They may be lethal, leathery, and literally armored to the teeth, but crocodiles and alligators, it turns out, are sensitive types. Their snouts, in fact, are even more touch-sensitive than human fingertips, a new study says. Part of the crocodilian reptile order, alligators have some 4,000 of tiny, raised black spots, or domes, on their…
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…
Sequencing DNA from individual cells is changing the way that researchers think of humans as a whole.
The only modern humans whose ancestors did not interbreed with Neanderthals are apparently sub-Saharan Africans, researchers say. New findings, detailed in the journal PLoS ONE, suggest modern North Africans carry genetic traces from Neanderthals, modern humanity’s closest known extinct relatives. Although modern humans are the only surviving members of the human lineage, others once roamed…
British scientists today unveiled the world’s first family tree for all living birds – revealing that the group of species that outlived the dinosaurs is still evolving faster than anyone imagined. The unique snapshot goes back 110 million years to when our feathered friends shared the earth with T-Rex and the skies with pterodactyls. It…
Animals can focus their sense of smell in much the same way as humans focus their eyes, helping them detect predators and search out food. Researchers at the University of Chicago found that rats adjust their sense of smell through sniffing techniques that bring scents to receptors in different parts of the nose. The sniffing…
Few of us are as smart as we’d like to be. You’re sharper than Jim (maybe) but dull next to Jane. Human intelligence varies. And this matters, because smarter people generally earn more money, enjoy better health, raise smarter children, feel happier and, just to rub it in, live longer as well. But where does…
Evolution, often perceived as a series of random changes, might in fact be driven by a simple and repeated genetic solution to an environmental pressure that a broad range of species happen to share, according to new research. Princeton University research published in the journal Science suggests that knowledge of a species’ genes—and how certain…
Research suggests that not only did wings evolve in dinosaurs earlier than previously thought, they may have evolved merely for courtship displays. A study in Science describes three Ornithomimosaur specimens – distantly related to birds – from Canada. Both juvenile and adult specimens had evidence of downy feathers, but only an adult had wing-like structures….
Scientists have demonstrated a new type of gene therapy that would – in principle – allow mothers to avoid saddling their children with rare diseases that could result in heart problems, dementia, diabetes, deafness and other significant health issues. The disorders in question are all due to mutations in one of the 37 genes in…