Evolution

Burtele Hominin- New Kid On The Evolution Block

Lucy, Australopithecus afarensis, was not walking around Africa alone three million years ago.   Biologists knew that, of course, the neatly linear line from critter to modern man does not exist, it happened in fits and starts and sometimes different ways ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 30 2012 - 5:42pm

Evolved Dependency: The Black Queen Hypothesis In Evolution

Some microorganisms lose the ability to perform a function that appears to be necessary for their survival, and yet they still somehow manage to endure and multiply. How can that be?  One hypothesis says microbes that shed necessary functions are getting o ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 2 2012 - 10:18am

Food- The Key To Human Bipedalism?

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Article - Catarina Amorim - Apr 20 2012 - 9:09am

To Adapt Throughout Deep Time, Stay Diversified

Climate change is in its fifth decade of being the big concern. In the 1960s and 70s, it was a cooling worry but now there is a warming one.  A constant in mammal's surviving numerous climate upheavals throughout earth history has been diversity-  the ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 24 2012 - 8:30pm

Polar Bears Genetic Ancestry Traced Back 600,000 Years

Polar bears are evolutionarily older and genetically more distinct than believed. This largest Arctic carnivore evolved as early as 600,000 years ago, five times older than previously recognized.  ...

Article - News Staff - May 17 2012 - 10:49am

The Evolutionary Advantage Of Having Sex

If you think about it rationally, sex may be fun but it's too much work and, from a reproduction standpoint,  the payoff is uncertain. Scientists have speculated for a long time on why all living things don't simply make like amoebas and split. S ...

Article - News Staff - May 31 2012 - 8:30pm

Gymnopollisthrips- Bee Precursor From 100 Million Years Ago Found In Amber

What evolutionary reason would tiny insects 100 million years ago have for collecting and transporting Gingko pollen?   They had highly specialized hairs with a ringed structure to increase their ability to collect pollen grains. Their ringed hairs cannot ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 3 2012 - 5:00am

Why Don't We Have Giant Insects Today?

There was a time when giant insects ruled the skies and it corresponded to high oxygen levels. After the evolution of birds, about 150 million years ago, insects got smaller- despite rising oxygen levels.  What gives? Insects reached their biggest sizes ab ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 4 2012 - 4:13pm

Afrasia Djijidae- About As Old As Afrotarsius But Thousands Of Miles Apart

Researchers announced the discovery of Afrasia djijida e, a new early anthropoid fossil. The 37-million-year-old Afrasia djijida e resembles another early anthropoid, Afrotarsius libycus, recently discovered at a site of similar age in the Sahara Desert of ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 4 2012 - 4:37pm

Neil Shubin Alert:: Human Spine Shape Found In Aquatic Eel Fossil

At Science 2.0, we often joke that biologist Neil Shubin from the University of Chicago can make anything about fish. That's because we've never heard him not able to make anything about fish. His books, talks and research methods show great exam ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 12 2012 - 10:11am