Sequencing effort to chart ants and their ecosystem
(PhysOrg.com) -- Nestled within the twisting fungus gardens of leaf-cutter ants exists a complex symbiotic web that has evolved over millions of years. Now, with the help of a major genomic sequencing...
View ArticleChromosome number changes in yeast
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have uncovered the evolutionary mechanisms that have caused increases or decreases in the numbers of chromosomes in a group of yeast species during the last...
View ArticleAmoeba offers key clue to photosynthetic evolution
(PhysOrg.com) -- The major difference between plant and animal cells is the photosynthetic process, which converts light energy into chemical energy. When light isn't available, energy is generated by...
View ArticleHuge hamsters and pint-sized porcupines thrive on islands
From miniature elephants to monster mice, and even Hobbit-sized humans, size changes in island animals are well-known to science. Biologists have long believed that large animals evolving on islands...
View ArticleNew study traces the evolutionary history of what mammals eat
The feeding habits of mammals haven't always been what they are today, particularly for omnivores, finds a new study.
View ArticleUnderlying genetic architecture of photoperiodism makes mosquitos more...
(Phys.org)—A comprehensive study at the University of Oregon, using cutting-edge genetic tools, shows that temperate and polar species of animals may be much more resilient to rapid climate change than...
View ArticleNew brain gene gives us edge over apes, study suggests
Scientists have taken a step forward in helping to solve one of life's greatest mysteries – what makes us human?
View ArticleWhy some grasses evolved a more efficient photosynthesis and others didn't
Even on the evolutionary time scale of tens of millions of years there is such a thing as being in the right shape at the right time. An anatomical difference in the ability to seize the moment,...
View ArticleThe origins of a genetic switch
Cilia, microscopic whip-like organelles that protrude from the surface of many cell types, are almost ubiquitous. They are present in all eukaryotes—organisms whose cells have a nucleus—and have...
View ArticleRevising Darwin's sinking-island theory: New study helps resolve a dispute...
The three different formations of South Pacific coral-reef islands have long fascinated geologists. Tahiti's coral forms a "fringing" reef, a shelf growing close to the island's shore. The "barrier"...
View ArticleWhen it comes to mammals, how big is too big?
(Phys.org) —Mammals vary enormously in size, from weighing less than a penny to measuring more than three school buses in length. Some groups of mammals have become very large, such as elephants and...
View ArticleStudy shows influence of temporal niches in maintaining biodiversity
By studying rapidly evolving bacteria as they diversify and compete under varying environmental conditions, researchers have shown that temporal niches are important to maintaining biodiversity in...
View ArticleHow to survive without sex: Rotifer genome reveals its strategies
How a group of animals can abandon sex, yet produce more than 460 species over evolutionary time, became a little less mysterious this week with the publication of the complete genome of a bdelloid...
View ArticleCommon genetic ancestors lived during roughly same time period
Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam—two individuals who passed down a portion of their genomes to the vast expanse of humanity—are known as our most recent common ancestors, or MRCAs. But many...
View Article'Digging up' 4-billion-year-old fossil protein structures to reveal how they...
Modern proteins exhibit an impressive degree of structural diversity, which has been well characterized, but very little is known about how and when over the course of evolution 3D protein structures...
View ArticleCoral reef fish face barriers when it comes to evolution
Nemo may have found his way home, but when it comes to evolution, he and his friends encounter a whole different set of challenges.
View ArticleExamining the source behind Sherpa mountain fitness
The Sherpa population in Tibet is world-renowned for their extraordinary high-altitude fitness, as most famously demonstrated by Tenzing Norgay's ability to conquer Mount Everest alongside Sir Edmund...
View ArticleOut of Eurasia, a great primate evolutionary bottleneck?
On the road to our modern human lineage, scientists speculate there were many twist and turns, evolutionary dead ends, and population bottlenecks along the way. But how large were population sizes of...
View ArticleScientists capture most detailed images yet of humans' tiny cellular machines
A grandfather clock is, on its surface, a simple yet elegant machine. Tall and stately, its job is to steadily tick away the time. But a look inside reveals a much more intricate dance of parts, from...
View ArticleWhy the urge to find 'Nemo' has helped fish diversify
Caring parents foster successful offspring, or so the thinking goes. But for reef fishes, such as Disney's charismatic clownfish, Nemo, the effects of parental care stretch right across evolutionary...
View Article
