Natural selection can slow evolution, maintain similarities across generations
Natural selection is usually understood in the context of change. When organisms deviate from the norm, they may gain advantages that let their lineages...
RNA recovered from extinct species for the first time
A new study shows the isolation and sequencing of more than a century-old RNA molecules from a Tasmanian tiger specimen preserved at room temperature...
Genomes of enigmatic tusk shells provide new insights into early molluscan evolution
Accurate phylogenetic trees are fundamental to evolutionary and comparative biology, but the almost simultaneous emergence of major animal phyla and diverse body plans during...
Tiny sea creatures reveal the ancient origins of neurons
A study in the journal Cell sheds new light on the evolution of neurons, focusing on the placozoans, a millimetre-sized marine animal. Researchers at...
Algae provide clues about 600 million years of plant evolution
The Earth's surface is covered by plants. They make up the majority of biomass on land and exhibit a wide range of diversity, from...
Nature’s great survivors: Flowering plants survived the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs
A new study by researchers from the University of Bath (UK) and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico) shows that flowering plants escaped relatively...
