Category Archives: Latest on Evolution

Mutating DNA caught on film

Mutating DNA caught on film
DNA mutations cause tumor cells to grow out of control, but they also generate variety that enables organisms to adapt to their environments and evolve. Until now, biologists have only had crude methods for estimating the average rates and effects of mutations. But in a new study, biophysicists have documented individual mutations as they happen in bacterial cells.…
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Orcas are first non-humans whose evolution is driven by culture

Orcas are first non-humans whose evolution is driven by culture
You could call it a culture shock. Many researchers accept that cultural experiences have helped shape human evolution – and evidence has now emerged that the same may be true of killer whales. Human genomes have evolved in response to our cultural behaviours: a classic example is the way that some human populations gained genes for…
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Origins of photosynthesis in plants dated to 1.25 billion years ago

Origins of photosynthesis in plants dated to 1.25 billion years ago
The world's oldest algae fossils are a billion years old, according to a new analysis by earth scientists at McGill University. Based on this finding, the researchers also estimate that the basis for photosynthesis in today's plants was set in place 1.25 billion years ago. The study, published in the journal Geology, could resolve a long-standing…
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Ancient lizardlike creature bridged gap between land and sea

Ancient lizardlike creature bridged gap between land and sea
This beautifully preserved, nearly complete fossil is shedding new light on the evolution of the aquatic members of a small, enigmatic group of ancient reptiles called pleurosaurs. The bones belong to a new species of pleurosaur whose anatomical features weren’t fully adapted to water, but were on the way to enabling an aquatic lifestyle. The creature (which…
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When dinosaurs went extinct, many animals literally came out of the dark

When dinosaurs went extinct, many animals literally came out of the dark
The demise of dinosaurs was good news for mammals, whose numbers exploded in the aftermath. Now, a new study suggests that the behavior of mammals changed rapidly as well, as the first of our furry ancestors began venturing out in the daylight after living a primarily nocturnal existence. The switch may have even sparked the…
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Africa’s deadliest rapids give birth to new fish species

Africa’s deadliest rapids give birth to new fish species
The world’s largest and deadliest rapids are also crucibles of life. According to a new study, the final stretch of Africa’s Congo River—which packs five times the water flow of the Mississippi River into just 320 kilometers—has likely given birth to several new fish species since it formed some 5 million years ago. That’s impressive,…
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New gene variants reveal the evolution of human skin color

New gene variants reveal the evolution of human skin color
Most people associate Africans with dark skin. But different groups of people in Africa have almost every skin color on the planet, from deepest black in the Dinka of South Sudan to beige in the San of South Africa. Now, researchers have discovered a handful of new gene variants responsible for this palette of tones.…
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Reconstructing how Neanderthals grew, based on an El Sidrón child

Reconstructing how Neanderthals grew, based on an El Sidrón child
How did Neanderthals grow? Does modern man develop in the same way as Homo neanderthalensis did? How does the size of the brain affect the development of the body? A study led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) researcher, Antonio Rosas, has studied the fossil remains of a Neanderthal child's skeleton in order to establish whether…
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