Feature Channels: Evolution and Darwin

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Released: 20-May-2014 5:00 PM EDT
Researchers Test Whether Red Queen Hypothesis Makes Species Resilient
University of Iowa

Deanna Soper, postdoctoral researcher in the University of Iowa Department of Biology and currently visiting assistant professor at Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, and her colleagues addressed whether a particular prediction of the Red Queen hypothesis was met—that exposure to parasites increases multiple mating in New Zealand freshwater snails

30-Apr-2014 9:00 PM EDT
Evolution in Species May Reverse Predator-Prey Population Cycles
Georgia Institute of Technology

Co-evolutionary changes in species may reverse traditional predator-prey population cycles, creating the appearance that prey are eating the predators, according to a study to be published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

29-Apr-2014 8:00 AM EDT
Viruses Hijack Deep-Sea Bacteria at Hydrothermal Vents
University of Michigan

More than a mile beneath the ocean’s surface, as dark clouds of mineral-rich water billow from seafloor hot springs called hydrothermal vents, unseen armies of viruses and bacteria wage war.

21-Apr-2014 3:00 PM EDT
Oldest Pterodactyloid Species Discovered, Named by International Team of Researchers
George Washington University

An international research team, including a George Washington University (GW) professor, has discovered and named the earliest and most primitive pterodactyloid—a group of flying reptiles that would go on to become the largest known flying creatures to have ever existed—and established they flew above the earth some 163 million years ago, longer than previously known.

23-Apr-2014 10:00 PM EDT
Three-Banded Panther Worm Debuts as a New Model in the Study of Regeneration
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

The lab of Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien is introducing the scientific community to the three-banded panther worm (Hofstenia miamia), a small organism with the ability to regenerate any missing body part. As a model, Hofstenia could help further our understanding of regeneration, how its mechanisms have evolved over millennia, and what limits regeneration in other animals, including humans. Intriguingly, Hofstenia and the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea—long the mainstay of Reddien’s research—rely on similar molecular pathways to control regeneration despite having evolved separately over the course of roughly 550 million years.

17-Apr-2014 10:00 AM EDT
From Liability to Viability: Genes on the Y Chromosome Prove Essential for Male Survival
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

The human Y chromosome has over the course of millions of years of evolution has preserved a small set of genes that has ensured not only its own survival but also the survival of men. Moreover, the vast majority of these tenacious genes appear to have little if any role in sex determination or sperm production. Taken together, these remarkable findings suggest that because these Y-linked genes are active across the body, they may actually be contributing to differences in disease susceptibility and severity observed between men and women.

   
Released: 18-Apr-2014 5:00 PM EDT
More Questions Than Answers as Mystery of Domestication Deepens
Washington University in St. Louis

A recent interdisciplinary conference that led to the publication of a special issue of PNAS on domestication raised more questions than it answered. Washington University in St. Louis scientists Fiona Marshall and Ken Olsen, who participated in the conference and contributed to the special issue, discuss some of the key questions that have been raised about this pivotal event in human history.

Released: 8-Apr-2014 5:00 AM EDT
New Method Confirms Humans and Neandertals Interbred
Genetics Society of America

Technical objections to the idea that Neandertals interbred with the ancestors of Eurasians have been overcome, thanks to a genome analysis method described in the April 2014 issue of the journal GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org). The technique can more confidently detect the genetic signatures of interbreeding than previous approaches and will be useful for evolutionary studies of other ancient or rare DNA samples.

7-Apr-2014 10:00 AM EDT
Seeing Double: New Study Explains Evolution of Duplicate Genes
Georgia Institute of Technology

From time to time, living cells will accidentally make an extra copy of a gene during the normal replication process. Throughout the history of life, evolution has molded some of these seemingly superfluous genes into a source of genetic novelty, adaptation and diversity. A new study shows one way that some duplicate genes could have long-ago escaped elimination from the genome, leading to the genetic innovation seen in modern life.

Released: 27-Mar-2014 11:00 AM EDT
A Tale of Two Species
Wildlife Conservation Society

A pair of new studies from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Idaho State University, and the University of Nevada Reno look at the surprising variety of factors that prevent two closely related species of woodrats from becoming a single hybrid species despite the existence of hybrid individuals where the two species come into contact.

21-Mar-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Bamboo-Loving Giant Pandas Also Have a Sweet Tooth
Monell Chemical Senses Center

Despite the popular conception of giant pandas as continually chomping on bamboo, new research from the Monell Center reveals that this highly endangered species also has a sweet tooth. Behavioral and molecular genetic studies demonstrate that the panda possesses functional sweet taste receptors and shows a strong preference for natural sweeteners.

Released: 26-Mar-2014 11:00 AM EDT
Dr. Seuss Meets Darwin in Grad Student’s New Children’s Book
Binghamton University, State University of New York

BINGHAMTON, NY – The Jungle Book. Aesop’s Fables. Charlotte’s Web. Fantastical tales of anthropomorphized animals have delighted children for generations. That’s all well and good, said Robert Kadar, but kids need to learn the story behind the real animals − the ones that don’t sing or dance − and how they evolved.

21-Mar-2014 4:00 PM EDT
Shifting Evolution Into Reverse Promises Cheaper, Greener Way to Make New Drugs
Vanderbilt University

By shifting evolution into reverse, it may be possible to use “green chemistry” to make a number of costly synthetic drugs as easily and cheaply as brewing beer.

Released: 19-Mar-2014 5:00 PM EDT
Eyes Are Windows to the Soul – and Evolution
Cornell University

Why do we become saucer-eyed from fear and squint from disgust? These near-opposite facial expressions are rooted in emotional responses that exploit how our eyes gather and focus light to detect an unknown threat, according to a study by a Cornell University neuroscientist.

Released: 19-Mar-2014 10:00 AM EDT
New Work Shines Light on Hox Genes Responsible for Firefly Lantern Development
Indiana University

New work from a former Indiana University Bloomington graduate student and his IU Ph.D. advisor offers for the first time a characterization of the developmental genetic basis of this spectacular morphological novelty -- the firefly’s photic organ -- and the means by which this beetle successfully uses ancient and highly conserved regulatory genes to form its lantern.

Released: 13-Mar-2014 1:00 PM EDT
Condon Publishes New Research in Science
Cornell College

Marty Condon, professor of biology at Cornell College, has been studying flies in the tropics for years, and in a paper published in the journal Science, she reports evidence that there is more to a fly’s ecological niche than where it lives and what it eats—you have to look at what eats the fly, as well.

12-Mar-2014 1:00 PM EDT
Nature Publishes Geisler's Study on Origin of Toothed Whale Echolocation
NYIT

A new fossil species, Cotylocara macei, shows evidence of echolocation and the complex anatomy underlying this unique behavior that has evolved in toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

28-Feb-2014 1:50 PM EST
New Fins Evolve Repeatedly in Teleost Fishes
University of Chicago Medical Center

A new study analyzing the origins of the adipose fin, thought by some to be vestigial, finds that these fins arose repeatedly and independently in multiple species—a striking example of convergent evolution. Adipose fins also appear to have repeatedly and independently evolved skeleton, offering a glimpse into the evolution of vertebrate appendages.

Released: 4-Mar-2014 11:00 AM EST
Anthropologist's New Book Explores How Apes and Humans Evolved Side by Side
University of Chicago

In a new book, University of Chicago Prof. Russell Tuttle, one of the nation’s leading paleoanthropologists, incorporates his research with a synthesis of a vast amount of research from other scientists who study primate evolution and behavior. The book explains how apes and humans evolved in relation to one another, and why humans became a bipedal, tool-making, culture-inventing species.

Released: 28-Feb-2014 2:10 PM EST
Worm-Like Mite Species Discovered on Ohio State’s Campus
Ohio State University

It looks like a worm and moves like a worm – sort of. But it is a previously unidentified microscopic species of mite that was discovered by a graduate student on The Ohio State University campus.

Released: 26-Feb-2014 5:00 PM EST
In One Ear and Out the Other
University of Iowa

Researchers at the University of Iowa have found that we don’t remember what we hear nearly as well as things we see or touch. In experiments, the team found that memory declined much greater with sounds than with sight or touch, and the forgetfulness began as early as four to eight seconds after being exposed to a sound. The finding suggests our brain may process auditory information differently than visual and tactile information. Results appear in the journal PLoS One.

17-Feb-2014 11:00 AM EST
URI Anthropologist: Discovery Sheds New Light on Habitat of Early Apes
University of Rhode Island

An international team of anthropologists has discovered definitive evidence of the environment inhabited by the early ape Proconsul on Rusinga Island, Kenya. The findings provide new insights into understanding and interpreting the connection between habitat preferences and the early diversification of the ape-human lineage.

Released: 12-Feb-2014 6:00 PM EST
New Study of Fossil Teeth Shows That Environment, as Well as Diet, May Impact Dental Wear
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Researchers at the University of Arkansas have established that pits and scratches on the teeth of mammal fossils give important clues to the diet of creatures that lived millions of years ago. A new study of dental microwear on shrews suggests that environment may impact teeth, as well.

Released: 11-Feb-2014 3:30 PM EST
Evolution and Health
NIH, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)

February 12 marks the birth of Charles Darwin, who launched the scientific study of evolution. While his theory laid the groundwork, ongoing studies have deepened our understanding of evolution, including how it relates to health. NIH-funded research has helped answer many questions about evolution, health and medicine. Here’s a sampling.

Released: 10-Feb-2014 5:00 PM EST
University of Tennessee Study Finds Crocodiles Climb Trees
University of Tennessee

When most people envision crocodiles, they think of them waddling on the ground or wading in water—not climbing trees. However, a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, study has found that the reptiles can climb trees as far as the crowns.

7-Feb-2014 11:20 AM EST
The Genetic Origins of High-Altitude Adaptations in Tibetans
University of Chicago Medical Center

Genetic adaptations for life at high elevations found in residents of the Tibetan plateau likely originated around 30,000 years ago in peoples related to contemporary Sherpa. These genes were passed on to more recent migrants from lower elevations via population mixing, and then amplified by natural selection in the modern Tibetan gene pool, according to a new study by scientists from the University of Chicago and Case Western Reserve University, published in Nature Communications on Feb. 10. The transfer of beneficial mutations between human populations and selective enrichment of these genes in descendent generations represents a novel mechanism for adaptation to new environments.

Released: 6-Feb-2014 5:30 PM EST
Substance in Photosynthesis Was in Play in Ancient, Methane-Producing Microbes
Virginia Tech

An international team of researchers has discovered that a process that turns on photosynthesis in plants likely developed on Earth in ancient microbes 2.5 billion years ago, long before oxygen became available.

30-Jan-2014 5:00 PM EST
Market Forces Influence the Value of Bat-Provided Services
University of Tennessee

Researchers from UT and the University of Arizona, Tucson, studied how forces such as volatile market conditions and technological substitutes affect the value of pest control services provided by Mexican free-tailed bats on cotton production in the U.S. They found the services are impacted by the forces to the tune of millions of dollars.

Released: 29-Jan-2014 11:25 AM EST
The Better to Bite Fruit With: Natural Selection Shapes Mechanical Advantage in Bats
Stony Brook University

It’s bat evolution that interests Stony Brook University Assistant Professor Liliana M. Dávalos, who joined forces with Dr. Elizabeth Dumont, and a mechanical engineer, Dr. Ian Grosse (both of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst), in a recently published paper in Evolution -- Selection For Mechanical Advantage Underlies Multiple Cranial Optima In New World Leaf-Nosed Bats -- that lays out the team’s findings relating mechanical advantage to natural selection. The researchers also unveiled an engineering model of a skull that can be computationally manipulated to morph into the shape of any New World Leaf-nosed bat species, to help uncover evidence for selection in long-extinct organisms.

Released: 17-Jan-2014 1:00 PM EST
Evidence of Biological Basis for Religion in Human Evolution
Auburn University

In studying the differences in brain interactions between religious and non-religious subjects, researchers conclude there must be a biological basis for the evolution of religion in human societies.

   
13-Jan-2014 4:00 PM EST
Genomes of Modern Dogs and Wolves Provide New Insights on Domestication
University of Chicago Medical Center

Dogs and wolves evolved from a common ancestor between 9,000 and 34,000 years ago, before humans transitioned to agricultural societies, according to an analysis of modern dog and wolf genomes from areas of the world thought to be centers of dog domestication.

6-Jan-2014 11:00 AM EST
Ancient Sharks Reared Young in Prehistoric River-Delta Nursery
University of Michigan

Like salmon in reverse, long-snouted Bandringa sharks migrated downstream from freshwater swamps to a tropical coastline to spawn 310 million years ago, leaving behind fossil evidence of one of the earliest known shark nurseries.

1-Jan-2014 5:00 PM EST
How Dogs Do the ‘Dog Paddle’: An Evolutionary Look at Swimming
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB)

Most adults remember their first success in learning to swim using the ‘dog paddle’. This classic maneuver has been used to describe swimming in armadillos, turtles, even humans – just about everything except dogs. Dr. Frank Fish, a professor of biology at West Chester University, set out with his colleagues to understand how real dogs perform the dog paddle. Fish has spent most of his career studying the swimming of marine mammals such as whales. But looking at swimming in dogs afforded Fish the opportunity to investigate how swimming in marine mammals may have evolved from walking in their terrestrial ancestors.

17-Dec-2013 9:45 AM EST
How Plants Evolved to Weather the Cold
George Washington University

A team of researchers studying plants has assembled the largest dated evolutionary tree, using it to show the order in which flowering plants evolved specific strategies, such as the seasonal shedding of leaves, to move into areas with cold winters. The results will be published Dec. 22 in the journal Nature.

Released: 19-Dec-2013 4:20 PM EST
Scientists Reveal Driving Force Behind Mitochondrial 'Sex' in Ancient Flowering Plant
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

A new study has uncovered an unprecedented example of horizontal gene transfer in a South Pacific shrub that is considered to be the sole survivor of one of the two oldest lineages of flowering plants.

13-Dec-2013 2:30 PM EST
Ancestor of Snakes, Lizards Likely Gave Birth to Live Young
George Washington University

The ancestor of snakes and lizards likely gave birth to live young, rather than laid eggs, and over time species have switched back and forth in their preferred reproductive mode, according to research published in print in Ecology Letters Dec. 17.

Released: 16-Dec-2013 5:00 PM EST
Newly Discovered Bone Shows Early Evolution of Human Hand
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

A recently discovered bone from the hand of an East African hominim provides the earliest record of a structural feature related to tool use.

12-Dec-2013 1:00 PM EST
Neanderthals Buried Their Dead, New Research Concludes
New York University

Neanderthals, forerunners to modern humans, buried their dead, an international team of archaeologists has concluded after a 13-year study of remains discovered in southwestern France.

Released: 13-Dec-2013 4:00 PM EST
Researcher Studies Evolution on the Molecular Level
University of Iowa

UI researchers describe the evolution of various forms of the enzyme “dihydrofolate reductase” as it occurred from bacteria to humans. Their paper, which appears in the Dec. 13 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, may prove useful to scientists in the design of future drugs and catalysts.

10-Dec-2013 4:00 PM EST
Rapid Evolution of Novel Forms: Environmental Change Triggers Inborn Capacity for Adaptation
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

In this week’s edition of the journal Science, a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School and Whitehead Institute report that, at least in the case of one variety of cavefish, one agent of evolutionary change is the heat shock protein known as HSP90.

Released: 12-Dec-2013 10:00 AM EST
Study of Rodent Family Tree Puts Brakes on Commonly Held Understanding of Evolution
Florida State University

Rodents can tell us a lot about the way species evolve after they move into new areas, according to a new and exceptionally broad study conducted in part by Florida State University biological science Professor Scott J. Steppan.

Released: 12-Dec-2013 9:05 AM EST
Tooth Structure and Wear Provide Clues to Ecology and Evolution of Ancient Marine Creatures
NYIT

Published studies from an NYIT Anatomy Professor and international colleagues shed new light on ancient creatures' dental structure and wear -- and how these unique characteristics helped them live and adapt to their environments.

Released: 12-Dec-2013 7:00 AM EST
Environment Drives Genetics in Evolution Canyon; Discovery Sheds Light on Climate Change
Virginia Tech

Virginia Bioinformatics Institute researchers studying life from a unique natural environment in Israel discover heat stress seems to influence a species' genetic makeup, a finding that may influence understanding of climate change.

8-Dec-2013 11:00 PM EST
The Mystery of Lizard Breath
University of Utah

Air flows mostly in a one-way loop through the lungs of monitor lizards – a breathing method shared by birds, alligators and presumably dinosaurs, according to a new University of Utah study that may push the evolution of this trait back to 270 million years ago.

Released: 4-Dec-2013 3:05 PM EST
Early Tree-Dwelling Bipedal Human Ancestor Was Similar to Ancient Apes and “Lucy” but Not Living Apes
Stony Brook Medicine

An analysis of the femur of one of the oldest human ancestors reveals the six-million-year-old “Millenium Man” was bipedal but lived in the trees.The research could provide additional insight to the origins of human bipedalism.

Released: 3-Dec-2013 12:00 PM EST
Biology Professor Finds 'Goldilocks' Effect in Snail Populations
University of Iowa

A University of Iowa researcher has discovered that a “Goldilocks” effect applies to the reproductive output of a tiny New Zealand snail—considered a troublesome species in many countries—that may one day help environmentalists control their spread.

Released: 18-Nov-2013 2:00 PM EST
The Big Male Nose
University of Iowa

Why are men's noses bigger than women's? The answer, according to a new study from the University of Iowa, lies in our physiology. Men's noses are about 10 percent larger than female noses, on average, because males have more lean muscle mass, which requires more oxygen for muscle tissue growth and maintenance. It also explains why we have smaller noses than our ancestors. Results appear in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Released: 13-Nov-2013 12:00 PM EST
Newly Discovered Protist Suggests Evolutionary Answers, Questions
Mississippi State University

From Massachusetts to Mississippi, a unicellular protist is hinting at answers about the evolution of multicellularity while raising a whole new set of questions.

30-Oct-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Mutual Benefits: Stressed-Out Trees Boost Sugary Rewards to Ant Defenders
University of Michigan

When water is scarce, Ecuador laurel trees ramp up their investment in a syrupy treat that sends resident ant defenders into overdrive, protecting the trees from defoliation by leaf-munching pests.

Released: 5-Nov-2013 1:00 PM EST
Clay May Have Been Birthplace of Life, New Study Suggests
Cornell University

Clay, a seemingly infertile blend of minerals, might have been the birthplace of life on Earth. Or at least of the complex biochemicals that make life possible, Cornell University biological engineers report in the Nov. 7 online issue of the journal Scientific Reports, published by Nature Publishing.



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