Tag - evolution

 
 

EVOLUTION

The discovery of the Navaornis hestiae fills the intermediate step in evolution between the first bird-like dinosaurs, such as Archaeopteryx, and living birds.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 15, 2024
'One-of-a-kind' fossil from Brazil reveals birds' brain evolution
The fossil discovery filled in a gap of 70 million years in the understanding of the evolution of avian neuroanatomy.
A bed of rock shows chunks of ripped-up seafloor as debris from a tsunami that followed a huge meteorite impact on Earth dating back to about 3.26 billion years ago, seen in a region called the Barberton Greenstone Belt in northeastern South Africa in this undated photograph.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 22, 2024
Ancient meteorite was 'giant fertilizer bomb' for life on Earth
The space rock that slammed into Earth 66 million years ago and doomed the dinosaurs was far from the largest meteorite to strike our planet.
A bluestreak cleaner wrasse faces a mirror. A Japanese team has found that the fish intentionally uses a mirror to check its own size.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2024
Bluestreak cleaner fish can use knowledge of its size to judge attacks
When able to check its size in a mirror, the bluestreak cleaner wrasse attacked fish of a larger or similar size less often, a Japanese research team has found.
Scientists work inside Baishiya Karst Cave, where the remains of the extinct archaic human species called Denisovans — as well as bones of blue sheep and various other animals — have been discovered, on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in China's Gansu province, in this undated handout photograph.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 4, 2024
Study brings lifestyle of enigmatic extinct Denisovans into focus
Researchers studied more than 2,500 bones found inside Baishiya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Plateau in China's Gangsu province.
Scientists on Wednesday identified what might be the genetic mechanism behind humankind's tailless condition — a mutation in a gene instrumental in embryonic development.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 3, 2024
People with tails? No, because of this ancient genetic mutation
The absence of a tail may have better balanced the body for orthograde — upright — locomotion and eventually bipedalism, said one scientist.
Scientists announced on Wednesday that they have identified genetic variations associated with human bisexual behavior.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 4, 2024
Scientists discover genetic underpinnings of bisexuality
Data has revealed the proportion of people reporting both bisexual and homosexual behavior has been rising for decades.
Bonobos groom each other at the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Nov 18, 2023
Good neighbors: Bonobo study offers clues into early human alliances
Human society is founded on our ability to cooperate with others beyond our immediate family and social groups, and the same may be said about bonobos.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2023
Bats, cheetahs and hippos unlock mysteries of the human genome
The decade-long Zoonomia project shows that animals have a lot to teach us about our health, disease, and potentially new ideas for medicines.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 14, 2023
Oldest-known bat skeletons shed light on evolution of flying mammals
Fossils show that, early in their history, bats already possessed many traits seen in modern species.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 10, 2023
Dwarf elephants? Giant rats? Strange island creatures at high risk
Extinction risk has been seen by researchers to be highest among island species that have undergone more extreme body size shifts compared to mainland relatives.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 14, 2022
Neanderthals and humans coexisted in Europe for over 2,000 years, study says
Research found that Neanderthals in the region went extinct between 40,870 and 40,457 years ago, while modern humans first appeared around 42,500 years ago.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 10, 2020
Ancient string provides further evidence of Neanderthals' talents
Neanderthals used plant fibers to create string more than 40,000 years ago at a site in France where they hunted reindeer, further evidence according to scientists of the ingenuity and cognitive capabilities of our closest extinct human relatives.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 20, 2020
Fins of prehistoric fish reveal origins of the human hand
Inside the stout fins of a fish that, about 380 million years ago, prowled the shallow waters of an estuary in what is now eastern Canada, scientists have found what they call the evolutionary origins of the human hand.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 12, 2020
Dinosaur prints from mysterious middle Jurassic Period found in Scotland
On a crag of rock called Brother's Point on Scotland's Isle of Skye, scientists have identified two bustling footprint sites that reveal an abundance of dinosaurs that thrived 170 million years ago including an early member of a celebrated group.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 27, 2020
Red panda is actually two species, DNA shows
Red pandas, the bushy-tailed and russet-furred bamboo-munchers that dwell in Asian high forests, are not a single species, according to the most comprehensive genetic study to date on these endangered mammals.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 14, 2020
DNA study detects mysterious human 'ghost' species
Scientists examining the genomes of West Africans have detected signs that a mysterious extinct human species interbred with our own species tens of thousands of years ago in Africa, the latest evidence of humankind's complicated genetic ancestry.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 18, 2020
Dinosaurs grew feathers differently from birds, fossil of a 'dancing dragon' shows
An exquisite fossil of a fierce little Chinese dinosaur dubbed the "dancing dragon" that lived 120 million years ago — an older cousin of the Velociraptor — is showing scientists that feathers grew differently on dinosaurs than on birds.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 25, 2019
Post-apocalyptic fossils show fast rise of mammals after dinosaur demise
A revelatory cache of fossils dug up in central Colorado details as never before the rise of mammals from the post-apocalyptic landscape after an asteroid smacked Earth 66 million years ago and annihilated three-quarters of all species, including the dinosaurs.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2019
There's a problem with the human family tree
New findings from fossils and DNA should expand our thinking about our species.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 19, 2019
Gulp! Jurassic mammal was the first one able to eat politely
A shrew-like primitive mammal that inhabited China 165 million years ago represents a milestone in mammalian evolution, scientists said on Thursday, boasting a key anatomical trait in its throat that helped usher in the era of polite table manners.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?