evolutionary biology
Scientists Find Oldest-Known Fossilized Digestive Tract—550 Million Years
Over a half-billion years ago, life on Earth was comprised of simple ocean organisms unlike anything living in today's oceans
Is Evolution Predictable?
A recent study of Heliconius butterflies says that it isn't
CRISPRed Fruit Flies Mimic Monarch Butterfly—and Could Make You Puke
Scientists recreate in flies the mutations that let monarch butterflies eat toxic milkweed with impunity
Scientists Identify Rare Evolutionary Intermediates to Understand the Origin of Eukaryotes
While simple prokaryotic bacteria formed within the first billion years of the Earth, the origin of eurkaryotes, the first cells with nuclei, took much longer.
Researchers Find Hurricanes Drive the Evolution of More Aggressive Spiders
Raging winds can demolish trees, defoliate entire canopies, and scatter debris across forest floors, radically altering the habitats and reshaping the selective pressures on many organisms
Bats Use Leaves as Mirrors to Find Prey in the Dark
The approach angle is the key
Like Film Editors and Archaeologists, Biochemists Piece Together Genome History
Researchers uncover new evidence for the origin of RNA splicing within human genes
Ancient Epigenetic Changes Silence Cancer-Linked Genes
Recent study sheds new light on how our epigenetics can regulate genes, some of which are linked to cancer development later in life, over large evolutionary distances
Can Mathematics Help Us Understand the Complexity of Our Microbiome?
How do the communities of microbes living in our gastrointestinal systems affect our health?