Evolutionary Biology News

September 1, 2016

How Songbirds Island-Hopped out of Australia

Social Networks Key to Crickets' Success

Rare Specimen from Age of Flying Giants

How Vertebrate Body Comes from a Single Cell

Latest Headlines

updated 11:53pm EDT

Tasmanian Devils Evolve to Resist Deadly Cancer

Aug. 30, 2016 — Tasmanian devils are evolving in response to a highly lethal and contagious form of cancer, a researcher ... read more

New Species of Pterosaur Discovered in Patagonia

Aug. 30, 2016 — Scientists today announced the discovery of a new species of pterosaur from the Patagonia region of South America. The cranial remains were in an excellent state of preservation and belonged to a new ... read more

Looking to Saliva to Gain Insight on Evolution

Aug. 25, 2016 — There's no need to reinvent the genetic wheel. That's one lesson of a new study that looks to the saliva of humans, gorillas, orangutans, macaques and African green monkeys ... read more

Ant Genomics Declare 'Checkmate' to Red King Theory: Long-Standing Scientific Theory Challenged

Aug. 25, 2016 — If two species are mutualists -- that is, each benefits from the activity of the other -- the Red King Theory predicts that ... read more

New Study Reveals Adaptations for Snub-Nosed Monkeys

Aug. 23, 2016 — In a heroic effort, researchers have now sequenced, assembled and analyzed the mutations in the genomes of 38 wild snub-nosed monkeys (from genome mapping of 42 individuals: ... read more

Endangered Cuban Solenodon Evolved After the Extinction of Dinosaurs

Aug. 24, 2016 — The Caribbean islands form a natural laboratory for the study of evolution due to their unique biological and geological features. There has been heated discussion since the ... read more

Warbler Genomes Look to Be 99.97 Percent Alike

Aug. 23, 2016 — New research shows that, genetically speaking, blue-winged and golden-winged warblers are almost identical. Scientists behind the research say the main differences between the two species are in ... read more

'Cyclops' Beetles Hint at Solution to 'Chicken-and-Egg' Problem in Novel Trait Evolution

Aug. 22, 2016 — Beetles with cyclops eyes have given scientists insight into how new traits may evolve through the recruitment of existing ... read more

Mathematical Analysis Conducted of a Rare Cavernicolous Crustacean

Aug. 19, 2016 — A scientific collaboration has discovered previously unknown regularities of arthropod limbs based on studies of the remipede Speleonectes tulumensis, a rare crustacean found ... read more

Modifying a Living Genome With Genetic Equivalent of 'Search and Replace'

Aug. 18, 2016 — Researchers have made further progress on the path to fully rewriting the genome of living bacteria. Such a recoded organism, once available, could feature functionality not ... read more

Scientists Are Pushing Ahead With Human-Animal Hybrid Research

Spider Silk Puts New Spin on Violin Design

Helping Chimps Hang on to Their Wild Side

Peppered Moth's Genetic Secret

Change in the Immune System Can Lead to Success

Aug. 30, 2016 — The sequencing of the Atlantic cod genome in 2011 demonstrated that this species lacks a crucial part of its immune system. In a follow-up study, researchers have investigated a large number of ... read more

Why Females Care More, Theoretically Speaking

Aug. 18, 2016 — Across the animal kingdom there is a strong trend for females to be more caring parents. Why? Researchers have now expanded upon previous theories to better explain why mothers and fathers differ in ... read more

Recent Connection Between North and South America Reaffirmed

Aug. 17, 2016 — Long ago, one great ocean flowed between North and South America. When the Isthmus of Panama joined the continents, it also separated the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean. If this took place much ... read more

Small Population Size? It Doesn't Have to Mean That Species Can't Adapt to Environmental Change

Aug. 17, 2016 — Worldwide, there are 16,938 endangered species. From the white rhino to the blue whale, numbers are dwindling in the face of poaching, habitat destruction and climate change. Although the situation ... read more

Reinterpreting the Fossil Record on Jaws

Aug. 17, 2016 — Scientists use the fossil record to make judgments on the physiology and behavior of species. But are those interpretations correct? New research puts into question how we interpret the behavior of ... read more

Unexpected Complexity in Coral

Aug. 17, 2016 — Scientists used DNA analysis to explore genetic correlation among Japanese coral ... read more

Snake Eyes: New Insights Into Visual Adaptations

Aug. 16, 2016 — New insights into the relationship between ultraviolet (UV) filters and hunting methods in snakes is one of the findings of the first major study of visual pigment genes and lenses in ... read more

Female Fish Can Favor Sperm from Preferred Males Despite External Fertilization

Aug. 16, 2016 — Biologists studying a small, colorful fish in the Mediterranean Sea have discovered a new way in which a female can choose the best father for her offspring. During spawning of the ocellated wrasse, ... read more

On the Prowl for an Elusive Rodent Called 'the Ultimate Pokémon'

Aug. 16, 2016 — Researchers are on a real-life search for what one calls 'the ultimate Pokémon': Zenkerella, an elusive scaly-tailed squirrel that has never been spotted alive by scientists. However, ... read more

New Species of Extinct River Dolphin Discovered in Smithsonian Collection

Aug. 16, 2016 — A fossil that has been in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History since it was discovered in 1951 is today helping scientists piece together the evolutionary ... read more

Ongoing Efforts to Protect the Enigmatic Nautilus

Aug. 15, 2016 — New research blurs the distinction between nautilus species, making their conservation all the more important. Biologists hope nautiluses will get much-needed protections from trade and ... read more

Scientists Take Big Step Toward Recreating Primordial 'RNA World' of 4 Billion Years Ago

Aug. 15, 2016 — Scientists have succeeded in creating a ribozyme that can basically serve both to amplify genetic information and generate functional molecules, a big step toward the laboratory re-creation of the ... read more

Humble Moss Helped Create Our Oxygen-Rich Atmosphere

Aug. 15, 2016 — The evolution of the first land plants including mosses may explain a long-standing mystery of how Earth's atmosphere became enriched with oxygen, according to an international ... read more

Twenty-Five Little Bones Tell a Puzzling Story About Early Primate Evolution

Aug. 15, 2016 — A cache of exquisitely preserved bones, found in a coal mine in the state of Gujarat, India, appear to be the most primitive primate bones yet discovered, according to a new analysis. Their ... read more

Mate Choices of Barn Swallows Tied to Diverging Appearances

Aug. 15, 2016 — If you are a male barn swallow in the United States or the Mediterranean with dark red breast feathers, you're apt to wow potential mates. But if you have long outer tail feathers in the United ... read more

How Did Primate Brains Get So Big?

Aug. 11, 2016 — Virtual brains reconstructed from ancient, kiwi-sized primate skulls could help resolve one of the most intriguing evolutionary mysteries: how modern primates developed large ... read more

Lions in West and Central Africa Apparently Unique

Aug. 11, 2016 — Lions in West and Central Africa form a unique group, only distantly related to lions in East and Southern Africa, biologists have ... read more

Historically Robust Natural Ecosystems Could Collapse Due to Climate Change, Human Activity

Aug. 11, 2016 — Global change will strike the oldest and most complex ecosystems of the world hardest, regardless of their past stability, warn experts in a new ... read more

Our Ancestors: More Gorilla Than Chimp

Aug. 11, 2016 — A new study that for the first time examined the internal anatomy of a fossil human relative's heel bone, or calcaneus, shows greater similarities with gorillas than ... read more

Plant Response to Carbon Dioxide Emissions Depends on Their Neighbors

Aug. 11, 2016 — Plants may have a hard time adapting to climate change if they move to new regions to keep up with changing habitats, according to new ... read more

Tuesday, August 30, 2016