Geobulletin alpha

Sturgeons Are Far From Living Fossils 

Efforts to restore sturgeon in the Great Lakes region have received a lot of attention in recent years, and many of the news stories note that the prehistoric-looking fish are "living fossils" virtually unchanged for millions of years. But a new study by University of Michigan researchers and their colleagues reveals that in at least one measure of evolutionary change—changes in body

Is mrps-5 the Longevity Gene? 

Mitochondria are the cell’s workhorse, transforming the calories we eat into useable energy. They have also been the subject of lots of scrutiny over longevity, since lifespan is intimately tied up with metabolism. Now a new study reports that mitochondrial malfunction may actually be the key to extending life. Although loss of mitochondrial function has been associated with increased

The Kiwis Had an Adam and Eve 

Kiwi are flightless, nocturnal birds that are native to New Zealand. There are five recognised species of kiwi, and with 400 remaining individuals, the rarest is the critically endangered Rowi (Apteryx rowi) of New Zealand’s Okarito forest. The second rarest species is the little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii), which has been spread over several of New Zealand’s smaller islands

Comprehensive Squamate Phylogeny Released 

A George Washington University biologist and a team of researchers have created the first large-scale evolutionary family tree for every snake and lizard around the globe. The findings were recently published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. Alex Pyron, the Robert F. Griggs Assistant Professor of Biology in GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, along with researchers from

Paleovirology: Studying Bird Genomes Uncovers a Mesozoic Virus 

The genome of a Mesozoic paleovirus reveals the evolution of hepatitis B viruses Authors: 1. Alexander Suh (a,c) 2. Jürgen Brosius (a) 3. Jürgen Schmitz (a) 4. Jan Ole Kriegs (a,b) Affiliations: a. Institute of Experimental Pathology (ZMBE), University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Straße 56, D-48149 Münster, Germany b. LWL-Museum für Naturkunde, Westfälisches Landesmuseum

Population Turnover in Europe circa 2500 BC With the Arrival of Farming? 

DNA recovered from ancient skeletons reveals that the genetic makeup of modern Europe was established around 4,500 years ago in the mid-Neolithic, and not by the first farmers who arrived in the area around 7,500 years ago or by earlier hunter-gatherer groups. (Read about Europe's oldest known town.) "The genetics show that something around that point caused the genetic signatures of

Coelacanth Genome Sequenced!!! 

An international team of researchers has decoded the genome of a creature whose evolutionary history is both enigmatic and illuminating: the African coelacanth. A sea-cave dwelling, five-foot long fish with limb-like fins, the coelacanth was once thought to be extinct. A living coelacanth was discovered off the African coast in 1938, and since then, questions about these

Painted Turtle Genome Mapped, Yields Surprises, Supports Archosaur Affinities 

UCLA conservation biologist and lead author Brad Shaffer collaborated with the Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis and 58 co-authors on the multi-year research project. Their paper, which appears in the journal Genome Biology, describes the genome of the western painted turtle, one of the most widespread and well-studied turtles in the world. Researchers were

Nazi Cow 

http://tinyurl.com/atrywh3 On the desktop of my computer there is a picture of a building. It’s an undistinguished piece of architecture – whitewashed walls, a red tiled roof speckled with lichen, and a wooden structure atop the ridgeline that aspires to be a belfry, but falls short. This is Coteford Infant School, in the Northwest London suburb of Eastcote, and I spent three happy years there from 1971 to 1974.Or rather, this wasCoteford Infant School. It’s been gone for more than thirty [...]

Updated Neandertal Genome Released and Freely Available 

Researchers in Germany said Tuesday they have completed the first high-quality sequencing of a Neanderthal genome and are making it freely available online for other scientists to study. The genome produced from remains of a toe bone found in a Siberian cave is far more detailed than a previous "draft" Neanderthal genome sequenced three years ago by the same team at the Max Planck

Falkland Islands Wolf Mystery Solved 

University of Adelaide researchers have found the answer to one of natural history's most intriguing puzzles – the origins of the now extinct Falkland Islands wolf and how it came to be the only land-based mammal on the isolated islands – 460km from the nearest land, Argentina. Previous theories have suggested the wolf somehow rafted on ice or vegetation, crossed via a now-submerged

New Y Chromosome Discovery Places Modern Humans 100k Years Older Than Fossils Indicate 

A newly discovered Y chromosome places the most recent common ancestor for the Y chromosome lineage more 100,000 years before the oldest known anatomically modern human fossils A geneticists have discovered the oldest known genetic branch of the human Y chromosome – the hereditary factor determining male sex. The new divergent lineage, which was found in an individual who submitted his DNA

Birds Evolved Ultraviolet Light Vision Multiple Times 

Ultraviolet vision evolved at least eight times in birds from a common violet sensitive ancestor finds a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. All of these are due to single nucleotide changes in the DNA. Modern daytime birds either have violet sensitive or ultraviolet sensitive vision. Being ultraviolet sensitive alters visual cues used to select

New Placental Phylogeny Based on 4500 Characters, Genetic and Morphological Traits 

A groundbreaking six-year research collaboration has produced the most complete picture yet of the evolution of placental mammals, the group that includes humans. Placental mammals are the largest branch of the mammalian family tree, with more than 5,100 living species. Researchers from Carnegie Museum of Natural History are among the team of 23 that took part in this

Comb Jellies Are More Basal Than Sponges? 

Animals evolved gradually, from the lowly sponge to the menagerie of tentacled, winged and brainy creatures that inhabit Earth today. This idea makes such intuitive sense that biologists are now stunned by genome-sequencing data suggesting that the sponges were preceded by complex marine predators called comb jellies. Although they are gelatinous like jellyfish, comb jellies form their

Amazon Tree Species May Survive Anthropogenic Climate Change 

(image credit) New genetic analysis has revealed that many Amazon tree species are likely to survive man-made climate warming in the coming century, contrary to previous findings that temperature increases would cause them to die out. A study, published in the latest edition of Ecology and Evolution, reveals the surprising age of some Amazonian tree species – more than 8 million years

Northern Hemisphere Conifers Are Evolving Faster 

Hemisphere-scale differences in conifer evolutionary dynamics Authors: 1. Andrew B. Leslie (a,*) 2. Jeremy M. Beaulieu (b) 3. Hardeep S. Rai (c) 4. Peter R. Crane (a) 5. Michael J. Donoghue (b,*) 6. Sarah Mathews (d) Affiliations: a. School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511; b. Department of Ecology and

Its Not Just What You Have, But How You use It: Epigenetics Very Different Between Humans, Chimps & Rhesus Monkeys 

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 on Nov. 6 at the American Society of Human Genetics 2012 meeting in a presentation by Yoav Gilad, Ph.D., associate professor of

New Phylogenetic Tree for Avians (Birds) Shows Speciation Rates Increasing 

A Yale-led scientific team has produced the most comprehensive family tree for birds to date, connecting all living bird species — nearly 10,000 in total — and revealing surprising new details about their evolutionary history and its geographic context. Analysis of the family tree shows when and where birds diversified — and that birds' diversification rate has increased over the last

How New Genes Evolve Now Demonstrated 

Like job-seekers searching for a new position, living things sometimes have to pick up a new skill if they are going to succeed. Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and Uppsala University, Sweden, have shown for the first time how living organisms do this. The observation, published Oct. 19 in the journal Science, closes an important gap in the theory of natural