Evolutionary in Biological News

Sex in the Caribbean: Environmental change drives evolutionary change -- eventually

Hungry, sexual organisms replaced well-fed, clonal organisms in the Caribbean Sea as the Isthmus of Panama arose, separating the Caribbean from the Pacific, report researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The fossil record shows that if...

Key to evolutionary fitness: Cut the calories

Charles Darwin and his contemporaries postulated that food consumption in birds and mammals was limited by resource levels, that is, animals would eat as much as they could while food was plentiful and produce as many offspring as this would allow them to. However, recent research has shown that,...

DNA template could explain evolutionary shifts

HOUSTON (June 21, 2009) Rearrangements of all sizes in genomes, genes and exons can result from a glitch in DNA copying that occurs when the process stalls at a critical point and then shifts to a different genetic template, duplicating and even triplicating genes or just shuffling or deleting p...

Biologists devise unifying framework to explain evolutionary puzzles

KNOXVILLE -- Birds are commonly thought of as being the paragon of monogamous fidelity, staying true to their mate for life. Yet, in most bird species, some nests contain offspring of individuals other than the one's tending the nest. Why would a bird invest in another bird's offspring when gen...

Biologists consider unifying framework to explain evolutionary puzzles

KNOXVILLE -- Birds are commonly thought of as being the paragon of monogamous fidelity, staying true to their mate for life. Yet, in most bird species, some nests contain offspring of individuals other than the one's tending the nest. Why would a bird invest in another bird's offspring when gen...

U of Minnesota research reveals critical role of evolutionary processes in species coexistence

A team of researchers, led by the University of Minnesota, addressing long-standing conflicts in ecology and evolutionary science, has provided key directions for the future of community ecology. The team comprehensively synthesized emerging work that applies knowledge of evolutionary relationshi...

The evolutionary foundation of genomic imprinting in lower vertebrates

A Chinese scientist group working in College of Life Science, Zhejiang University, has shown that, as mammalian Igf2 CpG island, goldfish Igf2 CpG island has a parental differentially methylated region (DMR). These results indicate that the evolutionary foundation of genomic imprinting exists in l...

Analysis finds strong match between molecular, fossil data in evolutionary studies

During a seminar at another institution several years ago, University of Chicago paleontologist David Jablonski fielded a hostile question: Why bother classifying organisms according to their physical appearance, let alone analyze their evolutionary dynamics, when molecular techniques had already ...

Study of protein structures reveals key events in evolutionary history

A new study of proteins, the molecular machines that drive all life, also sheds light on the history of living organisms. The study, in the journal Structure , reveals that after eons of gradual evolution, proteins suddenly experienced a "big bang" of innovation. The active regions of many pro...

Pubic hair provides evolutionary home for gorilla lice

There are two species of lice that infest humans: pubic lice, Pthirus pubis , and human head and body lice, Pediculus humanus . A new article in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Biology suggests one explanation for the separation of the two species. In the article, Robert Weiss fro...

Dinosaur fossils fit perfectly into the evolutionary tree of life

A recent study by researchers at the University of Bath and London's Natural History Museum has found that scientists' knowledge of the evolution of dinosaurs is remarkably complete. Evolutionary biologists use two ways to study the evolution of prehistoric plants and animals: firstly they use...

Scientists uncover evolutionary keys to common birth disorders

Boston-- The work of Forsyth scientist Peter Jezewski, DDS, Ph.D., has revealed that duplication and diversification of protein regions ('modules') within ancient master control genes is key to the understanding of certain birth disorders. Tracing the history of these changes within the proteins ...

Flies may reveal evolutionary step to live birth

A species of fruit fly from the Seychelles Islands often lays larvae instead of eggs, UC San Diego biologists have discovered. Clues to how animals switch from laying eggs to live birth may be found in the well-studied species' ecology and genes. The fly is one of a dozen species of Drosophila ...

Genetic based human diseases are an ancient evolutionary legacy

This press release is available in German . Tomislav Domazet-Loo and Diethard Tautz from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Pln, Germany, have systematically analysed the time of emergence for a large number of genes - genes which can also initiate diseases. Their studies ...

Details of evolutionary transition from fish to land animals revealed

New research has provided the first detailed look at the internal head skeleton of Tiktaalik roseae , the 375-million-year-old fossil animal that represents an important intermediate step in the evolutionary transition from fish to animals that walked on land. Results of the study, published...

Revealing the evolutionary history of threatened sea turtles

It's confirmed: Even though flatback turtles dine on fish, shrimp, and mollusks, they are closely related to primarily herbivorous green sea turtles. New genetic research carried out by Eugenia Naro-Maciel, a Marine Biodiversity Scientist at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the Amer...

Illuminating biology: An evolutionary perspective

On 16-17 October 2008, the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) and the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) will convene a special symposium and workshop for educators at the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) conference in Memphis, TN. The special symposium,...

Milkweed's evolutionary approach to caterpillars: Counter appetite with fast repair

The adage that your enemies know your weaknesses best is especially true in the case of plants and predators that have co-evolved: As the predators evolve new strategies for attack, plants counter with their own unique defenses. Milkweed is the latest example of this response, according to Corn...

Mechanism and function of humor identified by new evolutionary theory

A new publication answers centuries' old questions regarding the mechanism and function of humour, identifying the reason humour is common to all human societies, its fundamental role in the evolution of homo sapiens and its continuing importance in the cognitive development of infants. Alastai...

Lemurs' evolutionary history may shed light on our own

DURHAM, N.C. -- After swabbing the cheeks of more than 200 lemurs and related primates to collect their DNA, researchers at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) and Duke Lemur Center now have a much clearer picture of their evolutionary family tree. Found in nature only on the...

Dartmouth researchers find the root of the evolutionary emergence of vertebrates

HANOVER, N.H. Dartmouth College researchers and colleagues from the University of Bristol in the U.K. have traced the beginnings of complex life, i.e. vertebrates, to microRNA. The researchers argue that the evolution of microRNAs, which regulate gene expression, are behind the origin of early ve...

Oldest Australian crayfish fossils provide missing evolutionary link

Crayfish body fossils and burrows discovered in Victoria, Australia, have provided the first physical evidence that crayfish existed on the continent as far back as the Mesozoic Era, says Emory University paleontologist Anthony Martin, who headed up a study on the finds. "Studying the fossil bu...

New book reveals an evolutionary journey of the human body

Paleontologist Neil Shubin unites the discoveries of fossils and the sciences of paleontology and genetics with his experience of teaching human anatomy into a written voyage of evolution, titled Your Inner Fish: A Journey Through the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body. The best road m...

Scientists find missing evolutionary link using tiny fungus crystal

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The crystal structure of a molecule from a primitive fungus has served as a time machine to show researchers more about the evolution of life from the simple to the complex. By studying the three-dimensional version of the fungus protein bound to an RNA molecule, scientis...

Primitive early relative of armadillos helps rewrite evolutionary family tree

A team of U.S. and Chilean scientists working high in the Andes have discovered the fossilized remains of an extinct, tank-like mammal they conclude was a primitive relative of todays armadillos. The results of their surprising new discovery are described in an upcoming issue of Journal of Vertebr...

Rebuilding the evolutionary history of HIV-1 unravels a complex loop

An essential component of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) molecular machinery responsible for infecting cells consists of functionally-specialized layers, according to a study by investigators at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Antiviral Research Center (AVRC), published Nov...

'Time-sharing' tropical birds key to evolutionary mystery

KINGSTON, ON Whereas most birds are sole proprietors of their nests, some tropical species time share together a discovery that helps clear up a 150-year-old evolutionary mystery, says Queens University Biology professor Vicki Friesen. The Queens-led international study confirms one of Char...

Predators and parasites may increase evolutionary stability

Stillwater, Okla. October 26, 2007 A new study explores the role of natural enemies, such as predators and parasites, for mixed mating, a reproductive strategy in which hermaphroditic plants and animals reproduce through both self- and cross-fertilization. The findings highlight the possible evo...

A new explanation for evolutionary changes in genetic sex-determination systems

In animals with separate sexes, embryos commit to becoming male or female at an early stage. Often this key decision is made by sex determination genes on the sex chromosomes. The genes involved in sexual development have changed remarkably little during evolution. In contrast, the sex determin...

New study sheds light on Galápagos hawk evolutionary history

Scientists at the University of Missouri-St. Louis used DNA sequences from feather lice to study how island populations of their host, the Galpagos Hawk might have colonized the Galpagos islands, home to the endangered and declining raptor. The study, recently published online in the journal Mo...

Old developmental pathways spawn revolutionary evolutionary changes

TEMPE, Ariz. When the larvae of the primitive social insect Polistes metricus, a paper wasp, slips into the quiet pupal stage, she doesnt know if shell arise a worker or gyne (future queen) unless she consults with Arizona State Universitys social insect researcher Gro Amdam. Amdams group is...

Adaptation to parasites drive African fishes along different evolutionary paths

Quebec City, Canada - An international team of scientists from Canada (Universit Laval), the U.K. (University of Hull, Cardiff University) and Spain (Do ana Biological Station), have discovered that a pair of closely related species of East African cichlid fishes a group of fish whose diversity c...

Clones on task serve greater good, evolutionary study shows

EAST LANSING, Mich. Dont ever change isnt just a romantic platitude. Its a solid evolutionary strategy. At least if youre among the creatures that produce scads of genetically identical offspring like microbes, plants or water fleas. These creatures provide a chance to wonder about the clones rai...

Compound eyes, evolutionary ties

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that the presence of a key protein in the compound eyes of the fruit fly (which glow at center due to a fluorescent protein) allows the formation of distinct light gathering units in each of its 800 unit eyes, an evolutionary cha...

Genetic surprise confirms neglected 70-year-old evolutionary hypothesis

Biologists at the University of Rochester have discovered that an old and relatively unpopular theory about how a single species can split in two turns out to be accurate after all, and acting in nature. The finding, reported in today's issue of Science, reveals that scientists must reassess the ...

Ocean seep mollusks may share evolutionary history with other deep-sea creatures

The unusual mollusks of oceanic cold seeps--strange clams, mussels and sea snails that thrive in the sulfur and methane-rich environments--are on average older than the marine mollusk community as a whole, according to a new report in the 8 September issue of the journal Science, published by AAAS,...

'Killer' B cells demonstrate evolutionary link between fish and mammal immune systems

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have discovered a unique evolutionary link between the immune systems of fish and mammals in the form of a primitive version of B cells, white blood cells of the immune system. Their studies link the evolution of the ada...

Study suggests evolutionary link between diet, brain size in orangutans

In a study of orangutans living on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra, scientists from Duke University and the University of Zurich have found what they say is the first demonstration in primates of an evolutionary connection between available food supplies and brain size. Based on thei...

Scientists' cell discovery unearths evolutionary clues

The full family tree of the species known as social amoebas has been plotted for the first time ?a breakthrough which will provide important clues to the evolution of life on earth. Researchers, headed by evolutionary biologist Professor Sandie Baldauf, of the University of York, and biochemist P...

Ohio University researchers discover evolutionary oddity in flamingos

With their spindly legs, long necks and bright plumage, flamingos are a curiosity of nature. Now a new discovery by a team of Ohio University researchers reveals an anatomical oddity that helps flamingos eat: erectile tissue. Flamingos are known for their peculiar feeding behavior. While standing...