Evolution News
Science Daily
Human-like spine morphology found in aquatic eel fossil
Tue, 22 May 2012 20:08:08 EDT
For decades, scientists believed that a spine with multiple segments was an exclusive feature of land-dwelling animals. But the discovery of the same anatomical feature in a 345-million-year-old eel suggests that this complex anatomy arose separately from -- and perhaps before -- the first species to walk on land.
Squid ink from Jurassic period identical to modern cuttlefish ink
Mon, 21 May 2012 16:37:37 EDT
Scientists have found that two ink sacs from 160-million-year-old giant squid fossils discovered 2 years ago in England contain the pigment melanin, and that it is essentially identical to the melanin found in the ink sacs of modern-day squid.
The Rhine is five million years older than first thought: Age of the river corrected based on fossils
Wed, 16 May 2012 19:54:54 EDT
Scientists have examined the age of the Rhine based on fossils. They have discovered that the river is five million years older than previously believed.
Big-mouthed babies drove the evolution of giant island snakes
Tue, 15 May 2012 15:10:10 EDT
The need to have big-mouthed babies drove the evolution of giant tiger snakes on Australian islands, new research shows. The findings offer a new dimension to the study of island gigantism and dwarfism.
Ancient plant-fungal partnerships reveal how the world became green
Tue, 15 May 2012 13:17:17 EDT
Prehistoric plants grown in state-of-the-art growth chambers recreating environmental conditions from more than 400 million years ago have shown scientists how soil dwelling fungi played a crucial role in the evolution of plants.