Evolution news

Study sheds light on evolution of human complexity

Biology / Evolution

Nov 03, 2009 | 3.3 / 5 (6) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A painstaking analysis of thousands of genes and the proteins they encode shows that human beings are biologically complex, at least in part, because of the way humans evolved to cope with redundancies arising ...

There's a speed limit to the pace of evolution, biologists say

Biology / Evolution

Nov 02, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (3) | 0

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a theoretical model that informs the understanding of evolution and determines how quickly an organism will evolve using a catalogue of "evolutionary speed limits." ...

Inconspicuous leaf beetles reveal environment's role in formation of new species

Biology / Evolution

Oct 30, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (4) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Unnoticed by the nearby residents of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, tiny leaf beetles that flit among the maple and willow trees in the area have just provided some of the clearest evidence yet that ...

The first men and women from the Canary Islands were Berbers

Biology / Evolution

Oct 21, 2009 | 3.5 / 5 (2) | 0

A team of Spanish and Portuguese researchers has carried out molecular genetic analysis of the Y chromosome (transmitted only by males) of the aboriginal population of the Canary Islands to determine their ...

Are humans still evolving? Absolutely, says new analysis of long-term survey of human health

Biology / Evolution

Oct 19, 2009 | 4 / 5 (21) | 36

Although advances in medical care have improved standards of living over time, humans aren't entirely sheltered from the forces of natural selection, a new study shows.

Time in a bottle: Scientists watch evolution unfold

Biology / Evolution

Oct 18, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (42) | 13

A 21-year Michigan State University experiment that distills the essence of evolution in laboratory flasks not only demonstrates natural selection at work, but could lead to biotechnology and medical research ...

Fish vision discovery makes waves in natural selection

Biology / Evolution

Oct 16, 2009 | 5 / 5 (8) | 1

Emory University researchers have identified the first fish known to have switched from ultraviolet vision to violet vision, or the ability to see blue light. The discovery is also the first example of an ...

Being a standout has its benefits, study shows

Biology / Evolution

Oct 15, 2009 | 3 / 5 (1) | 1

Standing out in a crowd is better than blending in, at least if you're a paper wasp in a colony where fights between nest-mates determine social status.

Trimming the Tree of Life

Biology / Evolution

Oct 08, 2009 | 5 / 5 (3) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a sense, Antonis Rokas is an arborist: He is a member of a small cadre to scientists who are applying the growing power of genomics to untangle and correctly arrange the branches of the ...

Unnatural selection: Birth control pills may alter choice of partners

Biology / Evolution

Oct 07, 2009 | 4.1 / 5 (14) | 20

There is no doubt that modern contraception has enabled women to have unprecedented control over their own fertility. However, is it possible that the use of oral contraceptives is interfering with a woman's ability to choose, ...

Homebound Termites Answer 150-Year-Old Evolution Question

Biology / Evolution

Oct 05, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (6) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Staying at home may have given the very first termite youngsters the best opportunity to rule the colony when their parents were killed by their neighbors. This is according to new research ...

High mortality rates may explain small body size

Biology / Evolution

Oct 05, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

A new study suggests that high mortality rates in small-bodied people, commonly known as pygmies, may be part of the reason for their small stature. The study, by Jay Stock and Andrea Migliano, both of the University of Cambridge, ...

Using synthetic evolution to study the brain: Researchers model key part of neurons

Biology / Evolution

Oct 02, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

The human brain has evolved over millions of years to become a vast network of billions of neurons and synaptic connections. Understanding it is one of humankind's greatest pursuits.

In amoeba world, cheating doesn't pay

Biology / Evolution

Oct 01, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (6) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cheaters may prosper in the short term, but over time they seem doomed to fail, at least in the microscopic world of amoebas where natural selection favors the noble.

Book on ape evolution wins W. W. Howells Award

Biology / Evolution

Sep 29, 2009 | 4 / 5 (1) | 0

For the second time, Penn State University scientists Alan Walker and Pat Shipman together have won a national book award. A book they coauthored, The Ape in the Tree, A Natural and Intellectual History of ...

Scandinavians are descended from Stone Age immigrants

Biology / Evolution

Sep 24, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (10) | 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- Today's Scandinavians are not descended from the people who came to Scandinavia at the conclusion of the last ice age but, apparently, from a population that arrived later, concurrently with the introduction ...

Getting a leg up on whale and dolphin evolution

Biology / Evolution

Sep 24, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (7) | 0

When the ancestors of living cetaceans—whales, dolphins and porpoises—first dipped their toes into water, a series of evolutionary changes were sparked that ultimately nestled these swimming mammals into the ...

Ratchet-like genetic mutations make evolution irreversible

Biology / Evolution

Sep 23, 2009 | 4 / 5 (6) | 8

(PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Oregon research team has found that evolution can never go backwards, because the paths to the genes once present in our ancestors are forever blocked. The findings -- the ...