Evolution

Researchers Recovered A Dinosaur Foot From A Bird

A unique adaptation in the foot of birds is the presence of a thumb-like opposable toe, which allows them to grasp and perch. In their dinosaur ancestors, this toe was small and non- opposable, and did not even touch the ground, resembling the dewclaws of ...

Article - News Staff - May 23 2015 - 9:32am

Sex Chromosomes: Why The Y Genes Matter

Several genes have been lost from the Y chromosome in humans and other mammals but essential Y genes are rescued by relocating to other chromosomes, according to a new study. The Y chromosome is dramatically smaller than the X chromosome and has already l ...

Article - News Staff - May 30 2015 - 12:08pm

Modern Native Americans Related To Kennewick Man

By Michael Greshko, Inside Science-- On Thursday, scientists announced a new, comprehensive re-analysis of the "Kennewick Man," an 8,500-year-old North American skeleton. ...

Article - Michael Greshko - Jun 24 2015 - 6:24pm

Early European Human Had A Neanderthal Ancestor

Neanderhals became extinct about 40,000 years ago but contributed on average one to three percent to the genomes of present-day Eurasians. Researchers have now analyzed DNA from a 37,000 to 42,000-year-old human mandible from Oase Cave in Romania and have ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 22 2015 - 7:11pm

How Snakes Lost Their Legs

How did the snake get its slither? Ever since the crafty serpent in Genesis tempted Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, we’ve been fascinated by snakes. And, despite our interest in this animal, we have a poor understanding of how it actually evolved. Bu ...

Article - The Conversation - Jul 25 2015 - 11:00am

Why The Y Chromosome In Polar Bears Matters

Scientists have reconstructed part of the male chromosome in polar bears. They were able to assign 1.9 million base pairs specifically to the polar bear Y chromosome and show that more than 100,000 years ago, the male polar bear lineages split and develope ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 28 2015 - 8:30am

Why Animal Pupils Come In Different Shapes And Sizes

Wolves and foxes are closely related and share many of the same characteristics. But look at their eyes – where wolves have rounded pupils like humans, foxes instead have a thin vertical line. But it isn’t just canines –across the animal kingdom, pupils c ...

Article - The Conversation - Aug 8 2015 - 8:00am

Jumping Genes Turned The Tree Of Life Into A Bush

New species evolve whenever a lineage splits off into several branches and so a common metaphor for evolution has been to describe evolution as a 'tree of life', where every branch constitutes a species. But since about 99.999% of all species th ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 20 2015 - 7:00am

Four Stages Of Evolution For Human Body, Says Anthropologist

Research into 430,000-year-old fossils collected in northern Spain found that the evolution of the human body's size and shape has gone through four main stages, according to a recent paper.  A large international research team including Binghamton U ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 7 2015 - 10:00am

Ancient Genome Of Iberian Farmer Sequenced

An international team of researchers has sequenced the first complete genome of an Iberian farmer, which is also the first ancient genome from the entire Mediterranean area. This new genome allows to know the distinctive genetic changes of Neolithic migra ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 9 2015 - 11:47am