Neanderthals may not have actually gone extinct, but they may have been absorbed into modern human populations. That’s one implication of a new study, which shows that modern human DNA may make up 2.5% to 3.7% of the Neanderthal genome. “This research underscores that what we consider a distinct Neanderthal lineage was actually more closely … Read more
How did the woolly mammoth, an ambassador of the Ice Age, come to be trapped in modern-day Wrangel? … [+] Island? And what ultimately caused their extinction? New evidence suggests it wasn’t bad genetics as previously thought. getty Rising sea levels around 10,000 years ago transformed Wrangel Island into a last refuge for the woolly … Read more
Enlarge / An artist’s impression of one of the last mammoths of Wrangel Island. Bet Zaiken A small group of woolly mammoths became stranded on Wrangel Island about 10,000 years ago when rising sea levels separated the island from mainland Siberia. Small, isolated populations of animals lead to inbreeding and genetic defects, and it was … Read more
Research has shown that a group of armadillos originally thought to be a single species may actually consist of four separate species. The nine-banded armadillo, the official small mammal of Texas, may actually be four different species, one of which is new to science, according to a new paper in the journal Systematic biology. This … Read more
Enlarge / Top row: individual steps in the reaction process. Bottom row: Cartoon diagram of the top row, showing the position of each DNA and RNA strand. Hiraizumi, etc. al. While CRISPR is probably the most prominent gene editing technology, there are others, some developed before and since. And humans have developed CRISPR variants to … Read more
Neanderthals, the closest relatives of modern humans, lived in parts of Europe and Asia until their extinction about 30,000 years ago. Genetic studies are increasingly revealing more about the links between modern humans and these long-gone relatives – most recently that a wave of interbreeding between our species occurred over a relatively short period of … Read more
This article was reviewed according to Science fact checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread OK! Multivariate analysis of life history traits using epigenetic predictors. This figure summarizes the leave-one-species-out (LOSO) cross-validation analysis of epigenetic predictors. All estimates are log-transformed (base e) for various life history traits, including (A and B) maximum lifespan (in log years). … Read more
Corner down icon An icon in the shape of a corner pointing downwards. Humans have Neanderthal DNA as a result of interbreeding tens of thousands of years ago. Nikola Solic/Reuters Modern humans have a small amount of Neanderthal DNA, and those genes still influence our health. Scientists think they have figured out when the two … Read more
There have long been rumors that big cats roam the British countryside. Blurry photos, large unexplained trails and dramatic eyewitness accounts routinely add to the mystery of their existence. But now scientists say they have found definitive evidence that a leopard is prowling the Lake District – after linking the DNA of a dead sheep … Read more
There have long been rumors that big cats roam the British countryside. Blurry photos, large unexplained trails and dramatic eyewitness accounts routinely add to the mystery of their existence. But now scientists say they have found definitive evidence that a leopard is prowling the Lake District – after linking the DNA of a dead sheep … Read more