New findings from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences are helping us better understand how the human big toe evolved, and when it began evolving into the valuable tool it is today. The study suggests that the big toe was the last part …
View More The human big toe holds answers to our evolutionary pastCategory: evolution
How a population of lizards was forever changed by 2017’s extreme hurricane season
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The extreme winds from last year’s destructive hurricane season seems to have come with some unexpected consequences.
Hurricanes Irma and Maria — some of the most destructive in Caribbean history — may have forced rapid evolutionary change in a native population of small-bodied anole lizards (Anolis scriptus), researchers in the West Indies say.
According to a new study about the lizards released in Nature this week, much of the surviving population of lizards after the hurricanes have larger toe pads, longer forelimbs, and shorter hind limbs than the average anole. Read more…
More about Extreme Weather, Climate Change, Evolution, Hurricanes, and Hurricane Irma
View More How a population of lizards was forever changed by 2017’s extreme hurricane seasonGiant, newly discovered dinosaur was literally a huge weirdo
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You’re standing in a lush forest 230 million years ago in what is now Argentina.
You’re alone among the Triassic shrubbery. Suddenly, an elephant-sized dinosaur comes lumbering your way through the overgrowth.
The dinosaur looks somewhat familiar — kind of like a much smaller brachiosaurus — but it’s definitely different.
Instead of the straight legs, huge bodies, and long necks that have come to define the sauropods, this odd-looking creature has bent legs and a shorter neck, but it’s definitely huge, if not as big as its much larger cousins. Read more…
More about Science, Animals, Evolution, Dinosaurs, and Dinosaur Species
View More Giant, newly discovered dinosaur was literally a huge weirdoBBC reimagines the perfect human body and it’ll give you nightmares
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Humans aren’t perfect, but anatomist Alice Roberts knows how they could be.
On Wednesday, BBC shared a terrifying video in which Roberts reimagines the human body and creates Alice 2.0 — a version of herself with no errors and the most successful features of animals.
This, uh, different looking human model, has large eyes and ears, a chimp’s lower back, the legs of an emu, small pumps in her thighs to help blood circulation, and a breast-less chest. Within her lies a dog’s heart, “the graceful lungs of a swan,” and more. Casual. And oh yeah, to make the whole childbirth thing easier, she has a marsupial pouch. NO THANK YOU. Read more…
More about Science, Bbc, Evolution, Human Body, and Culture
View More BBC reimagines the perfect human body and it’ll give you nightmaresScientists have discovered spiders with tails because nightmares are real
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Around 100 million years ago, oozing tree sap poured over hundreds of tiny spiders, killing and preserving the critters in hardened amber.
Recently, miners in northern Burma pulled this ancient amber out of a quarry. Chunks of it were purchased by paleontologists, who found in the amber many well-preserved spiders — some of them with long, almost scorpion-like tails. Yes, tails.
After closely scrutinizing the critters, scientists have determined they’re likely a sort of proto-spider, not quite a proper arachnid, but a bridge between today’s eight-legged insect-hunters and a more primitive species. Read more…
More about Science, Spiders, Evolution, Fossils, and Tails
View More Scientists have discovered spiders with tails because nightmares are realListen to a captive killer whale named ‘Wikie’ mimic ‘hello’ back to scientists
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In 2014, scientists hauled their recording equipment into Marineland, an aquatic theme park located in the French resort town of Antibes. They wanted to see if a 14-year old orca whale living there, named Wikie, could listen to a huge diversity of sounds — from humans, elephants, and whales — and then mimic these noises back.
The experiment was designed to test the hypothesis, supported other studies, that killer whales and other cetaceans learn sounds in social settings.
According to their research, published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Wikie successfully copied these sounds back to the researchers — although there’s certainly no evidence she was ever truly “talking.” Read more…
More about Science, Seaworld, Evolution, Killer Whale, and Science
View More Listen to a captive killer whale named ‘Wikie’ mimic ‘hello’ back to scientistsHow to talk about cryptocurrency at the holiday dinner table
You’re sitting down to a nice meal and your aunt, always one step ahead, mentions she wants to start investing in Bitcoin. You freeze, a drip of gravy plopping off the ladle. It’s your time to shine. You got this. First, you know that the state of crypto is very, very good. This has been a banner year for cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin rose from $738 a year ago to $8220 as of this year.… Read More