Microscopic Mites That Mate on Our Faces at Night May Soon Become One With Humans
The secret lives of mites in the skin of our faces. First ever comprehensive DNA analysis of mites that live in the hair follicles of…
Evolution
419-Million-Year-Old Chinese Fossil Shows Human Middle Ear Evolved From Fish Gills
The human middle ear—which houses three tiny, vibrating bones—is key to transporting sound vibrations into the inner ear, where they become nerve impulses that allow…
Largest-Ever Family Tree for Primates – Including Both Living and Extinct Species
Fossil-based compilation reveals new information on the evolution and spread of primates. The largest and most comprehensive family tree of the order primates, including both…
Convergent Evolution: Why COVID-19 Antibody Treatments Aren’t As Effective for New Variants
The new peer-reviewed paper can help inform the development of new vaccines and therapeutics. When SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, first appeared, it…
Strange Giraffoid Fossil Solves Giraffe Evolutionary Mystery
Giraffes are quite distinctive due to their extremely long necks. In fact, their necks can be as long as 7.9 feet (2.4 m). Even though…
Convergent Evolution Has Been Fooling Us: Most of Our Evolutionary Trees Could Be Wrong
Scientists say convergent evolution is much more common than previously thought. An evolutionary tree, or phylogenetic tree, is a branching diagram showing the evolutionary relationships…
Scientists Have Figured Out Why Childbirth Became So Complex and Dangerous
A study finds that complex human childbirth and cognitive abilities are a result of walking upright. Childbirth in humans is much more complex and painful…
Blind Cave Creatures Light the Way With DNA to Secrets of Evolution
In watery underground caverns, there are strange creatures that live in an eternal midnight. Over the course of generations, these animals have adapted to their…
Machine Learning Shows That More Reptile Species May Be at Risk of Extinction Than Previously Thought
Machine learning tool estimates extinction risk for species previously unprioritized for conservation. Species at risk of extinction are identified in the iconic Red List of…
First Animals Formed Complex Ecological Communities Before the Cambrian Explosion
Metacommunity analysis suggests succession, not mass extinction, explains the Ediacaran diversity drop. Early animals developed complex ecological communities more than 550 million years ago, setting…
Hot-Blooded or Cold-Blooded? Chemical Clues Solve One of the Oldest Mysteries in Paleontology
Paleontologists have been debating for decades whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded, like modern mammals and birds, or cold-blooded, like modern reptiles. Knowing whether dinosaurs were warm-…
“Fuel of Evolution” – Raw Material for Evolution More Abundant Than Thought in Wild Animals
The raw material for evolution is much more abundant in wild animals than was previously thought, according to new research from The Australian National University…
Strange 130-Year-Old Mystery of Vertebrate Evolution Solved Using Powerful X-Rays
Evidence that the mysterious ancient fish-like vertebrate Palaeospondylus was likely one of the earliest ancestors of four-limbed animals, including humans, has been discovered by the…
Fly Researchers at Duke University Find Another Layer to the Code of Life
Rare pieces of genetic code may serve as another way to control cellular machinery. A new investigation into the way different tissues read information from…
Ancient Tooth From Young Girl Discovered in Cave Unlocks Mystery of Denisovans, a Sister Species of Modern Humans
Denisovans, a sister species of modern humans, inhabited Laos from 164,000 to 131,000 years ago with important implications for populations out of Africa and Australia….
The Origin of Life on Earth: A Paradigm Shift
According to a new theory by LMU chemists led by Thomas Carell, it was a novel molecular species composed of RNA and peptides that set…
Cockroach Courtship and Mating: Sugar Aversion Hampers Cockroach Coupling
New research from North Carolina State University (NC State) shows the behavioral mechanism behind a sweet cockroach mating ritual that takes a bitter turn, resulting…
Gene That Shapes Mutation Rate Discovered in Mice
The finding supports theory that genetic differences between individuals and species can affect the acquisition of mutations. Every organism is born with a few mutations…
