Posts Tagged ‘evolutionary biology’
Trout gut balloons for annual food frenzy
U. WASHINGTON (US) — Once a year, a type of trout that lives in Alaska’s Chignik Lake watershed expands its stomach up to four times the usual size to go on a month-long eating binge. Continue…
Thursday, March 21, 2013 15:33 - 0 Comments
Science & Technology - Oct 30, 2012 11:04 - 0 Comments
‘Night life’ influenced shape of mammal eyes
U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — The eye structures of most mammals have retained the imprint of nocturnal life during the Mesozoic Era. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 10, 2012 16:48 - 0 Comments
Brainless brittle stars move (sort of) like us
BROWN (US) — Even without a brain, the thick-spined brittle star moves in fundamentally the same way we do. (more…)
Science & Technology - May 10, 2012 12:38 - 2 Comments
Birds evolve faster with feather variety
U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — Having a variety of plumage types within a population allows birds to evolve into new species more quickly than if all the birds look alike. (more…)
Top Stories - Apr 17, 2012 11:26 - 2 Comments
Hungry sea urchins force prey to adapt
U. MICHIGAN (US) — In one unusual predator-prey showdown, sea urchins have forced evolutionary adaptations upon crinoids, which include the sea lily. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Mar 28, 2012 11:51 - 1 Comment
After soccer, testosterone soars in Amazon men
UC SANTA BARBARA / U. WASHINGTON (US) — Men from an isolated indigenous group in Bolivia experienced a 30 percent increase in testosterone after a soccer game. (more…)
Society & Culture - Mar 23, 2012 11:02 - 0 Comments
Cheat or play fair? For apes and us, game on
U. CHICAGO (US) — Because of our shared genetic inheritance, humans play the same “games” in social relationships as monkeys and apes, says a behavioral biologist’s new book. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Mar 16, 2012 9:22 - 1 Comment
Prolific pine beetles take a toll on trees
U. COLORADO-BOULDER (US) — A population explosion among mountain pine beetles may help explain increased damage to forests from New Mexico to Alaska. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 15, 2012 14:51 - 0 Comments
Creature bested dinos with top chompers
MONASH (AUS) / U. WASHINGTON (US) — An advanced set of molars helped a group of prehistoric rodent-like mammals survive the extinction event that ended the reign of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 6, 2012 15:11 - 1 Comment
Human’s oldest ancestor found in Burgess Shale
U. TORONTO (CAN) — Researchers have confirmed that a 505 million-year-old creature is the most primitive known vertebrate and therefore the ancestor of all descendant vertebrates, including humans. (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 6, 2012 11:43 - 0 Comments
Light triggers eyeless hydra to sting prey
UC SANTA BARBARA (US) — Even without eyes, some creatures display a light-sensitivity that uses the same visual pathway that allows humans to see. (more…)
Top Stories - Mar 1, 2012 18:16 - 1 Comment
Aphids get infected to fend off wasp eggs
U. ARIZONA (US) — Parasitic wasps that use aphids as living nurseries for their brood will lay more eggs if the aphids host a protective bacterium. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Feb 27, 2012 13:30 - 0 Comments
Universal vaccine could put brakes on flu
PRINCETON (US) — A universal vaccine could for the first time effectively prevent wide-scale spread of influenza by shutting down the virus’ ability to spread and mutate. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 24, 2012 14:39 - 2 Comments
Wasp wings carry clues to species’ growth
U. ROCHESTER (US) — The gene regulation that determines the size of wasp wings may offers clues to how species differ in size and shape. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 24, 2012 10:19 - 0 Comments
Tracks of long-gone elephants zigzag desert
YALE (US) — Ancient footprints in the Arabian desert reveal the early origins of modern elephants’ social structure. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 16, 2012 13:21 - 3 Comments
Sick fruit flies self-medicate with alcohol
EMORY (US) — Fruit flies infected with a blood-borne parasite consume alcohol to self-medicate, a behavior that greatly increases their survival rate. (more…)
Top Stories - Feb 14, 2012 12:34 - 0 Comments
Warmer climate threatens ‘antifreeze’ fish
YALE (US) — Fish with “anti-freeze” proteins evolved to survive arctic waters, and climate warming may now endanger their survival, research shows. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 14, 2012 10:40 - 0 Comments
Mass extinction survivors took 2M years to evolve
U. BUFFALO (US) — Following one of Earth’s greatest mass extinctions, a type of tiny marine organism didn’t begin to rapidly develop new physical traits until about 2 million years after its competition became extinct. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 10, 2012 16:47 - 0 Comments
In guys, women pick healthy over manly
U. NOTTINGHAM (UK) — Having a healthy skin color is more important in determining how attractive a man is to women than how manly he looks. (more…)
