Evolutionary biology: Ants can hold a grudge
A team led by evolutionary biologist Volker Nehring is investigating the extent to which ants learn from past experiences. Ants learn from experience. This has been demonstrated by a team…
Study of mountaineering mice sheds light on evolutionary adaptation
Teams of mountaineering mice are helping advance understanding into how evolutionary adaptation to localized conditions can enable a single species to thrive across diverse environments. In a study led by…
Evolutionary paths vastly differ for birds, bats
New Cornell University research has found that, unlike birds, the evolution of bats’ wings and legs is tightly coupled, which may have prevented them from filling as many ecological niches…
Genomic dark matter solves butterfly evolutionary riddle
A team of international researchers has uncovered a surprising genetic mechanism that influences the vibrant and complex patterns on butterfly wings. In a study published in the Proceedings of the…
On repeat: Biologists observe recurring evolutionary changes, over time, in stick insects
A long-standing debate among evolutionary scientists goes something like this: Does evolution happen in a predictable pattern or does it depend on chance events and contingency? That is, if you…
Evolutionary history of the formation of forceps and maternal care in earwigs
Dermaptera (earwigs) are an order of common insects often found under stones and is characterized by a pair of forcep-like pincers on their dark abdominal ends. Systematically, they belong to…
An evolutionary mystery 125 million years in the making
Plant genomics has come a long way since Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) helped sequence the first plant genome. But engineering the perfect crop is still, in many ways, a…
How did humans learn to walk? New evolutionary study offers an earful
Humans and our closest relatives, living apes, display a remarkable diversity of types of locomotion — from walking upright on two legs to climbing in trees and walking using all…