… But don’t panic. Apparently, this is normal.It turns out that bacteria living at the bottom of the sea are far more abundant and diverse than scientists had previously thought. These bacteria appear to be consuming the planet’s oceanic crust. This raises several interesting questions regarding the interaction and co evolution of life on Earth and the Earth itself.[UPDATED] Continue reading The Earth Is Being Eaten By Bacteria!
Tag Archives: Evolutionary Biology
Resurrection of DNA Function from an Extinct Genome
Paul Stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world
Mycologist Paul Stamets studies the mycelium — and lists 6 ways that this astonishing fungus can help save the world….Paul Stamets believes that mushrooms can save our lives, restore our ecosystems and transform other worlds
Continue reading Paul Stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world
The Phalarope: Not just another polyandrous bird…
As Charles Darwin showed nearly 150 years ago, bird beaks are exquisitely adapted to the birds’ feeding strategy. A team of MIT mathematicians and engineers has now explained exactly how some shorebirds use their long, thin beaks to defy gravity and transport food into their mouths.The phalarope, commonly found in western North America, takes advantage of surface interactions between its beak and water droplets to propel bits of food from the tip of its long beak to its mouth, the research team reports in the May 16 issue of Science.These surface interactions depend on the chemical properties of the liquid involved, so phalaropes and about 20 other birds species that use this mechanism are extremely sensitive to anything that contaminates the water surface, especially detergents or oil.
Continue reading The Phalarope: Not just another polyandrous bird…
Paul Ewald: Can we domesticate germs?
Evolutionary biologist Paul Ewald drags us into the sewer to discuss germs. Why are some more harmful than others? How could we make the harmful ones benign? Searching for answers, he examines a disgusting, fascinating case: diarrhea.
Evolutionary Genetics of Canine Population Structure
A recent study of dog genetics, published in PLoS, seeks to improve the quality of genetic research by better understanding the underlying patterns of genetic variation at the level of specific dog breeds. Continue reading Evolutionary Genetics of Canine Population Structure
Be nice to me or I might not talk to you. Or worse, maybe I will talk to you…
Recently published research shows that individual humans will be nicer (more altruistic) when there is the possibility that the recipient of an act can respond verbally. The paper, “Anticipated verbal feedback induces altruistic behavior” is published in Evolution and Human Behavior for March. Continue reading Be nice to me or I might not talk to you. Or worse, maybe I will talk to you…
Let’s Make a Deal!
Do you know what the Monty Hall effect is? Let me explain.
OK, I’m Monty Hall and you are a hapless game show guest. I show you three doors and tell you that behind one door is a nice brand new car, and behind each of the other two doors is a goat.You get to pick one of the door. Say you pick Door Number 1.Now, I have my lovely assistant Gwenda (assume her name is Gwenda) open Door Number 3 to show you that there is a goat behind Door # 3. I give you the option: Are you going to stick with Door Number 1, or are you going to switch to the only remaining unopened door?Statistically, scientifically, what is the correct answer to this question? Obviously, the probability that the car was behind the door you chose has not changed, so you should not change your mind without any other information, right? Continue reading Let’s Make a Deal!
The Boneyard XIII
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr….
Welcome to the Lucky 13th Edition of The Boneyard … the Web Carnival about Bones and Stuff.
“The Boneyard is a blog carnival covering all things paleo, from dinosaurs to pollen to hominids and everywhere in between. It’s held every two weeks (the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month), traveling around to a different blog for each installment, connecting some of the best blogging on ancient life.”
The previous edition of The Boneyard is here, at Dragon’s Tales. The next edition of The Boneyard will be Here at Archaeozoology. If you would like to submit an entry to the next edition, you may do so here. As always, thanks to Brian for originating and managing this carnival.
Elephants Are Not Ethnic-Blind
I have had this experience. I’ve traveled literally hundreds of kilometers by foot together with Efe (Pygmy) hunters in the Ituri Forest. We see very few animals. The few we do see are attacked, killed, and eaten. Well, a lot of them actually get away, but that is the idea.
But I’ve also traveled many kilometers (not as many) alone. I would see many animals, and yes, they would run (or climb or whatever) away, but not as desperately. They knew I was not really one of the hunters, although I tried my best to look tough and hungry.
Ick
Mammals and the KT Event
A very important and truly wonderful paper in Nature described a tour-de-force analysis of the Mammalian Evolutionary Record, and draws the following two important conclusions:
- The diversification of the major groups of mammals occurred millions of years prior to the KT boundary event; and
- The further diversification of these groups into the modern pattern of mammalian diversity occurred millions of years later than the KT boundary event.
Giardia: Protozoan of never ending wonders
… well, OK, maybe that is a slight exaggeration.You know about giardia. Giardia intestinalis. It causes a nasty gut infection, and you get it by drinking water pretty much anywhere in the US (potentially). It is very hard to get rid of.Giardia adapt to immune system attacks (of their host) in a way that passes that adaptation down to their offspring without genes. It is a Lamarkian process. Giardia have no mitochondria, yet many of the genes known to be in mitochondria in eukaryotes are found in the giardian nucleus. So, ancestral giardia probably had mitochondria, but all those genes got transferred over to the nucleus.The absence of mitochondria and the significant reduction of some other organelles has led people to, probably falsely, believe that giardia is some kind of intermediate between prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Again, this is probably a misinterpretation. Giardia, as a eukaryote which has lost specific organelles (yet still does just fine) would be in a sense “more evolved” than any eukaryote. Including, dear reader, you.And now, there is even a newer twist to the story. Continue reading Giardia: Protozoan of never ending wonders
The Origin of Syphilis
Syphilis is first clearly seen in Europe in 1495, when it appeared as a plague (though it was not “the blague” … Yersinia pestis) among Charles VIII’s troops. When these troops went home shortly after the fall of Naples, they brought this disease with them, staring an epidemic. The level of mortality in Europe was truly devastating. Is it the case that syphilis was brought to Europe by Columbus and his men just prior to the plague-like outbreak of 1495? Continue reading The Origin of Syphilis
How to Avoid Inbreeding
How do you avoid having sex with your close relatives? Well, not you, specifically, but how is it done generally, or perhaps among mammals in particular? Continue reading How to Avoid Inbreeding