Earthworms pip humans, dinos in Most Successful 100 Species On Earth tableOctober 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Earthworms have pipped mankind and dinosaurs to emerge as the most successful 100 species on Earth in a new league table. Christopher Lloyd, the author of 'What on Earth Evolved?', examined the entire history of the planet and its life forms to determine the most successful ones.
Oldest skeleton shines new light on human originsOctober 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Anthropologists took the wraps off the oldest known human ancestor Thursday - a 4.4-million-year-old Ethiopian skeleton named Ardi, which challenges many long-held assumptions about how humans and apes evolved. "It's not a chimp.
Links between modern humans, Neanderthals probedSeptember 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of researchers is probing the links between modern humans and Neanderthals. Homo neanderthalensis nearly made it through two Ice Ages in Europe, and disappeared roughly 30,000 years ago.
Baby chimps better at controlling emotions than human babiesSeptember 7th, 2009 LONDON - When it comes to controlling emotions, baby chimps do it better than human babies, concludes a new study. The research, which investigated the facial expressions of young chimpanzees, may explain why some babies cry so much and are so inconsolable.
Global warming threatens existence of tropical speciesAugust 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has determined that global warming threatens the existence of tropical species, the ecosystem and its by-products. The research was done by herpetologist Laurie Vitt, curator of reptiles and George Lynn Cross Research Professor at the University of Oklahoma's Sam Noble Museum of Natural History.
Round Goby fish invades Great Lakes, endangers native speciesAugust 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists from Canada has uncovered alarming invasion of the round goby fish into Great Lakes tributaries, which is likely to make an adverse impact on endangered fishes in the region. The team, from the University of Toronto (U of T), the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the University of Guelph has identified a drastic invasion of round goby into many Great Lakes tributaries, including several areas of the Thames, Sydenham, Ausable and Grand Rivers.
Scientists can now catalogue plants worldwideJuly 29th, 2009 TORONTO - Botanists have identified a pair of genes which can help catalogue plants worldwide, using a technique known as DNA bar coding. "Bar coding provides an efficient means by which we can discover the many undescribed species that exist on earth," said Spencer Barrett, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto (U-T), who led the study.
Two thirds of all species of freshwater crab maybe at risk of going extinctJuly 28th, 2009 LONDON - A new survey has indicated that two thirds of all species of freshwater crab maybe at risk of going extinct, with one in six species particularly vulnerable. According to a report by BBC News, the study, which is the first global assessment of the extinction risk for any group of freshwater invertebrates, makes freshwater crabs among the most threatened of all groups of animals assessed so far.
Neanderthal man's murder may be a possible case of interspecies homicideJuly 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has determined that the wound that ultimately killed a Neanderthal man between 50,000 and 75,000 years was most likely caused by a thrown spear, the kind modern humans used, thus indicating a possible case of interspecies homicide. Analysis by Steven Churchill, an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, indicates that the wound was from a thrown spear, and it appears that modern humans had a thrown-weapons technology and Neanderthals didn't.
Illness carried by humans may have killed the Neanderthals 30,000 years agoJuly 8th, 2009 COPENHAGEN - A new theory has suggested that an infectious disease carried by Homo sapiens migrating out of Africa was responsible for the demise of the Neanderthal 30,000 years ago. According to a report in The Copenhagen Post, Professor emeritus Bent Sorensen of the University of Roskilde said that disease carried by Homo sapiens migrating out of Africa was responsible for the gradual extinction of our prehistoric cousins in the same way that European illnesses ravaged Native American populations in the sixteenth century.
Neanderthals dried hunks of big game meat for easy transportJune 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has determined that necessity compelled Neanderthals to dry hunks of big game meat for easy transport. According to a report in Discovery News, the findings help to explain how Neanderthals could transport meat over long distances without it rotting, as well as how they survived the often chilly conditions of Northern Europe.
Ancient ape with human face may prove to be "missing link" speciesJune 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have discovered an 11.9-million-year-old fossil ape species with an unusually flat, "surprisingly human" face in Spain, a find that could prove to be the "missing link" between early human ancestors and more primitive apes. According to a report in National Geographic News, the species, Anoiapithecus brevirostris, suggests humans' ape ancestors split from primitive apes in Europe, not Africa.
Host species' extinction could make parasites jump onto alternative hostsJune 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists have determined that when host species go extinct, their parasites could switch onto alternative hosts which in turn could increase the rate of emerging pathogens for humans, domesticated animals and plants. The study was carried out by North Carolina State University biologist Rob Dunn and colleagues.
Where do parasites go when their hosts become extinct?June 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The loss of endangered species sends alarm bells ringing among conservationists, but what happens to the parasites they host?
Although most people would side with the panda over the parasite, which group should we worry about more?
North Carolina State University (NCSU) biologist Rob Dunn and colleagues examined the concept of co-extinction, the loss of one species upon the extinction of another. "Decline in host species could drive parasite species to switch onto alternative hosts, which could escalate the rate of emerging pathogens and parasites both for humans and our domesticated animals and plants," Dunn said.
Neanderthals constituted three separate sub-groups, confirm scientistsApril 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists have confirmed that the Neanderthals constituted three separate sub-groups, between which slight differences could be observed. Paleoanthropological studies based on morphological skeletal evidence have offered some support for the existence of three different sub-groups: one in Western Europe, one in southern Europe and another in the Levant.
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