Newswise Feature Channel: Evolution and Darwin

$1.8M NIH Grant to FAU Engineering Fuels Quest to Decode Human Evolution

Florida Atlantic University — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 08:30:30 EST

FAU has received a five-year NIH grant to further research on designing and applying statistical methods to identify regions of the genome affected by natural selection, which is an important evolutionary force that enables humans to adapt to new environments and fight disease-causing pathogens.

Fossil hotspots in Africa obscure a more complete picture of human evolution

George Washington University — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 09:05:32 EST

New study shows how the mismatch between where fossils are preserved and where humans likely lived may influence our understanding of early human evolution.

'Baby Talk:' Decoding How Children's Vocal and Cognitive Cues Sway Adults

Florida Atlantic University — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 08:30:32 EST

In infancy, caregivers rely on facial expressions and vocal cues to understand a baby's needs and emotions, as babies do not use language. A new study shows that while facial expressions are important, they are less effective than vocal and cognitive signals. Adults are more focused on a child's voice when assessing emotional states and helplessness, but use cognitive content, such as reasoning abilities, to gauge intelligence. When a child's vocal immaturity conflicts with advanced cognitive abilities, caregivers prioritize vocal cues for emotional needs and cognitive cues for intelligence, highlighting how different cues influence judgments in early childhood.

Prehistoric Pompeii discovered: Most pristine trilobite fossils ever found shake up scientific understanding of the long extinct group

University of Bristol — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 14:00:00 EST

Researchers have described some of the best-preserved three-dimensional trilobite fossils ever discovered. The fossils, which are more than 500 million years old, were collected in the High Atlas of Morocco and are being referred to by scientists as "Pompeii" trilobites due to their remarkable preservation in ash.

New Fossil Bovids from Kromdraai

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg — Thu, 09 May 2024 08:05:10 EST

New Fossil Bovids from Kromdraai shed light on South Africa's ancient ecosystems.

ERC Advanced Grant for Paleoanthropologist Gabriele Macho

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 06:30:00 EST

Frankfurt, 04/11/024. Paleoanthropologist Prof. Dr. Gabriele Macho will be awarded an ERC Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC).

Computational tools fuel reconstruction of new and improved bird family tree

University of California San Diego — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 15:00:00 EST

Using cutting-edge computational methods and supercomputing infrastructure at UC San Diego, researchers have built the largest and most detailed bird family tree to date--an intricate chart delineating 93 million years of evolutionary relationships between 363 bird species, representing 92% of all bird families.

Snakes: An Evolutionary Winner

Stony Brook University — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 14:00:00 EST

A study of more than 60,000 specimens of snakes and lizards worldwide reveals that snakes stand out alone in the evolution of reptiles. The team of scientists discovered that snakes evolved incredibly fast, as their ancestors shed limbs and adapted on multiple levels to live and spread out into thousands of species of snakes over 66 million years, up to today.

Did neanderthals use glue? Researchers find evidence that sticks

New York University — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 15:05:49 EST

Neanderthals created stone tools held together by a multi-component adhesive, a team of scientists has discovered.

Scientists try out stone age tools to understand how they were used

Tokyo Metropolitan University — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 21:05:23 EST

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University crafted replica stone age tools and used them for a range of tasks to see how different activities create traces on the edge.

Mystery solved: the oldest fossil reptile from the alps is an historical forgery

University College Cork — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 22:05:41 EST

A 280-million-year-old fossil that has baffled researchers for decades has been shown to be, in part, a forgery following new examination of the remnants.

Early-stage subduction invasion

Geological Society of America (GSA) — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 19:05:59 EST

Our planet's lithosphere is broken into several tectonic plates. Their configuration is ever-shifting, as supercontinents are assembled and broken up, and oceans form, grow, and then start to close in what is known as the Wilson cycle.

Global study: Wild megafauna shape ecosystem properties

Aarhus University — Sun, 11 Feb 2024 21:05:34 EST

For millions of years, a variety of large herbivores, or megafauna, influenced terrestrial ecosystems.

The Complete Library of Charles Darwin revealed for the first time

National University of Singapore (NUS) — Sun, 11 Feb 2024 11:00:00 EST

Charles Darwin - arguably the most influential man of science in history, accumulated a vast personal library throughout his working life. Until now, 85 per cent of its contents were unknown or unpublished.

Innovation in stone tool technology involved multiple stages at the time of modern human dispersals

Nagoya University — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 11:05:00 EST

A study led by researchers at the Nagoya University Museum in Japan may change how we understand the cultural evolution of Homo sapiens at the time of their dispersal across Eurasia about 50,000 to 40,000 years ago.

New species of Jurassic pterosaur discovered on the Isle of Skye

University of Bristol — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 19:05:00 EST

A new species of pterosaur from specimens found on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, has been announced by scientists from the Natural History Museum, University of Bristol, University of Leicester, and University of Liverpool.

Homo sapiens already reached northwest Europe more than 45,000 years ago

Max Planck Society (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft) — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 11:00:00 EST

An international research team reports the discovery of Homo sapiens fossils from the cave site Ilsenhohle in Ranis, Germany. Directly dated to approximately 45,000 years ago, these fossils are associated with elongated stone points partly shaped on both sides (known as partial bifacial blade points), which are characteristic of the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (LRJ).

How did humans learn to walk? New evolutionary study offers an earful

New York University — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 12:05:55 EST

The inner ear of a 6-million-year-old fossil ape reveals clues about the evolution of human movement.

Palaeontology: Small dinosaurs flapped their feathers to scare prey

Scientific Reports — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:05:04 EST

Small omnivorous and insectivorous dinosaurs may have flapped small, feathered primitive wings to scare prey out of hiding places, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.

Researchers chronicle lifetime travels of a single woolly mammoth which wandered the north more than 14,000 years ago

McMaster University — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 14:00:00 EST

An international team of researchers from McMaster University, University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Ottawa has tracked and documented the movements and genetic connections of a female woolly mammoth that roamed the earth more than 14,000 years ago.