Evolution
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Vertebrate evolution kicked off in lagoons
First animals with backbones traced to shallow “hot-spots”.
Scientists have discovered that shallow, lagoon-like environments were the cradle for vertebrate evolution, giving ri...
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How Nemo got his stripes
Clownfish variation reflects evolutionary pressures.
Coral reef fish display all sorts of patterns and colours. One of the most recognisable is that of the clownfish – a ...
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The evolution of the mammal brain
Structure evolved from network found in marsupials.
Ancient neural connections found in the brains of marsupials and monotremes provide clues to the evolution of the hum...
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Ultra-violet confirms “Darwin’s moths”
Experiment proves first observed natural selection.
New research published in the journal Communications Biology has provided the final piece of evidence needed to confi...
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All-female salamander species steals sperm
Unisex amphibians beat the evolutionary odds.
Sex is expensive: it eats time, energy and resources. But the genetic diversity it produces is key to long-term evolu...
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Bat DNA hosts stolen Ebola genes
Bats adopt parts of the DNA of the deadly virus.
Filoviruses like Marburg and Ebola produce terrifying and often fatal haemorrhagic fevers. New research, however, sho...
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Conversation
Rethinking the origins of Homo sapiens
A profound shift underway in the science of human origins.
You might say it’s the ultimate prize of science, to discover when, where and why humans evolved. For a long time, t...
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The secret of the green-blooded lizards
Green blood evolved independently four times.
There are several lizard species in New Guinea with green blood, instead of the usual red. The lime green colour is d...
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Urban fish evolve to part from country cousins
Human activity can be a driver of evolutionary adaptation.
Urbanisation is driving rapid evolutionary responses in some wild species of fish, researchers have found. In a pape...
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How insects spring to attention
Trade-offs when animals use spring-like structures revealed.
What do archers have in common with fleas? A new study now has identified the common engineering principles that enab...
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A brief history of panspermia
The ancient history of a surprisingly resilient idea.
A recent journal paper argues that life did not originate on our planet, but arrived within comets and meteorites fal...
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Teeth development may hold evolution clues
It could help trace evolutionary relationships.
Examining the fossil record through the lens of evolutionary developmental biology may help scientists reassess the t...