Evolution

Divergent Evolution Of New Species Is Not Genetically Expensive

A new paper in Cell Reports finds that it doesn't take a lot of genetic changes to spur the evolution of new species—even if the original populations are still in contact and exchanging genes. Once evolutionary divergence happens, though, it evolves ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 3 2013 - 3:26pm

Was Clay The Birthplace Of Life?

Everyone has a hypothesis about the 'birthplace of life' and a new paper adds clay to that list. In simulated ancient seawater, clay forms a hydrogel, a mass of microscopic spaces capable of soaking up liquids like a sponge. Over billions of yea ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 5 2013 - 2:48pm

Paleolithic Genome Reveals Siberian Origins Of Native Americans

The genome sequence of a 24,000-year-old Siberian individual demonstrates genomic signatures that are basal to present-day western Eurasians and close to modern Native Americans and provides a key piece of the puzzle in the quest for Native American origi ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 20 2013 - 2:53pm

Plant Adaptation To Different Environments Involves Trade-offs In Performance

The home team holds the advantage over visitors, at least in the plant world, but a handful of genetic adaptations could even the playing field, according to a new paper. Genetic tradeoffs, in part, explain the rich diversity of species on earth. If all p ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 10 2013 - 11:02am

Homo Erectus? 1.4 Million-Year-Old Human Hand Bone Found At Kaitio Site In Kenya

 A new hand bone from a human ancestor who roamed the earth in East Africa approximately 1.42 million years ago has been found at the 'Kaitio' site in West Turkana, Kenya.  Humans have a distinctive hand anatomy that allows us to make and use to ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 16 2013 - 5:25pm

Species Don't Need To Evolve Differently To Avoid Competition Or Perish

Species living together are not forced to evolve differently to avoid competing with each other, a notion that that has been debated since the early days of natural selection. By focusing on ovenbirds, one of the most diverse bird families in the world, a ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 22 2013 - 5:16pm

Thanks, Fish, For The Genetic Blueprints Of Limbs

How did we get limbs from ancestral fish fins? It's a fascinating topic, a science enigma. Our first four-legged land ancestor came out of the sea about 350 million years ago. Watching a lungfish, our closest living fish relative, crawl on its four p ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 22 2014 - 3:00am

Adam And Eve- The Science And The Rancor

"Adam", our most common male ancestor, walked the earth 209,000 years ago, 9,000 years earlier than previously believed and within the time frame of his other half "Eve", the genetic maternal ancestor of mankind, according to a new pap ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 22 2014 - 2:29pm

New Genes Are Created From Non-Coding DNA Often, Says Study

Where do new genes come from? It's a long standing debate in evolutionary biology but a new paper in Science Express says that new genes are created from non-coding DNA, and more rapidly than expected. ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 24 2014 - 6:30am

Ancient Northern Europeans Looked More Like Vanessa Williams Than Aryan Supermen

In the late 19th century, classification of humans was in vogue and a lot of it was done based on languages and physical characteristics. Physical anthropology and ethno-linguistics created the Aryan classification among Caucasians, meaning people of Euro ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 28 2014 - 10:01am