How towns and cities cause extinction of local plantsOctober 9th, 2009 LONDON - An international team of botanists has revealed how towns and cities cause the extinction of local plants. According to a report by BBC News, the team has compared extinction rates of plants within 22 cities around the world.
'Royal blood disorder' that afflicted Queen Victoria's family line identifiedOctober 9th, 2009 LONDON - The identity of the "cursed blood" disorder that troubled the British Royal Family in the 19th and early 20th centuries has been revealed. DNA analysis show that the disease inherited by Queen Victoria's descendants was probably a severe form of the blood clotting disorder haemophilia B, according to the study published in journal Science.
Global mass extinction 250 million years ago triggered fungus explosionOctober 5th, 2009 SYDNEY - A new study has determined that the world's worst mass extinction 250 million years ago was the trigger for a fungus explosion, which puts to rest the idea that an asteroid impact may have had a hand in the massive destruction. When the worldwide extinction took place, lush forests lay in ruins all across the supercontinent Pangea.
New book offers solution for teaching evolution without conflictOctober 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new book written by University of Alabama at Birmingham researcher claims to offer a novel way to teach evolution without offending students who have strong religious convictions against the theory. According to Professor Lee Meadows, Ph.D., author of a new book titled The Missing Link: An Inquiry Approach for Teaching All Students About Evolution, School districts, politicians and church leaders have debated for decades as to whether Charles Darwin's theory of evolution should be taught in schools.
Sex chromosomes linked to evolution of new speciesSeptember 28th, 2009 LONDON - Experiments in stickleback fish have shown for the first time that the evolution of new sex chromosomes is the driving force behind the formation of a new vertebrate species. Up until now, most evidence has shown that new species arise because they have adapted to new environments.
New species emerge just as often as they die outAugust 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study by paleontologists has statistically proven that new species emerge just as often as they die out, with most evolution occurring in small bursts. The study, by Luke Harmon, professor of biological sciences at the University of Idaho, who worked with a research team led by Michael Alfaro, UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) assistant professor of ecology and evolution biology, analyzed the evolution of the 60,000 species of jawed vertebrates using genetic data.
Earth's mass extinctions not likely caused by crashing cometsJuly 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new University of Washington research indicates it is highly unlikely that comets have caused any of Earth's mass extinctions or have been responsible for more than one minor extinction event. The work also shows that many long-period comets that end up in Earth-crossing orbits likely originate from a region astronomers have long believed could not produce observable comets.
Male sex chromosome on way to extinctionJuly 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The sex chromosome that only males carry is deteriorating and could disappear within a few million years. A pair of Penn State University (PSU) scientists discovered that the male Y chromosome evolved at a much more rapid pace than X chromosome, which both males and females carry.
Dinosaur fish had sex 380 million years agoJuly 16th, 2009 SYDNEY - The male members of an ancient fish species known as sea dinosaurs impregnated females with penis like organs 380 million years ago, just like modern day sharks. Some fish species engaged in penetrative sex and gave birth to young ones, according to a study conducted by Curtin University of Technology (CUT).
Why male and female lemurs are of same sizeJuly 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Rice University biologist Amy Dunham has put forward a new theory for one of primatology's long-standing mysteries-why are male and female lemurs the same size?
In most primate species, males have evolved to be much larger than females, but this has not been found to be true in case of lemurs. Some theories have suggested that environment played a role or that lemur social development was altered due to the extinction of predatory birds.
Declining bumblebee populations at greater risk of inbreeding, say researchersJuly 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new piece of research suggests that inbreeding can trigger a downward spiral of reduction among the already declining bumblebee populations. Published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, the study has for the first time provided proof that inbreeding reduces colony fitness under natural conditions by increasing the production of reproductively inefficient 'diploid' males.
Same-sex behaviour nearly universal among animalsJune 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Same-sex behaviour can be found in almost all species in the animal kingdom - from worms to birds - making the practice nearly universal among animals, according to a new review of existing research. "It's clear that same-sex sexual behaviour extends far beyond the well-known examples that dominate both the scientific and popular literature: for example, bonobos, dolphins, penguins and fruit flies," said Nathan Bailey, the first author of the review paper and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biology at UC Riverside.
High school teachers shape students' views of evolution, creationismMay 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - College students' views about evolution and creationism are usually shaped by what their high school biology teachers teach them in class, a new University of Minnesota (UM) study claims. In the study, co-authors Randy Moore and Sehoya Cotner, professors in the College of Biological Sciences, surveyed 1,000 students taking introductory biology classes at UM to learn how biology majors view evolution compared to non-majors.
Dinos may have survived extinction for half a mln yrs in 'lost world' in AmericaApril 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New scientific evidence suggests that dinosaur bones from the Ojo Alamo Sandstone in the San Juan Basin, USA, date from after the mass extinction event, and that dinos may have survived in a remote area of what is now New Mexico and Colorado for up to half a million years, in a scenario resembling that of the fictional 'Lost World'. This controversial new research, is based on detailed chemical investigations of the dinosaur bones, and evidence for the age of the rocks in which they are found.
Female crickets choose mates by comparing male songsApril 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Female field crickets tend to remember attractive males on the basis of their songs, and then choose their mates accordingly, a new study has found. In the research, UC Riverside biologists have found for the first time that female crickets compare the information about the attractiveness of available males around them with other incoming signals when selecting attractive males for mating.
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