How Frogs Benefited From The Dinosaurs' Extinction
The asteroid that hit Earth 66 million years ago spelled disaster for the dinosaurs. But scientists say they’ve found one silver lining to the mass extinction — turns out, it…
evolution
Scientists 3-D Print Mouse Ovaries That Actually Make Babies
Not all girls grow up to be mothers. Sometimes they choose not to be, and sometimes circumstances take those choices away. A superfluity of cancers and genetic diseases can destroy…
In Brain Evolution, Size Matters – Most of the Time
Which came first, overall bigger brains or larger brain regions that control specialized behaviors? Neuroscientists have debated this question for decades, but a new Cornell study settles the score. The…
“Smart” Cephalopods Trade Off Genome Evolution for Prolific RNA Editing
Octopus, squid, and cuttlefish are famous for engaging in complex behavior, from unlocking an aquarium tank and escaping to instantaneous skin camouflage to hide from predators. A new study suggests…
Why Are Primates Big-Brained? Researchers’ Answer Is Food for Thought
Brain size in primates is predicted by diet, an analysis by a team of New York University anthropologists indicates. These results call into question “the social brain hypothesis,” which has…
How Mammary Glands Appeared In The Course Of Evolution
A joint team of geneticists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, demonstrated that the emergence of mammary glands in…