Evolutionary Biology News

February 2, 2025

Top Headlines

How Tiny Algae Shaped the Evolution of Giant Clams

Jan. 27, 2025 — New research reveals how resident algae altered the genome of these fabled sea creatures, allowing them to access more ...

How Camellias Evolved With the Formation of the Japanese Archipelago?

Jan. 26, 2025 — Japan Sea element plants are generally thought to have evolved from closely related species on the Pacific side. Camellia japonica and Camellia rusticana were also believed to follow this pattern. However, a new study revealed that their origins ...

Study Points to South America -- Not Mexico -- As Birthplace of Irish Potato Famine Pathogen

Jan. 24, 2025 — Researchers firmly point the finger at the South American Andes Mountains as the place where the Irish potato famine pathogen, Phtytophthora infestans, ...

New Tool Enables Phylogenomic Analyses of Entire Genomes

Jan. 23, 2025 — Electrical engineers have developed a better way to perform the comparative analysis of entire genomes. This approach can be used to study relationships between different species across geological time scales. This new approach is poised to unlock ...

Latest Headlines

updated 2:47pm EST

Plant's Name-Giving Feature Found to Be New Offspring-Ensuring Method

Jan. 23, 2025 — 130 years after a fungus-eating plant received its name, a researcher has uncovered the purpose of the structure that inspired its name -- revealing a novel mechanism by which plants ensure ...

Streamlining Genetic Analysis for Phylogenetic Studies

Jan. 23, 2025 — A new computational tool improves the analysis of genetic data, making it easier and faster to study the evolutionary relationships between ...

Solving the Evolutionary Puzzle of Polyploidy: How Genome Duplication Shapes Adaptation

Jan. 23, 2025 — Scientists have developed a theoretical model that uncovers the dual role of polyploidy -- organisms carrying extra genome copies -- in evolution. ...

New Twist in Mystery of Dinosaurs' Origin

Jan. 23, 2025 — The remains of the earliest dinosaurs may lie undiscovered in the Amazon and other equatorial regions of South America and Africa, suggests a new ...

Many Roads Lead To... the Embryo

Jan. 22, 2025 — Is there only one optimal configuration an organism can reach during evolution? Is there a single formula that describes the trajectory towards the optimum? And can we 'derive' it in a purely ...

Reading the Genome and Understanding Evolution: Symbioses and Gene Transfer in Leaf Beetles

Jan. 17, 2025 — Scientists explored the evolutionary success of leaf beetles, the most diverse herbivores on Earth. They showed that symbioses with bacteria have ...

Ecologists Reveal Key Genetic Insights for the Conservation of Iconic Cockatoo Species

Jan. 13, 2025 — Ecologists have made valuable discoveries that could transform the conservation of two iconic cockatoo species: the Sulphur-crested cockatoos and the ...

Bacterial Survival Genes Uncovered Using Evolutionary Map

Jan. 13, 2025 — Researchers have described how the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus genetically adapts to humans, including mutations that allow some strains to evade the immune system and become resistant to ...

Coyote Genes May Show Urban Evolution at Work

Jan. 15, 2025 — A new study outlines the ways by which city life may be shaping the evolution of urban coyotes, the highly adaptable carnivores spotted in alleyways from Berkeley, Calif., to the Bronx, in New ...

Detecting Hidden Genetic Relationships in Animal Populations

Jan. 15, 2025 — Understanding biological relationships is often critical when studying animal populations. Researchers have now developed a transformative approach that identifies stretches of DNA that two ...

What Makes Some Plant Species 'Ripe' for Domestication

Jan. 14, 2025 — Researchers have proposed that some wild plant species possess certain attributes which make them more suitable for human cultivation than ...

Polygamy Is (Not) for the Birds

Jan. 13, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered new insights into the evolution of bird behavior, revealing why certain mating systems persist while others disappear over ...

New Fossil Discovery Sheds Light on the Early Evolution of Animal Nervous Systems

Jan. 10, 2025 — An international team of scientists has uncovered a fascinating piece of the evolutionary puzzle: how the ventral nerve cord, a key component of the central nervous system, evolved in ecdysozoan ...

Chimpanzees Are Genetically Adapted to Local Habitats and Infections Such as Malaria

Jan. 9, 2025 — Chimpanzees bear genetic adaptations that help them thrive in their different forest and savannah habitats, some of which may protect against malaria, according to a study by an international ...

An Earful of Gill: Evolutionary Origin of the Mammalian Outer Ear

Jan. 9, 2025 — A recent study has uncovered the surprising evolutionary origin of the mammalian outer ear, linking it to the gills of ancient fish and marine invertebrates. The research reveals that both structures ...

The Extreme Teeth of Sabre-Toothed Predators Were 'Optimal' for Biting Into Prey

Jan. 9, 2025 — Sabre-toothed predators -- best know from the infamous Smilodon -- evolved multiple times across different mammal groups. A new study reveals why: these teeth were 'functionally optimal' ...

Tiny Microbe Colonies Communicate to Coordinate Their Behavior

Jan. 8, 2025 — A new study reveals evidence of electrical signaling and coordinated behavior in choanoflagellates, the closest living relatives of animals. This elaborate example of cell communication offers key ...

Hornwort Genomes Provide Clues on How Plants Conquered the Land

Jan. 6, 2025 — Over 450 million years ago, plants began the epic transition from water to dry land. Among the first pioneers were the ancestors of humble hornworts, a group of small, unassuming plants that have ...

Some Bacteria Evolve Like Clockwork With the Seasons

Jan. 3, 2025 — Each year, most species of bacteria in a Wisconsin lake rapidly evolved, apparently in response to dramatically changing seasons, and then evolved ...

Oldest-Known Evolutionary 'Arms Race'

Jan. 3, 2025 — A new study presents what is believed to be the oldest known example in the fossil record of an evolutionary arms race. These 517-million-year-old predator-prey interactions occurred in the ocean ...

Genetics of Alternating Sexes in Walnuts

Jan. 2, 2025 — Biologists have revealed genetics behind the alternating sexes of walnut trees. The research reveals a mechanism that has been stable in walnuts and their ancestors going back 40 million years -- and ...

Revealing a Key Mechanism of Rapid Centromere Evolution

Jan. 1, 2025 — A research team has clarified a mechanism of how retrotransposons, genetic elements that can 'jump around' chromosomes and are known drivers of evolution, preferentially insert in the ...

How Do Monkeys Recognize Snakes So Fast?

Dec. 26, 2024 — A researcher has found that the rapid detection of snakes by monkeys is because of the presence of snake scales as a visual cue. His findings highlight an evolutionary adaptation of primates to ...

Fly Vs. Wasp: Stealing a Defense Move Helps Thwart a Predator

Dec. 25, 2024 — Many flies are plagued by parasitic wasps, which lay their eggs in fly larvae, turning them into surrogate wombs for wasp larvae. One common fly has successfully fought off its wasp predator by ...

Genes Linked to Deadly Parasites' Spread Beyond Africa Identified

Dec. 19, 2024 — Parasites that cause the deadly illness known as sleeping sickness can spread beyond their native Africa as a result of mutations to key genes, a study ...

Chart of Life Extended by Nearly 1.5 Billion Years

Dec. 19, 2024 — Fossilized skeletons and shells clearly show how evolution and extinction unfolded over the past half a billion years, but a new analysis extends the chart of life to nearly 2 billion years ago. The ...

Histone Modification Important for Correct Blood Cell Formation

Dec. 18, 2024 — Molecular biologists decode the epigenetic silencing of problematic retroviral gene ...

Fossil Predator Is the Oldest Known Animal With 'Saber Teeth'

Dec. 17, 2024 — Scientists have discovered the oldest known animal with saber teeth: a predator that lived 270 million years ago. This animal, from before the age of the dinosaurs, was a dog-like creature that was ...

Salmon Genes Unlock Secrets of Puberty and Evolution

Dec. 17, 2024 — A study shows how a single gene in Atlantic salmon can dramatically influence the timing of puberty -- a key factor for salmon life cycle and ...

Detailed Bedbug Genome Analysis May Improve Pesticides

Dec. 16, 2024 — Scientists now have a better genetic understanding of the insect. The research offers an updated genome analysis of the common bedbug Cimex lectularius, providing new insight for those working to ...