Simply Put: Evolving backwards

Did life evolve more than once? Researchers are closing in on an answer

Has all of life on Earth evolved only once, or are different living beings cut from different cloths? 

Ancient humans may have paused in Arabia for 30,000 years on their way out of Africa

 These humans may have slowly adapted to life in the region’s colder climate before venturing to Eurasia and beyond

Thriving in the face of adversity: Resilient gorillas reveal clues about overcoming childhood misfortune

Animals that survived past the age of 6 did not have the shorter life spans commonly associated with early life adversity in other species

‘An individual’s genome carries information shaped over millenia of evolutionary history’

Down To Earth spoke with Aryn P Wilder, co-author of one of 11 research papers providing insights into mammalian evolution

What makes humans unique? Scientists compare genomes of 240 species to uncover secrets of mammalian evolution

Mammals diversified when continental landmasses began drifting apart, notes study

Simply Put: New Theory of Evolution

Climate change is the architect of new human species

Fossil records tell us that physical changes typically take 500,000 years to appear 

Why do rorqual whales need to be enormous? Answer helps identify species threatened by climate change

Depending on how their prey fares, certain whale species will either win or lose in future oceans

The earliest modern humans in Europe mastered bow-and-arrow technology 54,000 years ago

Neanderthals did not develop mechanically propelled weapons, used traditional weapons

How fish evolved to walk — and in one case, turned into humans

Some fish species pull themselves forward using well developed fore-fins, while others “walk” along the ocean floor.

Rare dinosaur eggs found in Narmada Valley show how ancient reptiles shared traits with today’s birds: Study

Eggs belong to 6 species, suggesting a higher diversity of these extinct giants in India

Most humans haven’t evolved to cope with the cold, yet we dominate northern climates — here’s why

Sites from settlements such as Boxgrove in West Sussex offer clues about how ancient hominins survived northern climates

Following Alfred Russel Wallace’s footsteps to Borneo, where he penned his pioneering evolution paper

Wallace, born 200 years ago on January 8, wrote the Sarawak Law paper in a remote jungle far from anyone and anything back in 1855

Virus-only diet? Meet a hungry organism that thrives on them

Researchers stumble across plankton that considers viruses to be more like a snack than danger

2022 too short, too far: 5 times James Webb grabbed eyeballs

Telescope helped us understand how stars are born and unfolded Mars’ and Neptune’s secrets

The forgotten tigons and litigons of Alipore Zoo and other hybrids: Part 2

‘Species’ is a concept invented by human beings. And that concept is not clear-cut

Ancient GPS? Older, evolutionarily unchanged part of the brain guides lost fish back home

This part of the brain might perform a similar function in other vertebrates, including humans

Human evolution didn’t stop at split from chimpanzees, 155 tiny new genes identified: Study

Some of the new genes linked with growth defects, diseases, say scientists

Ancient humans may have first walked upright on trees, not land

Researchers look at chimpazees to understand bipedalism; New study contradicts earlier theories

Food supply, protection determine denning habits of striped hyenas

Denning behaviour in a species helps to maximise its overall survival fitness in its habitat by securing a foothold place against adverse …

When did humans first start to speak? How language evolved in Africa

Ability to produce speech sounds catapulted Homo sapiens into a world in which they would dominate all other species

Rare microbial predators with voracious appetite form a new branch in ‘tree of life’: Study

Learning more about these undiscovered branches of life can help shed more light on the foundations of the living world and how evolution works

Were Neanderthals carnivores? A tooth offers new insight into their diets

Diets a topic of debate; Researchers look into zinc isotopes in molar sample  

Ocean currents protect Galápagos Islands from global warming; but are they safe forever?

Flora and fauna of the Galápagos could assist reseed failing ecosystems and maintain the region’s fisheries