found that first-generation, wild-born descendants of hatchery-origin Chinook salmon in an Oregon river show improved ...