By analyzing the relationship between the geographic location of current human populations in relation to East Africa and the genetic variability within these populations, researchers have found new evidence for an African origin of modern humans.
Animal Planet
Three bacterial genomes found lurking inside recently sequenced fruit fly genomes
(Bugs have littler bugs?)When scientists finished sequencing the genomes of seven species of fruit fly last year, little did they know that they had also sequenced the genes of several bacteria that dwell undetected inside fruit fly embryos.
( )Eisen said. "After all, there are more bacterial cells in a human body than there are human cells."
Ideas About Fossil Horses Undergo Evolution In Thinking
The old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be, says a University of Florida researcher whose findings show that the evolution of horses had more twists and turns than previously thought.
In the mating game, male wild turkeys benefit even when they don't get the girl
**
Unlike other bats, vampire bats keep out of trouble by running
**
Plants defy Mendel's inheritance laws, may prompt textbook changes
(Call the police; these plants are breaking the law!)
**
(Oh, brother! What turkeys.)For wild turkeys, at least, helping your brother find a willing and eager mate is a better way to pass on your genes than chancing the mating game alone,
(Walter Koenig? Say what?)Integrative biology professor Walter Koenig, another of Krakauer's advisors and an expert on mating systems,
**
Unlike other bats, vampire bats keep out of trouble by running
(They probably thought they saw a slayer coming for them.)Although most people think of bats as stealthy mammals that flit about in the night sky, at least one species has evolved a terrestrial trot never before seen in bats,
**
Plants defy Mendel's inheritance laws, may prompt textbook changes
(Call the police; these plants are breaking the law!)
**
NC State Paleontologist Discovers Soft Tissue in Dinosaur Bones
(And it doesn't even involve mosquitos stuck in amber!)Conventional wisdom among paleontologists states that when dinosaurs died and became fossilized, soft tissues didn’t preserve – the bones were essentially transformed into “rocks” through a gradual replacement of all organic material by minerals. New research by a North Carolina State University paleontologist, however, could literally turn that theory inside out.
^ More on that subject...
Let the cloning begin!!!
These undated photos provided by the journal Science show demineralized fragments of tissues lining the marrow cavity of a Tyrannosaurus Rex femur. Photograph A shows the demineralized fragment is flexible and resilient and when stretched (arrow) returns to its original shape. Photograph B shows the demineralized bone in (A) after air drying. The overall structure and functional characteristics remain after dehydration. Photograph C shows regions of demineralized bone showing fibrous character (arrows). These characteristics are not normally seen in fossil bone. Scientists who had to break a dinosaur bone to remove it from its sandstone location say they have recovered 70-million-year-old soft tissues from inside the bone. The find included what appear to be blood vessels, and possibly even cells, from a Tyrannosaurus Rex. (AP Photo/Science)
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."-- Eleanor Roosevelt
Same Mutation Aided Evolution In Many Fish Species
***
Octopus Uses Two Arms to "Walk Away" from Trouble
***
("Niicccce fissshhhhhhh")After decades of laboratory work studying how animals evolve, researchers sometimes need to put on the hip waders, pull out the fishing net and go learn how their theory compares to the real world. According to a Stanford University School of Medicine study published in the March 25 issue of Science, Mother Nature is more predictable than lab experiments suggest.
***
Octopus Uses Two Arms to "Walk Away" from Trouble
(Gives a whole new meaning to the term "arms race", doesn't it? And isn't that little guy cute?)A diving trip always reveals amazing undersea creatures, but in 2000, while helping a film crew in the waters off an Indonesian island, a University of California, Berkeley, biologist did a double take when she saw an octopus walk by on two arms!
***