Zombie-ant fungi and hadrosaur bubs: The 2023 image competition winners

They’re not always beautiful, but the wonders of the natural world provide a rich pool of material for researchers to flex their hands with the more creative side of scientific fieldwork.Continue ReadingCategory: Photography, TechnologyTags: Evolution,… Continue reading Zombie-ant fungi and hadrosaur bubs: The 2023 image competition winners

7-generation Stone Age family tree suggests complex social structure

Anthropologists have pieced together the most complete Stone Age family tree so far, spanning seven generations of relatives. Genetic studies of the remains of dozens of people in one burial site in France reveal some surprising insights into the famil… Continue reading 7-generation Stone Age family tree suggests complex social structure

Post-menopausal orcas are also overbearing helicopter parents

The matriarchal structure of orca society is well known, with females potentially living up to 90 years and playing a crucial role in passing on knowledge to the younger animals. Previous research into why these females live so long after they stop rep… Continue reading Post-menopausal orcas are also overbearing helicopter parents

In an evolutionary rarity, sea snakes may have regained lost color vision

Most snakes can only see the colors blue and green, along with ultraviolet light in some cases. New research, however, suggests that sea snakes have evolved to actually regain the wider-color vision of their earliest ancestors.Continue ReadingCategory:… Continue reading In an evolutionary rarity, sea snakes may have regained lost color vision

Synthetic lifeform regains lost “fitness” in evolution experiment

How small a canvas can evolution work on? Scientists have experimented with a synthetic lifeform designed to have the simplest possible genome, and found that given the chance it can evolve lost fitness back, showing that indeed, “life finds a way.”Con… Continue reading Synthetic lifeform regains lost “fitness” in evolution experiment

Lucy the ancient human walked fully upright, and she was ripped

We may only ever have 47 of the 207 bones that made up the skeleton of this 3.18-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis specimen known affectionately and widely as Lucy, but it’s been enough to make some incredible discoveries (and stir up more th… Continue reading Lucy the ancient human walked fully upright, and she was ripped

Lucy the ancient human walked fully upright, and she was ripped

We may only ever have 47 of the 207 bones that made up the skeleton of this 3.18-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis specimen known affectionately and widely as Lucy, but it’s been enough to make some incredible discoveries (and stir up more th… Continue reading Lucy the ancient human walked fully upright, and she was ripped

Fossilized steroids reveal “lost world” of mysterious organisms

Scientists have discovered evidence of a “lost world” of previously unknown lifeforms that inhabited Earth between 800 million and 1.6 billion years ago. Fossilized fat compounds were identified in rocks all over the world, likely produced by our ancie… Continue reading Fossilized steroids reveal “lost world” of mysterious organisms

Fossilized steroids reveal “lost world” of mysterious organisms

Scientists have discovered evidence of a “lost world” of previously unknown lifeforms that inhabited Earth between 800 million and 1.6 billion years ago. Fossilized fat compounds were identified in rocks all over the world, likely produced by our ancie… Continue reading Fossilized steroids reveal “lost world” of mysterious organisms

“Virgin birth” seen in a crocodile suggests dinosaurs could also go solo

Scientists have observed the first known “virgin birth” in crocodiles. A female crocodile, kept alone in captivity for 16 years, laid a clutch of eggs that included a fully formed fetus which was genetically identical to its mother. The find reveals th… Continue reading “Virgin birth” seen in a crocodile suggests dinosaurs could also go solo