Resume: Researchers studied the brain and body sizes of 1,500 species and found that larger animals do not have proportionally larger brains, challenging long-held beliefs. The study reveals that the relationship between brain and body size is curved, not linear. This discovery helps explain why humans and other species deviate from the norm in the … Read more
The woolly mammoths on Wrangel Island, from a tiny original population, persisted for 6,000 years despite genetic obstacles. Their sudden extinction remains a mystery, offering lessons for modern conservation efforts. Credit: Beth Zaiken Genetic analysis of the last woolly mammoths on Wrangel Island has revealed a population that managed to survive for 6,000 years despite … Read more
Source: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an environmental bacterium that can cause devastating multi-drug-resistant infections, particularly in people with underlying lung conditions, has rapidly evolved and subsequently spread across the globe over the past 200 years, likely driven by changes in human behavior, a new study finds. The work appears in the magazine Science. P. … Read more
Resume: A new AI-powered study examines evolutionary differences between male and female birdwing butterflies, shedding new light on a historic debate between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. Using machine learning to analyze more than 16,000 butterfly specimens, researchers found that both sexes contribute to species diversity. Males tend to show more variation, supporting Darwin’s … Read more
Resume: A new AI-powered study examines evolutionary differences between male and female birdwing butterflies, shedding new light on a historic debate between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. Using machine learning to analyze more than 16,000 butterfly specimens, researchers found that both sexes contribute to species diversity. Males tend to show more variation, supporting Darwin’s … Read more
Birdwing butterflies of the Troides haliphron species group, with females (right) being noticeably more diverse than males (left). Credit: Natural History Museum. 2024. Birdwing butterflies (from collection specimens). Licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Groundbreaking AI research on butterflies has explored the understudied evolution of females and adds to the debate among evolution’s founding fathers. The University of … Read more
Artist’s impression of decorated, custom-made clothing in the Upper Paleolithic. Credit: Mariana Ariza A team of researchers led by an archaeologist from the University of Sydney is the first to suggest that eye needles are a new technological innovation used to decorate clothing for social and cultural purposes. This marks the major shift from clothing … Read more
Oldowan core, Koobi Fora, Kenya (First period, below baselines). Credit: Curry, Michael. 2020. Oldowan core, Koobi Forums. Museum of Stone Tools. Retrieved June 10, 2024. From: https://une.pedestal3d.com/r/DGHMTdkn4_ Our modern culture and technology emerge from millennia of cultural knowledge that has been continually collected and reinterpreted. We are all the culmination of thousands of generations that … Read more
By Will Dunham (Reuters) – More than 250 million years ago, Scotland was not shrouded in mist and rain, as is often the case today, but rather a desert covered in sand dunes. One of the inhabitants of this challenging landscape was a stocky, vaguely pig-like forerunner named Gordonia, with a pug face and two … Read more
Scientists have discovered a 246-million-year-old fossil of a marine reptile, the oldest of its kind found in the Southern Hemisphere, shedding new light on the early evolution of marine mammals. The largest mass extinction in the fossil record – known as ‘The Great Dying’ – occurred around 252 million years ago, wiping out around 95% … Read more