Atoms and the Miracle of Life
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Humans, Chimpanzees and Monkeys Share DNA, Not Gene Regulation
Humans share over 90% of their DNA with their primate cousins. The expression or activity patterns of genes differ across species in ways that help explain each species’ distinct biology and behavior. DNA factors that contribute to the differences were described at the American Society of Human Genetics 2012 meeting in a presentation by Yoav…
Chimps Use Human-Like Gestures to Communicate
Wild chimpanzees communicate using similar gestures to humans, according to a Stirling researcher. Anna Roberts said she had identified about 20 to 30 manual gestures used by chimps, up to a third of which were similar to those used by humans. The chimps’ gestures included beckoning to make someone approach or flailing their arms to…
Human Evolution Enters Exciting New Phase
If you could escape the human time scale for a moment, and regard evolution from the perspective of deep time, in which the last 10,000 years are a short chapter in a long saga, you’d say: Things are pretty wild right now. In the most massive study of genetic variation yet, published in Nature, researchers…
Rethinking Modern Human Origins
It’s assumed that modern humans, Homo sapiens, originated in Africa sometime between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago. But paleoanthropologist Tim Weaver argues there might be another way to interpret our species’ beginnings. Instead of a discrete origin event, he suggests in the Journal of Human Evolution that our ancestors’ arrival into the world might have…
Feathered Dinosaur Gives Evolution Clues
A feathered dinosaur fossil about 12 inches long is older than bird-like dinosaurs from which birds are thought to have evolved, British paleontologists say. The discovery of the new bird-like dinosaur from the Jurassic period, dubbed Eosinopteryx, presents a challenge to widely accepted theories on the origin of flight, they said. The fossilized remains found…
Humans Hunted Australia’s Giant Beasts to Extinction
Humans hunted Australia’s giant vertebrates to extinction about 40,000 years ago, the latest research published in Science has concluded. The cause of the widespread extinction has provoked much debate, with climate change being one theory. However, scientists studied dung samples from 130,000 and 41,000 years ago, when humans arrived, and concluded hunting and fire were…