Evolution

Zebra Stripes And Flies: Occam's Razor Versus Stripes Make Terrible Landing Strips?

It is believed by some that zebras have black and white stripes as a defense mechanism against flies. To others, that seems too complex. In an Occam's Razor evolutionary universe it only leads to more speculation- why would they evolve such a sophisti ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 22 2019 - 11:33am

The Mysterious Genetic Origin Of Scandinavian Wolves

The Scandinavian wolf population is a bit of an evolutionary mystery. In the hoped for descent with modification scenario, textbook natural selection, there would be signs that hybrids of dog and wolf have contributed to this population, but none have been ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 29 2019 - 12:08pm

Why Strange Bat Skulls Evolved As They Did

When most people think of bats they think of vampires or the World's Greatest Detective, but biologically they are much more diverse than pop culture reveals. With more than 1,300 species worldwide they are one of the largest groups of mammals. Some h ...

Article - News Staff - May 12 2019 - 3:44pm

Mutations For Herbicide Resistance Are Rarer Than We've Been Told

Evolution will happen, in medicines like antibiotics, and in crop protection like herbicides. Though some groups may continue to use older, less effective products such as organic copper sulfate, evidence-based agriculture works to create new products that ...

Article - News Staff - May 28 2019 - 2:02pm

How Are Cancer Cells Like HeLA Able To Survive Evolution?

Cancer starts as a single rogue cell whose mutations then trigger aggressive growth, damaging the health of the organism. But if cancer cells were accumulating harmful mutations faster than they could be purged, wouldn't the population eventually die ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 3 2019 - 9:50am

Interdigital Cell Death: More Atmospheric Oxygen Is A Biological Signal To Leave Out Webbed Digits

Free fingers have obvious advantages on land, and don't even get us started on opposable thumbs, but provides aquatic or gliding animals with more suitable webbed ones. But both amphibians and amniotes, which include mammals, reptiles, and birds, can ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 13 2019 - 1:39pm

Dinosaur Extinction Gave Lichen Evolution A Boost

Some species have thrived only because they are food sources. Cows, for example, would be endangered and likely extinct if not for human animal husbandry. The same goes for many vegetables. They would be sparse or even gone if not for our genetic intervent ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 28 2019 - 7:22am

The Evolutionary Origins Of Skin

Mammals living in diverse types of environments, from ocean swimmers to mountain dwellers, have a diverse variety of protective skins adapted to the elements and now one of the largest comparative genomic studies to help determine the key molecular and evo ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 7 2019 - 8:44am

Pig Paradox: Hogs Were Domesticated In The Near East So Should Genetically Resemble Near Eastern Wild Boar. They Do Not.

Ancient pigs went through a complete genomic turnover after they arrived in Europe, according to a new study. They were domesticated in the Near East and logically would genetically resemble the Near East wild boar from which they derived, but they do not. ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 12 2019 - 5:49pm

Crocodiles Don't Clean Their Teeth, They Get Rid Of Them And Grow New Ones

Having one of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom, crocodiles must be able to bite hard to eat their food such as turtles, wildebeest and other large prey.  Well, so do we, but we don't have exceptionally tough teeth and neither do crocodile ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 22 2019 - 9:07am