Ancient megafaunal mutualisms and extinctions as factors in plant domestication
Of the vast diversity of plants on Earth, only a few evolved to become prominent agricultural crops. Scholars now suggest ...
Tag: Evolution
Toxin in potatoes evolved from a bitter-tasting compound in tomatoes
Credit: Ryota Akiyama/Masaharu Mizutani A multi-institutional collaboration has revealed that α-solanine, a toxic compound found in potato plants, is a ...
Study of chilli genetics could lead to greater variety on our plates
Credit: World Vegetable Center Scientists investigating the genetics of chilli pepper species have discovered a whole host of new chilli ...
Giant fossil’s ‘bird-brain’
Scientists find whopping head was crammed for spaceCredit: Flinders University The largest flightless bird ever to live weighed in up ...
Older than expected: Teeth reveal the origin of the tiger shark
Credit: © Michael Vogelsang / www.seapicture.de The tiger shark is one of the largest predatory sharks known today. This shark ...
Scaled, armoured or naked: how does the skin of fish evolve?
Researchers at the UNIGE have traced the family tree of ray-finned fish in order to reconstruct the evolution of the ...
Cephalopods: Older than was thought?
Fossil find from Canada could rewrite the evolutionary history of invertebrate organismsCredit: Gregor Austermann / Communications Biology The possibly oldest ...
New evidence in search for the mysterious Denisovans
Credit: Photo supplied by the Trustees of the Natural History Museum. An international group of researchers led by the University ...
Penguin hemoglobin evolved to meet oxygen demands of diving
Experiments on ancient proteins reveal evolution of better oxygen capture, releaseCredit: Craig Chandler, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Call it the evolutionary ...
Atomic techniques reveal the evolution of a bacterial protein
Credit: © 2021 KAUST; Vladlena Kharchenko A combination of an array of atomic-level techniques has allowed researchers to show how ...
Turns out altruism is for the fish
Osaka City University shows experimental evidence of an altruistic nature in small convict cichlid fishCredit: Shun Satoh, Masanori Kohda OSAKA, ...
The impact of geopolitical boundaries on cycad conservation efforts
Conservation measures across multiple governments and countries necessary to mitigate extinction risksCredit: University of Guam Geopolitical boundaries can have a ...
Escape from mongoose: frog’s novel strategy
Invasive mongooses altered leg length and endurance of endangered island frogsCredit: Hirotaka Komine/ TUAT Biodiversity is increasingly ruined by humanity's ...
The trouble of being tall
Credit: Mogens Trolle The giraffe is a truly puzzling animal. With its exceptional anatomy and suite of evolutionary adaptations, the ...
Death enables complexity in chemical evolution
How to beat Spiegelman's monsterCredit: Sylvia Germes Simple systems can reproduce faster than complex ones. So, how can the complexity ...
Extinct Caribbean bird’s closest relatives hail from Africa, South Pacific
Credit: Jeff Gage/Florida Museum of Natural History GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- In a genetic surprise, ancient DNA shows the closest family ...
New study investigates how life on land recovered after “The Great Dying”
By characterizing how ancient life responded to environmental stressors, researchers gain insights into how modern species might fareCredit: © Xiaochong ...
Going back in time restores decades of quiet corn drama
Credit: Alonso Favela, University of Illinois. URBANA, Ill. - Corn didn't start out as the powerhouse crop it is today. ...
Lightning strikes played a vital role in life’s origins on Earth
Credit: Lucy Entwisle Lightning strikes were just as important as meteorites in creating the perfect conditions for life to emerge ...
New probe set unravels evolutionary history of second-most diverse group of land plants
Credit: Photos by Emily Sessa. In 2016, a collaborative group of research and education specialists received funding from the National ...