The relationship between the domestication of canines and their cognitive ability has been a topic of intense research and debate among evolutionary biologists. A group of researchers have published in their recent work in the Journal of Royal Society Open Science, that the dog's brain underwent almost a 46 per cent reduction in size over almost 5000 years. The scientists find a direct correlation between the reduced size of the brain and their domestication by humans. In the Neolithic ages, ancestral dogs had a brain size similar to that of their wolf relatives. However, researchers imply that shrinking of the brain does not imply a decreased cognitive ability and does not explain why your Yorkie drinks from a muddy puddle and eats its own poop.“The way our dogs live nowadays doesn’t give them the opportunity to always express most of their intelligence,” said Dr Thomas Cucchi, first author of the study from the French National Centre for Scientific Research. “But they are extremely clever, and domestication didn’t make them stupid, but made them really capable of reading us and communicating with us.” The team from the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN) in Paris speculates that this could have been the reason for their temperament changes.Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/polymarket-west-bengal-election-2026-bjp-vs-tmc-bets-1777470329808">Polymarket bets $4.8M on 2026 West Bengal elections, projects BJP as favourite after phase 2</a>The researchers studied 207 skulls, 185 from modern dogs, dingos and wolves, and 22 prehistoric ones, and used CT scans to create virtual impressions of skull cavities considered a reliable indicator for skull size. While domestication began 15000 years ago, the ice age dog shows no signs of reduced brain size, but the shrinking occurred in the Neolithic era, when humans started to settle in farmlands.Researchers argue that as humans settled in their farmland, dogs saw a change in their role, from complex thinking to more reaction-driven and instinctive responses. They adapted to the role of “living alarm systems” and scavengers, with a more wary and anxious reorganisation of their brain. Dogs that were docile and reacting in alerting settlements were preferred specifically by humans. This artificial selection of species preferred useful breeds that were capable of complex social interactions. A similar pattern is also observable in other farm animals, however the extent to which the change in brain size affects animals' intelligence is still an open area of research.&nbsp;&nbsp;

A new study finds dogs’ brain size shrank by 46% during domestication—but scientists say it doesn’t mean they’re less intelligent.

The relationship between the domestication of canines and their cognitive ability has been a topic of intense research and debate among evolutionary biologists. A group of researchers have published in their recent work in the Journal of Royal Society Open Science, that the dog's brain underwent almost a 46 per cent reduction in size over almost 5000 years. The scientists find a direct correlation between the reduced size of the brain and their domestication by humans. In the Neolithic ages, ancestral dogs had a brain size similar to that of their wolf relatives. However, researchers imply that shrinking of the brain does not imply a decreased cognitive ability and does not explain why your Yorkie drinks from a muddy puddle and eats its own poop. “The way our dogs live nowadays doesn’t give them the opportunity to always express most of their intelligence,” said Dr Thomas Cucchi, first author of the study from the French National Centre for Scientific Research. “But they are extremely clever, and domestication didn’t make them stupid, but made them really capable of reading us and communicating with us.” The team from the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN) in Paris speculates that this could have been the reason for their temperament changes. Also Read: Polymarket bets $4.8M on 2026 West Bengal elections, projects BJP as favourite after phase 2 The researchers studied 207 skulls, 185 from modern dogs, dingos and wolves, and 22 prehistoric ones, and used CT scans to create virtual impressions of skull cavities considered a reliable indicator for skull size. While domestication began 15000 years ago, the ice age dog shows no signs of reduced brain size, but the shrinking occurred in the Neolithic era, when humans started to settle in farmlands. Researchers argue that as humans settled in their farmland, dogs saw a change in their role, from complex thinking to more reaction-driven and instinctive responses. They adapted to the role of “living alarm systems” and scavengers, with a more wary and anxious reorganisation of their brain. Dogs that were docile and reacting in alerting settlements were preferred specifically by humans. This artificial selection of species preferred useful breeds that were capable of complex social interactions. A similar pattern is also observable in other farm animals, however the extent to which the change in brain size affects animals' intelligence is still an open area of research.

A new study finds dogs’ brain size shrank by 46% during domestication—but scientists say it doesn’t mean they’re less intelligent.

Dog's brain shrunk by 46% during domestication reveals new study

Discover the four major turning points that reshape your brain. From childhood sharpening to late-life resilience, watch how your brain rewires itself through life. Learn the science behind cognitive peaks, aging, and brain health, and uncover the hidden timeline of your mind’s transformation. Don’t miss this deep dive into how the brain evolves over a lifetime.


Does the Brain Become Dull With Age? New Study Shows How the Brain Gradually Changes

There are several ways in which living organisms on Earth reproduce, and sex is just one of the methods. Some reproduce by simply splitting themselves in twos and fours, and some do not need a partner to reproduce at all. So, have you ever wondered, which were the animals that were the first ever to use&nbsp;sex as a method for reproduction?

Humans? No. Some other mammals? no again. Birds and bees? Nah.&nbsp;

Scientists have been fascinated by the question, and had posited that sexual reproduction existed since animals came into being on planet Earth, which is around 800 million years ago.

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And probably the first to use sexual reproduction&nbsp;are, wait for it, sponges.

The relatives of our humble bathroom sponge lived in the ocean, and some spunge species could reproduce sexually. But wait, how did scientists reach the conclusion that they were the first animals known to use sex for reproduction? 
 
In 2021, it was reported that scientists had identified the oldest fossil ever recorded. It was of a sponge, dating back at least 890 million years. Recovered from&nbsp;Northwest Territories of Canada, they were classified as part of&nbsp;keratose demosponges, or horny sponges. The sponges are known to reproduce both sexually and asexually.

Their sexual reproduction, though, is done in a rather 'detached manner': sperm and eggs are released into water, which then combine to form new organisms. 
 
Actual sexual intercourse or copulation for reproduction is thought to have been used for the first time by some types of fish, according to an article in LiveScience.

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"The earliest evidence of intimate sexual reproduction using copulation is from placoderm fishes of the Devonian period," LiveScience quoted&nbsp;John Long, a palaeontology professor at Flinders University in Australia, as saying. 
 
Devonian period runs from&nbsp;419.2 million to 358.9 million years ago.

"Microbrachius dicki" is one such fish, said Long, who wrote&nbsp;The Dawn of the Deed: The Prehistoric Origins of Sex.&nbsp;Microbrachius dicki males used claspers to inseminate females internally and the females had "reciprocal genital plates," as revealed in fossils, according to LiveScience.

But wait, the story is not over. Even before animals existed in their varied and full-fledged form, sexual reproduction was happening, when we change the definition not to include actual copulation.

That was done through a process called meiosis. Meoisois is defined by the National Human Genome Research Institute of the US as "a type of cell division in sexually reproducing organisms that reduces the number of chromosomes in gametes (the sex cells, or egg and sperm)."

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This form of meiosis was present in several eukaryotes. Now, what are eukaryotes?

We are all eukaryotes: from fungi to plants to animals, basically every organism with a nucleus in their cells.

The first eukaryotes to have meisois as a process of reproduction- meaning sexual reproduction- may have existed some 2 billion years ago in the form of bacteria, said the LiveScience article 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

There are several ways in which living organisms on Earth reproduce, and sex is just one of the methods. Some reproduce by simply splitting themselves in twos and fours, and some do not need a partner to reproduce at all.

There are several ways in which living organisms on Earth reproduce, and sex is just one of the methods. Some reproduce by simply splitting themselves in twos and fours, and some do not need a partner to reproduce at all. So, have you ever wondered, which were the animals that were the first ever to use sex as a method for reproduction? Humans? No. Some other mammals? no again. Birds and bees? Nah. Scientists have been fascinated by the question, and had posited that sexual reproduction existed since animals came into being on planet Earth, which is around 800 million years ago. Also read: Hurricane Debby blows 25 packets of cocaine onto Florida beach And probably the first to use sexual reproduction are, wait for it, sponges. The relatives of our humble bathroom sponge lived in the ocean, and some spunge species could reproduce sexually. But wait, how did scientists reach the conclusion that they were the first animals known to use sex for reproduction? In 2021, it was reported that scientists had identified the oldest fossil ever recorded. It was of a sponge, dating back at least 890 million years. Recovered from Northwest Territories of Canada, they were classified as part of keratose demosponges, or horny sponges. The sponges are known to reproduce both sexually and asexually. Their sexual reproduction, though, is done in a rather 'detached manner': sperm and eggs are released into water, which then combine to form new organisms. Actual sexual intercourse or copulation for reproduction is thought to have been used for the first time by some types of fish, according to an article in LiveScience. Also read: Woman learns acupuncture using online videos, induces heart failure in her patient "The earliest evidence of intimate sexual reproduction using copulation is from placoderm fishes of the Devonian period," LiveScience quoted John Long, a palaeontology professor at Flinders University in Australia, as saying. Devonian period runs from 419.2 million to 358.9 million years ago. "Microbrachius dicki" is one such fish, said Long, who wrote The Dawn of the Deed: The Prehistoric Origins of Sex. Microbrachius dicki males used claspers to inseminate females internally and the females had "reciprocal genital plates," as revealed in fossils, according to LiveScience. But wait, the story is not over. Even before animals existed in their varied and full-fledged form, sexual reproduction was happening, when we change the definition not to include actual copulation. That was done through a process called meiosis. Meoisois is defined by the National Human Genome Research Institute of the US as "a type of cell division in sexually reproducing organisms that reduces the number of chromosomes in gametes (the sex cells, or egg and sperm)." Watch: Visuals of protesters looting things, lying on Sheikh Hasina's bed in her residence go viral This form of meiosis was present in several eukaryotes. Now, what are eukaryotes? We are all eukaryotes: from fungi to plants to animals, basically every organism with a nucleus in their cells. The first eukaryotes to have meisois as a process of reproduction- meaning sexual reproduction- may have existed some 2 billion years ago in the form of bacteria, said the LiveScience article (With inputs from agencies)

First animals to ever have sex were not what you would have expected

Recently, scientists have discovered the Cambrian explosion, which has been significant in the journey of Earth, was likely to have occurred because of a small increase in oxygen levels.&nbsp;

A team of researchers&nbsp;used datasets from an international consortium of scientists which displayed modest changes in oxygen levels that are likely to have caused the evolutionary leap.

<h2>All about the Cambrian explosion</h2>

The&nbsp;Cambrian explosion&nbsp;took place nearly 540 million years ago and led to a rapid burst of evolution because of which the diversification of life occurred&nbsp;on the planet.&nbsp;

Earlier, life only comprised smaller multicellular and single-celled organisms on Earth. However, the fossil record shows that following the explosion,&nbsp;in 20 to 30 million years there were a variety of complex creatures which emerged on Earth.

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Every new species was found to have a strange and novel body plan and had features like gripping appendages, mineralised shells, and sensory organs like eyes.

“The specific animals that we observe as fossils from rocks of this age may look weird and wonderful to us,”&nbsp;Dr Richard Stockey, lead author of the new study and a paleobiologist at the University of Southampton told IFLScience.

&nbsp;"But the ecological roles they were playing were very similar to marine animals that we know and love today," he added.

“Unravelling whether there was an environmental trigger to this (geologically) rapid shift in the habitability of Earth’s oceans is a question that is fundamental to our understanding of our biosphere, and even potentially for the habitability of other planets," the lead author said.

Watch:&nbsp;Earth slows down by 1.33 milliseconds

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Scientists have for decades carried this theory that the Cambrian explosion happened because of a sudden increase in atmospheric oxygen. However, they did not have sufficient evidence to back the case.

“As a community, we have been balancing a number of different lines of evidence, based on the chemical composition of ancient sediments,” Stockey said.

“Some of these seemed to indicate a big oxygenation event around the Cambrian explosion, while others seemed to indicate that this scale of oxygenation didn’t occur until around 140 million years later," he added.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

Recently, scientists have discovered the Cambrian explosion, which has been significant in the journey of Earth, was likely to have occurred because of a small increase in oxygen levels.

Recently, scientists have discovered the Cambrian explosion, which has been significant in the journey of Earth, was likely to have occurred because of a small increase in oxygen levels. A team of researchers used datasets from an international consortium of scientists which displayed modest changes in oxygen levels that are likely to have caused the evolutionary leap. All about the Cambrian explosion The Cambrian explosion took place nearly 540 million years ago and led to a rapid burst of evolution because of which the diversification of life occurred on the planet. Earlier, life only comprised smaller multicellular and single-celled organisms on Earth. However, the fossil record shows that following the explosion, in 20 to 30 million years there were a variety of complex creatures which emerged on Earth. Also Read: Strictly speaking, Earth is not revolving around the Sun currently. Here's what it means Every new species was found to have a strange and novel body plan and had features like gripping appendages, mineralised shells, and sensory organs like eyes. “The specific animals that we observe as fossils from rocks of this age may look weird and wonderful to us,” Dr Richard Stockey, lead author of the new study and a paleobiologist at the University of Southampton told IFLScience. "But the ecological roles they were playing were very similar to marine animals that we know and love today," he added. “Unravelling whether there was an environmental trigger to this (geologically) rapid shift in the habitability of Earth’s oceans is a question that is fundamental to our understanding of our biosphere, and even potentially for the habitability of other planets," the lead author said. Watch: Earth slows down by 1.33 milliseconds Scientists have for decades carried this theory that the Cambrian explosion happened because of a sudden increase in atmospheric oxygen. However, they did not have sufficient evidence to back the case. “As a community, we have been balancing a number of different lines of evidence, based on the chemical composition of ancient sediments,” Stockey said. “Some of these seemed to indicate a big oxygenation event around the Cambrian explosion, while others seemed to indicate that this scale of oxygenation didn’t occur until around 140 million years later," he added. (With inputs from agencies)

Earth once shook with Cambrian explosion after there was little rise in oxygen levels

A team of researchers at Virginia Tech has discovered a 550 million-year-old sea sponge fossil, which can help fill a critical 160 million-year gap in the fossil record.&nbsp;

<h2>Million of years old sea sponge fossil</h2>

This finding provides a roadmap for palaeontologists in finding prehistoric sponges.

The sea sponge is unassuming: no brain, no gut; it can quickly be dated to seven hundred million years ago.&nbsp;Yet convincing sponge fossils only go back 540 million years. That means there is a hundred and sixty million-year gap in the fossil record.

In a paper published June 5 in the journal Nature, geobiologist Shuhai Xiao and his colleagues report finding the 550 million-year-old sea sponge fossil from the "lost years".

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As per SciTechDaily, the mystery of the missing sea sponges rested on a paradox: molecular clock estimates, which project the history of genetic mutations back in time. These estimates suggest that sponges evolved almost 700 million years ago—much older than any known sponge fossil. This discrepancy has long puzzled zoologists and palaeontologists alike.

Xiao's find completes part of the evolutionary story for one of our earliest animals and answers Darwin's questions about the time of sponge evolution.

He first saw the fossil some five years ago when a colleague sent him an image of a specimen recovered from the Yangtze River region of China. "I had never seen anything like it before," said Xiao.&nbsp;

"Almost immediately, I realised that it was something new."

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Xiao and his colleagues from the University of Cambridge and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology carefully sifted through the other likely candidates, finally proposing that it could be an ancient sea sponge.&nbsp;

The group has offered their guess on why early sponges never left fossils; these animals had not evolved spicules – the complex elements constituting the modern sea sponge skeleton by this time.

The team has been able to observe in the fossil record how much more organic and less mineralised are the spicules of older sponges.&nbsp;

"If you extrapolate back, then perhaps the first ones were soft-bodied creatures with entirely organic skeletons and no minerals at all," Xiao said.&nbsp;

Only under scarce circumstances, in which very rapid fossilisation outpaces degradation, could the organisms with such soft bodies be fossilised.

(With inputs from agencies)

A team of researchers at Virginia Tech has discovered a 550 million-year-old sea sponge fossil, which can help fill a critical 160 million-year gap in the fossil record.

A team of researchers at Virginia Tech has discovered a 550 million-year-old sea sponge fossil, which can help fill a critical 160 million-year gap in the fossil record. Million of years old sea sponge fossil This finding provides a roadmap for palaeontologists in finding prehistoric sponges. The sea sponge is unassuming: no brain, no gut; it can quickly be dated to seven hundred million years ago. Yet convincing sponge fossils only go back 540 million years. That means there is a hundred and sixty million-year gap in the fossil record. In a paper published June 5 in the journal Nature, geobiologist Shuhai Xiao and his colleagues report finding the 550 million-year-old sea sponge fossil from the "lost years". Also read | Elephants greet each other using distinctive names, just like humans: Study As per SciTechDaily, the mystery of the missing sea sponges rested on a paradox: molecular clock estimates, which project the history of genetic mutations back in time. These estimates suggest that sponges evolved almost 700 million years ago—much older than any known sponge fossil. This discrepancy has long puzzled zoologists and palaeontologists alike. Xiao's find completes part of the evolutionary story for one of our earliest animals and answers Darwin's questions about the time of sponge evolution. He first saw the fossil some five years ago when a colleague sent him an image of a specimen recovered from the Yangtze River region of China. "I had never seen anything like it before," said Xiao. "Almost immediately, I realised that it was something new." Also read | Boeing jinx?: Starliner spacecraft carrying Sunita Williams won't return to Earth till June 18 Xiao and his colleagues from the University of Cambridge and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology carefully sifted through the other likely candidates, finally proposing that it could be an ancient sea sponge. The group has offered their guess on why early sponges never left fossils; these animals had not evolved spicules – the complex elements constituting the modern sea sponge skeleton by this time. The team has been able to observe in the fossil record how much more organic and less mineralised are the spicules of older sponges. "If you extrapolate back, then perhaps the first ones were soft-bodied creatures with entirely organic skeletons and no minerals at all," Xiao said. Only under scarce circumstances, in which very rapid fossilisation outpaces degradation, could the organisms with such soft bodies be fossilised. (With inputs from agencies)

Scientists discover ancient sea sponge fossil, providing missing link in evolution

Two life forms have merged into a single organism for the first time in at least a billion years. Primary endosymbiosis, or two life forms merging into one, has occurred only twice in the history of Earth.

Two life forms have merged into a single organism for the first time in at least a billion years. Primary endosymbiosis, or two life forms merging into one, has occurred only twice in the history of Earth. The first time, it gave rise to all complex life as we know it through mitochondria. The second time, it caused the emergence of plants. An international team of scientists have observed the evolutionary phenomenon between a species of algae commonly found in the ocean and a bacterium. Tyler Coale, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said, "The first time we think it happened, it gave rise to all complex life." Coale, the lead researcher on one of the two studies that uncovered the phenomenon, added, "Everything more complicated than a bacterial cell owes its existence to that event. A billion years ago or so, it happened again with the chloroplast, and that gave us plants." According to the study published in Science and Cell, the algae engulfed the bacterium, providing it nutrients, energy and protection in return for functions. The algae could not perform some functions earlier, like the ability to "fix" nitrogen from the air. ALSO READ | Chang’e 6 mission’s experimental satellites beam back eerie image of Moon and Earth Then, the algae incorporated the bacterium as an internal organ. This organelle became crucial to the host's ability to function. "That's exactly what happens with organelles," said Jonathan Zehr, one of the study's authors. "If you look at the mitochondria and the chloroplast, it's the same thing: they scale with the cell." Researchers from the United States and Japan who made the discovery said it will offer new insights into evolution. This rare phenomenon also has the potential to change agriculture fundamentally. Dr Coale stated, "This system is a new perspective on nitrogen fixation, and it might provide clues into how such an organelle could be engineered into crop plants." The scientists involved came from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Rhode Island, the University of California, San Francisco, UC Santa Cruz, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Institut de Ciències del Mar in Barcelona, National Taiwan Ocean University, and Kochi University in Japan. (With inputs from agencies)

Two life forms merge into one organism in a phenomenon that occurs once in a billion years

There was a time when humans had tails, but thanks to evolution, certain changes ensured that the tail vanished. Nearly 25 million years ago, the tails of human beings disappeared.

There was a time when humans had tails, but thanks to evolution, certain changes ensured that the tail vanished. Nearly 25 million years ago, the tails of human beings disappeared. Scientists have now found out what exactly happened that led to this change during the evolution process. The secret behind the disappearance of the tail was discovered by researchers from New York University Langone Health. They identified a single snippet of DNA, which is commonly found in apes and humans but has been missing from monkeys. The new study was published in the prestigious journal Nature. "Our study begins to explain how evolution removed our tails, a question that has intrigued me since I was young," said lead study author Bo Xia. Also Read: A silent warning? Microplastics found in every human placenta, reveals new study The answer is present in the gene TBXT which is present in the tail length in certain animals. As per the study, the gene was not found in humans, not due to mutation but because another genetic code "snippet" known as AluY was randomly inserted inside non-tailed apes and early humans during prehistoric times, as per the study. How the gene affected tail length? The new gene was observed to affect tail lengths. When it was paired with TBXT, the new gene created two types of ribonucleic acid, which are important for cellular structure and led to the disappearance of tails in people and apes. "This finding is remarkable because most human introns carry copies of repetitive, jumping DNAs without any effect on gene expression, but this particular AluY insertion did something as obvious as determine tail length," said Dr Jef Boeke, the Sol and Judith Bergstein Director of the Institute for Systems Genetics, as reported by the New York Post. AluY snippets are also known as "jumping genes" or "mobile elements" since they are able to move around and insert themselves repeatedly and in random order in human code. Watch: Study: Apes like to tease their friends The scientists used mice to test their theory and inserted AluY into 63 of them. It was found by the researchers that the tails of offspring were either completely missing or had shortened. These experiments proved that tail loss may also coincide with an increase in neural tube defects which can cause diseases like spina bifida in people. In this disease, the spine does not properly align with the spinal cord. "Future experiments will test the theory that in an ancient evolutionary trade-off, the loss of a tail in humans contributed to the neural tube birth defects," study author Dr Itai Yanai said. (With inputs from agencies)

Here's why human tails disappeared 25 million years ago

The headline of this report may inadvertently lead to mental imagery showing a snake performing tricks like an obedient dog. We can be certain with great confidence that these coils of sureshot death (well, not always) don't possess the characteristic canine impulse to obey agreeably. But a study has deemed snakes to be quick learners, over a period of millions of years that is. This does sound contradictory, yes. But the quick learning (in evolutionary sense) has made snakes quite successful as eras passed by in diversifying their own kind.

In the study, published in journal Science, the researchers say that due to snakes' greater adaptability to survive, they have been able to evolve more quickly than their close relatives in the animal world, like lizards. Not only this, the research says that snakes evolved upto three times faster than lizards.

"Snakes evolved faster and, dare we say it, better than some other groups. They are versatile and flexible and able to specialize on prey that other groups cannot use," said senior author Professor Daniel Rabosky of the University of Michigan as quoted by British Natural History Museum in a report on its website.

"The study really highlights the differences between snakes and legless lizards," said Dr Dr Marc Jones as quoted by Natural History Museum.

‘Being limbless is a great way to avoid being seen by predators and prey, but it’s striking how snakes have diversified so much compared to limbless lizards.’

Watch | Moon landing: US clinches first touchdown in 50 years

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There are about 4000 species of snakes in the world. These include those that can swim, burrow, climb, glide and more. Different snakes eat different food, from snails to dead animals. Their hunting technique include range of tools and manoeuvres like venom, constriction and more.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/whales-are-struggling-to-communicate-due-to-human-noise-pollution-says-study-692782">Whales are struggling to communicate due to human noise pollution, says study</a>

In short, snakes have been able to find a way against adverse conditions in wide veriety of habitats in different climate zones around the world.

And this trait made them survive mass extinctions events like the one that killed dinosaurs.

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

The headline of this report may inadvertently lead to mental imagery showing a snake performing tricks like an obedient dog. We can be certain with great confidence that these coils of sureshot death (well, not always) don't possess the characteristic canine impulse to obey agreeably.

The headline of this report may inadvertently lead to mental imagery showing a snake performing tricks like an obedient dog. We can be certain with great confidence that these coils of sureshot death (well, not always) don't possess the characteristic canine impulse to obey agreeably. But a study has deemed snakes to be quick learners, over a period of millions of years that is. This does sound contradictory, yes. But the quick learning (in evolutionary sense) has made snakes quite successful as eras passed by in diversifying their own kind. In the study, published in journal Science, the researchers say that due to snakes' greater adaptability to survive, they have been able to evolve more quickly than their close relatives in the animal world, like lizards. Not only this, the research says that snakes evolved upto three times faster than lizards. "Snakes evolved faster and, dare we say it, better than some other groups. They are versatile and flexible and able to specialize on prey that other groups cannot use," said senior author Professor Daniel Rabosky of the University of Michigan as quoted by British Natural History Museum in a report on its website. "The study really highlights the differences between snakes and legless lizards," said Dr Dr Marc Jones as quoted by Natural History Museum. ‘Being limbless is a great way to avoid being seen by predators and prey, but it’s striking how snakes have diversified so much compared to limbless lizards.’ Watch | Moon landing: US clinches first touchdown in 50 years × There are about 4000 species of snakes in the world. These include those that can swim, burrow, climb, glide and more. Different snakes eat different food, from snails to dead animals. Their hunting technique include range of tools and manoeuvres like venom, constriction and more. Also Read | Whales are struggling to communicate due to human noise pollution, says study In short, snakes have been able to find a way against adverse conditions in wide veriety of habitats in different climate zones around the world. And this trait made them survive mass extinctions events like the one that killed dinosaurs. (With inputs from agencies)

Snakes have ability to evolve more quickly than their close relatives, reveals study

Poking our friends or teasing them is not just a human past time it is probably something that we got our primate ancestors from the great apes. A new study has said that Apes in fact tease each other in pretty much the same way as human children do.

Study: Apes like to tease their friends

We know that dogs have evolved particular facial muscles to appear more cute to humans, but have we unknowingly affected our canine friends' eyes? Apparently, yes.

New research suggests that ever since humans domesticated canines some 15,000 to 50,000 years ago, we have selected particular traits in dogs...eye colour included.

<h2>Impacting evolution: The human way</h2>

Writing in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers from Japan say that humans seem to have a penchant for puppy eyes, especially dark ones.

They found that among domesticated dogs, dark eyes are more common than their wild relatives. It was also observed that humans perceive dogs with a darker eye colour as more friendly and, thus, more desirable.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/empathy-with-our-closest-living-cousins-humans-and-apes-share-remarkable-social-memory-traits-study-finds-671294">‘Empathy with our closest living cousins’: Humans and apes share remarkable social memory traits, study finds</a>

Akitsugu Konno, the first author of the research, as quoted by The Guardian, said: "I speculate that lighter irises have some evolutionary advantage for wolves, but domestication has lost this selective pressure and darker eyes have emerged in some primitive dogs."

They believe that darker eyes may have been favoured by humans — consciously or unconsciously, during the domestication of canines from wolves to dogs.

"We speculate that a darker iris makes it more difficult to distinguish the size of the pupil and thus gives the illusion of a large pupil, which is associated with our perception of being more infant-like," adds Konno, from Teikyo University of Science.

A comparison of the iris colour of 22 images of grey wolves from different locations, with 81 images of domestic dogs, revealed that the domesticated canines had darker, reddish eyes.

<h2>Light colour or dark, which is cuter?</h2>

To give weight to their theory, the researchers conducted an experiment, where they created 12 pairs of images. Each pair showed a domestic dog with light eyes, and the same dog with dark eyes.&nbsp;

A selection of these pictures was shown to two groups of 76 and 66 people. The humans were asked to rate the dogs for various personality traits. They were also asked to rate how much they would like to interact with a dog or keep it.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/its-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-cosmos-nasa-releases-breathtaking-image-of-a-cosmic-christmas-tree-671532">'It's beginning to look a lot like cosmos': NASA releases breathtaking image of a cosmic Christmas tree</a>

Results showed that dogs with darker eyes earned higher ratings. A higher number of people deemed them more easy-going, sociable and dependent, and less aggressive, intelligent and mature than their light-eyed counterparts.

"Overall, dogs with dark eyes may have evolved the trait largely as means to send non-threatening gaze signal to humans," said the researchers.

They found that eye colour was not directly related to the participant's desire to interact with or keep a dog. However, they speculate that the association of dark eyes with immaturity could be an influencing factor behind a human's desire to protect and care for a dog.

(With inputs from agencies)

We know that dogs have evolved particular facial muscles to appear more cute to humans, but have we unknowingly affected our canine friends' eyes? Apparently, yes.

We know that dogs have evolved particular facial muscles to appear more cute to humans, but have we unknowingly affected our canine friends' eyes? Apparently, yes. New research suggests that ever since humans domesticated canines some 15,000 to 50,000 years ago, we have selected particular traits in dogs...eye colour included. Impacting evolution: The human way Writing in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers from Japan say that humans seem to have a penchant for puppy eyes, especially dark ones. They found that among domesticated dogs, dark eyes are more common than their wild relatives. It was also observed that humans perceive dogs with a darker eye colour as more friendly and, thus, more desirable. Also read | ‘Empathy with our closest living cousins’: Humans and apes share remarkable social memory traits, study finds Akitsugu Konno, the first author of the research, as quoted by The Guardian, said: "I speculate that lighter irises have some evolutionary advantage for wolves, but domestication has lost this selective pressure and darker eyes have emerged in some primitive dogs." They believe that darker eyes may have been favoured by humans — consciously or unconsciously, during the domestication of canines from wolves to dogs. "We speculate that a darker iris makes it more difficult to distinguish the size of the pupil and thus gives the illusion of a large pupil, which is associated with our perception of being more infant-like," adds Konno, from Teikyo University of Science. A comparison of the iris colour of 22 images of grey wolves from different locations, with 81 images of domestic dogs, revealed that the domesticated canines had darker, reddish eyes. Light colour or dark, which is cuter? To give weight to their theory, the researchers conducted an experiment, where they created 12 pairs of images. Each pair showed a domestic dog with light eyes, and the same dog with dark eyes. A selection of these pictures was shown to two groups of 76 and 66 people. The humans were asked to rate the dogs for various personality traits. They were also asked to rate how much they would like to interact with a dog or keep it. Also read | 'It's beginning to look a lot like cosmos': NASA releases breathtaking image of a cosmic Christmas tree Results showed that dogs with darker eyes earned higher ratings. A higher number of people deemed them more easy-going, sociable and dependent, and less aggressive, intelligent and mature than their light-eyed counterparts. "Overall, dogs with dark eyes may have evolved the trait largely as means to send non-threatening gaze signal to humans," said the researchers. They found that eye colour was not directly related to the participant's desire to interact with or keep a dog. However, they speculate that the association of dark eyes with immaturity could be an influencing factor behind a human's desire to protect and care for a dog. (With inputs from agencies)

Humans can't resist puppy eyes, so much so that we have impacted their eye colour

The relationship between flowers and insect pollinators is as old as time. It forms a crucial part of the novels of and beyond Shakespearean times. In Indian pop culture, the flower-insect ties were solemnised in a 1982 Hindi film 'Prem Rog' starring actors Rishi Kapoor and Padmini Kolhapure, in a song whose lyrics can be translated&nbsp;as -The bumblebee fed the flower, and the prince took it away.&nbsp;

But now climate change is altering this relationship that enables the sustenance of the food chain as we know it, and has also influenced literature and pop culture in immeasurable proportions.

<h2>Flowers are 'giving up' on pollinators</h2>

According to a study published in the journal New Phytologist, flowers are now "giving up" on pollinators and evolving to be less attractive due to a decline in the number of insects.

The researchers found that flowers in a field of&nbsp;pansies near Paris are 10 per cent smaller and produce 20 per cent less nectar than flowers growing in the same fields 20 to 30 years ago.

"Our study shows that pansies are evolving to give up on their pollinators," Pierre-Olivier Cheptou, one of the study's authors and a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research said in an official statement.&nbsp;

"They are evolving towards self-pollination, where each plant reproduces with itself, which works in the short term but may well limit their capacity to adapt to future environmental changes."

<h2>How flowers are evolving in 'real-time'?</h2>

Plants produce nectar for insects. In return, insects transport pollen between plants. This mutually beneficial relationship has formed over millions of years of co-evolution.&nbsp;

But now plants are producing less nectar, the research has found. This means that insects are becoming less attracted towards plants.

"Our results show that the effects of pollinator declines are not easily reversible, because plants have already started to change. Conservation measures are therefore urgently needed to halt and reverse pollinator declines," lead author Samson Acoca-Pidolle said in an official statement.&nbsp;

A report in the Guardian cited Dr Philip Donkersley of Lancaster University as saying that the phenomenon described in the above study shows "evolution happening in real-time".

"The fact that these flowers are changing their strategy in response to decreasing pollinator abundance is quite startling. This research shows a plant undoing thousands of years of evolution in response to a phenomenon that has been around for only 50 years," Donkersley, who was not associated with the study, said.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/earths-tiniest-flowering-plant-could-feed-and-oxygenate-astronauts-in-space-643877">Earth's tiniest flowering plant could feed and oxygenate astronauts in space</a>

The world has lost 5 per cent to 10 per cent of all insect species in the last 150 years — or between 250,000 and 500,000 species, according to a February 2020 study in the journal Biological Conservation.

The global insect population is declining at an unprecedented rate of up to 2 per cent per year, the study said.&nbsp;

Insects are described as "the fabric" that tethers together every freshwater and terrestrial ecosystem across the planet.

Also watch |&nbsp;WION Fineprint: Indonesia conservationist salvages indigenous flowers

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Insects pollinate more than 75 per cent of global crops, a service valued at up to $577 billion per year, according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

(With inputs from agencies)

The relationship between flowers and insect pollinators is as old as time. It forms a crucial part of the novels of and beyond Shakespearean times. In Indian pop culture, the flower-insect ties were solemnised in a 1982 Hindi film 'Prem Rog' starring actors Rishi Kapoor and Padmini Kolhapure, in a song whose lyrics can be translated as -The bumblebee fed the flower, and the prince took it away.

The relationship between flowers and insect pollinators is as old as time. It forms a crucial part of the novels of and beyond Shakespearean times. In Indian pop culture, the flower-insect ties were solemnised in a 1982 Hindi film 'Prem Rog' starring actors Rishi Kapoor and Padmini Kolhapure, in a song whose lyrics can be translated as -The bumblebee fed the flower, and the prince took it away. But now climate change is altering this relationship that enables the sustenance of the food chain as we know it, and has also influenced literature and pop culture in immeasurable proportions. Flowers are 'giving up' on pollinators According to a study published in the journal New Phytologist, flowers are now "giving up" on pollinators and evolving to be less attractive due to a decline in the number of insects. The researchers found that flowers in a field of pansies near Paris are 10 per cent smaller and produce 20 per cent less nectar than flowers growing in the same fields 20 to 30 years ago. "Our study shows that pansies are evolving to give up on their pollinators," Pierre-Olivier Cheptou, one of the study's authors and a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research said in an official statement. "They are evolving towards self-pollination, where each plant reproduces with itself, which works in the short term but may well limit their capacity to adapt to future environmental changes." How flowers are evolving in 'real-time'? Plants produce nectar for insects. In return, insects transport pollen between plants. This mutually beneficial relationship has formed over millions of years of co-evolution. But now plants are producing less nectar, the research has found. This means that insects are becoming less attracted towards plants. "Our results show that the effects of pollinator declines are not easily reversible, because plants have already started to change. Conservation measures are therefore urgently needed to halt and reverse pollinator declines," lead author Samson Acoca-Pidolle said in an official statement. A report in the Guardian cited Dr Philip Donkersley of Lancaster University as saying that the phenomenon described in the above study shows "evolution happening in real-time". "The fact that these flowers are changing their strategy in response to decreasing pollinator abundance is quite startling. This research shows a plant undoing thousands of years of evolution in response to a phenomenon that has been around for only 50 years," Donkersley, who was not associated with the study, said. Also read | Earth's tiniest flowering plant could feed and oxygenate astronauts in space The world has lost 5 per cent to 10 per cent of all insect species in the last 150 years — or between 250,000 and 500,000 species, according to a February 2020 study in the journal Biological Conservation. The global insect population is declining at an unprecedented rate of up to 2 per cent per year, the study said. Insects are described as "the fabric" that tethers together every freshwater and terrestrial ecosystem across the planet. Also watch | WION Fineprint: Indonesia conservationist salvages indigenous flowers × Insects pollinate more than 75 per cent of global crops, a service valued at up to $577 billion per year, according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). (With inputs from agencies)

End of an eternal love story? As insect numbers decline, flowers are devolving to become less attractive

A new study has revealed that the male sea snakes underwent a variety of strange adaptations, which included changes in size and increased dimorphism.

The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, while emphasising their sex lives said that the female aipysurine sea snakes turned increasingly larger compared to their male counterparts and the males started developing larger eyes than females in order to find their mate.

"Males had larger eyes, compared to head length, in all six species. It was statistically significant in three of those species. One reason for larger eyes in males may be that they have shifted to vision to find mates, because (unlike land snakes), they can't follow a scent trail laid onto the ground by a female as she moves along," said a study author Richard Shine, a professor of biology at Australia's Macquarie University, while speaking to Newsweek.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/explained-why-china-consumes-snake-soup-in-winter-and-why-it-is-disappearing-665545">Explained | Why China consumes snake soup in winter and why it is disappearing</a>

The researchers added that although the males evolved to become smaller in comparison to the females, their eyes started becoming much larger in comparison to their entire bodies. &nbsp;

<h2>Sea snakes undergo modification in&nbsp;watery environment</h2>

As per the theory, these changes took place to help the male snakes spot the females as they tried to adjust to the watery environment. The watery environment was making it difficult for them to follow a scent trail.

"Sexual selection on mate-finding ability offers a plausible selective advantage for larger relative eye size in males," wrote the authors, in the paper.

"Unlike their terrestrial counterparts, male sea snakes cannot locate reproductive females by following substrate-deposited pheromonal trails; and instead, may rely upon visual cues to find mates until the other snake is close enough for chemosensory sampling. The resulting difficulty in finding mates may have imposed strong selection on visual acuity in male sea snakes," they added.&nbsp;

Watch:&nbsp;Gravitas: Snakes on a plate: World's first snake pizza

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As per alternative theories, the smaller males had eyes which were too small to properly see and this led to evolvement of disproportionally larger eyes. It was also suggested that the eye size may have changed due to differing foraging habits of the males and females.

It was also suggested in the paper that the females had evolved larger to have more babies because of the loss of male-male fighting for females.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

A new study has revealed that the male sea snakes underwent a variety of strange adaptations, which included changes in size and increased dimorphism. The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, while emphasising their sex lives said that the female aipysurine sea snakes turned increasingly larger compared to their male counterparts and the males started developing larger eyes than females in order to find their mate.

A new study has revealed that the male sea snakes underwent a variety of strange adaptations, which included changes in size and increased dimorphism. The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, while emphasising their sex lives said that the female aipysurine sea snakes turned increasingly larger compared to their male counterparts and the males started developing larger eyes than females in order to find their mate. "Males had larger eyes, compared to head length, in all six species. It was statistically significant in three of those species. One reason for larger eyes in males may be that they have shifted to vision to find mates, because (unlike land snakes), they can't follow a scent trail laid onto the ground by a female as she moves along," said a study author Richard Shine, a professor of biology at Australia's Macquarie University, while speaking to Newsweek. Also read: Explained | Why China consumes snake soup in winter and why it is disappearing The researchers added that although the males evolved to become smaller in comparison to the females, their eyes started becoming much larger in comparison to their entire bodies. Sea snakes undergo modification in watery environment As per the theory, these changes took place to help the male snakes spot the females as they tried to adjust to the watery environment. The watery environment was making it difficult for them to follow a scent trail. "Sexual selection on mate-finding ability offers a plausible selective advantage for larger relative eye size in males," wrote the authors, in the paper. "Unlike their terrestrial counterparts, male sea snakes cannot locate reproductive females by following substrate-deposited pheromonal trails; and instead, may rely upon visual cues to find mates until the other snake is close enough for chemosensory sampling. The resulting difficulty in finding mates may have imposed strong selection on visual acuity in male sea snakes," they added. Watch: Gravitas: Snakes on a plate: World's first snake pizza As per alternative theories, the smaller males had eyes which were too small to properly see and this led to evolvement of disproportionally larger eyes. It was also suggested that the eye size may have changed due to differing foraging habits of the males and females. It was also suggested in the paper that the females had evolved larger to have more babies because of the loss of male-male fighting for females. (With inputs from agencies)

Female sea snakes started getting larger. So male snakes developed bigger eyes to find a mate

An 8.7 million-year-old ape skull raises the possibility that human and ape ancestors diverged outside of Africa, in Europe. The idea that humans and apes originated in Africa may be called into question by the discovery of an ape skull in Turkey. The discovery raises the possibility that hominins originated in Europe.

Did humans and apes come from Europe?

Plastics, deforestation, polluted water bodies and a world full of concrete. The evidence of the continuous existence of humanity is spread across the world.

The human population has currently exceeded 8 billion.

But scientists now propose that humanity was once on the brink of never existing.

Chinese researchers have uncovered evidence suggesting that 930,000 years ago, our modern human ancestors endured a catastrophic population collapse, likely triggered by dramatic climate changes.

During this period, known as a "bottleneck," our ancestors dwindled to fewer than 1,280 breeding individuals, with approximately 98.7 per cent of human ancestors lost, endangering their survival.

Their&nbsp;<a href="https://archive.ph/o/faCkr/www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq7487" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">study</a>&nbsp;was published on Thursday in the journal Science.

<h2>What does it mean?</h2>

This research raises the intriguing possibility that a climate-induced bottleneck may have contributed to the divergence of early humans into two evolutionary paths; one leading to Neanderthals and the other to modern humans.&nbsp;

For decades, scientists have reconstructed human history through genetic analysis, through the use of&nbsp;inherent biological facts of genetic mutations and their transmission across generations.

Technological advancements in DNA sequencing now enable&nbsp;the comparison of complete genomes from diverse human populations.

<h2>How the study was done?</h2>

Haipeng Li and his colleagues, based in Chinese Academy of Sciences at&nbsp;Shanghai, developed the FitCoal method, allowing the modelling of a million years of evolution, dissected into monthly segments.

This tool helps uncover the histories of various living organisms, including humans.

Initially focused on animals like fruit flies, the researchers later turned their attention to humans, comparing the genomes of 3,154 individuals from 50 populations worldwide.

Their investigation led to the conclusion that a near-extinction event occurred among our ancestors 930,000 years ago.

Before the bottleneck, the ancestral human population numbered approximately 98,000 breeding individuals.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/newly-discovered-skull-in-china-baffles-scientists-is-it-a-new-lineage-of-humans-623180">Newly-discovered skull in China baffles scientists. Is it yet another lineage of humans?</a>

This number plummeted to fewer than 1,280 individuals, persisting for 117,000 years before recovery.

The scientists argue that this bottleneck aligns with the fossil record of our human ancestors.

Our branch of the evolutionary tree diverged from other apes around seven million years ago in Africa. By a million years ago, our ancestors in Africa had evolved to be tall and large-brained.

Also watch |&nbsp;Ancient human civilisation needed three attempts &amp; 12,000 years to colonise Europe: Study

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Subsequently, some of these early humans migrated to Europe and Asia, evolving into Neanderthals and Denisovans, while our lineage continued to evolve into modern humans in Africa.

Despite decades of fossil hunting, the scarcity of remains from ancient human relatives in Africa between 950,000 and 650,000 years ago remains puzzling, and critics have demanded more conclusive evidence for the claim made by Chinese scientists.

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Plastics, deforestation, polluted water bodies and a world full of concrete. The evidence of the continuous existence of humanity is spread across the world. The human population has currently exceeded 8 billion.

Plastics, deforestation, polluted water bodies and a world full of concrete. The evidence of the continuous existence of humanity is spread across the world. The human population has currently exceeded 8 billion. But scientists now propose that humanity was once on the brink of never existing. Chinese researchers have uncovered evidence suggesting that 930,000 years ago, our modern human ancestors endured a catastrophic population collapse, likely triggered by dramatic climate changes. During this period, known as a "bottleneck," our ancestors dwindled to fewer than 1,280 breeding individuals, with approximately 98.7 per cent of human ancestors lost, endangering their survival. Their study was published on Thursday in the journal Science. What does it mean? This research raises the intriguing possibility that a climate-induced bottleneck may have contributed to the divergence of early humans into two evolutionary paths; one leading to Neanderthals and the other to modern humans. For decades, scientists have reconstructed human history through genetic analysis, through the use of inherent biological facts of genetic mutations and their transmission across generations. Technological advancements in DNA sequencing now enable the comparison of complete genomes from diverse human populations. How the study was done? Haipeng Li and his colleagues, based in Chinese Academy of Sciences at Shanghai, developed the FitCoal method, allowing the modelling of a million years of evolution, dissected into monthly segments. This tool helps uncover the histories of various living organisms, including humans. Initially focused on animals like fruit flies, the researchers later turned their attention to humans, comparing the genomes of 3,154 individuals from 50 populations worldwide. Their investigation led to the conclusion that a near-extinction event occurred among our ancestors 930,000 years ago. Before the bottleneck, the ancestral human population numbered approximately 98,000 breeding individuals. Also read | Newly-discovered skull in China baffles scientists. Is it yet another lineage of humans? This number plummeted to fewer than 1,280 individuals, persisting for 117,000 years before recovery. The scientists argue that this bottleneck aligns with the fossil record of our human ancestors. Our branch of the evolutionary tree diverged from other apes around seven million years ago in Africa. By a million years ago, our ancestors in Africa had evolved to be tall and large-brained. Also watch | Ancient human civilisation needed three attempts & 12,000 years to colonise Europe: Study × Subsequently, some of these early humans migrated to Europe and Asia, evolving into Neanderthals and Denisovans, while our lineage continued to evolve into modern humans in Africa. Despite decades of fossil hunting, the scarcity of remains from ancient human relatives in Africa between 950,000 and 650,000 years ago remains puzzling, and critics have demanded more conclusive evidence for the claim made by Chinese scientists. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

There were once only 1,280 early humans left to breed, claim Chinese scientists

Our ancestors mingled with dinosaurs. New study suggests the coexistence of humans & dinosaurs. Researchers analyzed fossil records. As per study, humans, dogs & bats originated in the Cretaceous period. These placental mammals shared the planet with dinosaurs. Until a mass extinction event took place. It was triggered by an asteroid hitting the Earth.

Did early human ancestors walk the Earth alongside dinosaurs but survive the Asteroid impact?

An analysis by University of Bristol and the University of Uppsala scientists showed that the extinct species of kangaroos did not hop around with its hind legs, rather used alternate methods for their commute such as walking on two or all four legs.

The researchers used fossil evidence and a new analysis of shin and ankle bone data to unveil the mystery behind the evolution of the species and how macropodoids moved around over the past 25 million years.

According to the review published by the team of scientists, the hop of famous Qantas Airlines 'flying kangaroo' that "many people regard as the pinnacle of kangaroo evolution", represents one of the many alternate ways these animals evolved to be successful in distinctive habitats.

"In fact, modern large hopping kangaroos are the exception in kangaroo evolution," says vertebrate paleontologist Christine Janis from the University of Bristol, lead author of the study.

"Large kangaroos were much more diverse as recently as 50 thousand years ago, which may also mean that the habitat in Australia then was rather different from today."

The earliest recognized late Oligocene–middle Miocene, basal types of kangaroos, known to be existing 25 to 15 million years ago, most likely used quadrupedal bounding, climbing and slower speed hopping as their primary modes of locomotion.&nbsp;

The scientists examined the weight-bearing shin bones (tibia) and heel bones (calcaneus) of kangaroos to demonstrate how the hop traits transformed over time.

The research showed that the modern kangaroos' hopping was either rare or absent in all but a few lineages.

Early macropodoids, lived nearly 25–50 million years ago and were small and could bound, climb, and hop to some capacity.

"We want people to appreciate that large kangaroos were much more diverse as recently as 50,000 years ago, which may also mean that the habitat in Australia then was rather different from today. In fact, modern large hopping kangaroos are the exception in kangaroo evolution," Phys.org quoted lead author, Professor Christine Janis, from Bristol's School of Earth Sciences as saying.

Co-author Adrian O'Driscoll, a former Master's student in the Palaeobiology program at Bristol and now a Ph.D. student at the University of York said, "Especially supported by this new data is the notion of bipedal striding rather than hopping in the sthenurines, as their calcanea lack the anatomy (a long calcaneal heel) that would help resist rotational forces at the ankle experienced during hopping, and suggests a more-erect limb posture rather than the crouched posture essential for hopping."

Professor Janis concluded, "The assumption that increasing continent-wide aridity after the end of the Miocene selectively favoured hopping kangaroos is overly simplistic. Hopping is only one of many gait modes employed by kangaroos both in the past and today, and the fast endurance hopping of modern kangaroos should not be regarded as some 'evolutionary pinnacle."

"What makes modern endurance-hopping kangaroos appear so unusual is the geologically recent extinction of similar animals who moved in different ways. We are perhaps then in need of a rival Australian airline that covers shorter distances than QANTAS and boasts a novel motif of a striding sthenurine."

&nbsp;

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An analysis by University of Bristol and the University of Uppsala scientists showed that the extinct species of kangaroos did not hop around with its hind legs, rather used alternate methods for their commute such as walking on two or all four legs.

An analysis by University of Bristol and the University of Uppsala scientists showed that the extinct species of kangaroos did not hop around with its hind legs, rather used alternate methods for their commute such as walking on two or all four legs. The researchers used fossil evidence and a new analysis of shin and ankle bone data to unveil the mystery behind the evolution of the species and how macropodoids moved around over the past 25 million years. According to the review published by the team of scientists, the hop of famous Qantas Airlines 'flying kangaroo' that "many people regard as the pinnacle of kangaroo evolution", represents one of the many alternate ways these animals evolved to be successful in distinctive habitats. "In fact, modern large hopping kangaroos are the exception in kangaroo evolution," says vertebrate paleontologist Christine Janis from the University of Bristol, lead author of the study. "Large kangaroos were much more diverse as recently as 50 thousand years ago, which may also mean that the habitat in Australia then was rather different from today." The earliest recognized late Oligocene–middle Miocene, basal types of kangaroos, known to be existing 25 to 15 million years ago, most likely used quadrupedal bounding, climbing and slower speed hopping as their primary modes of locomotion. The scientists examined the weight-bearing shin bones (tibia) and heel bones (calcaneus) of kangaroos to demonstrate how the hop traits transformed over time. The research showed that the modern kangaroos' hopping was either rare or absent in all but a few lineages. Early macropodoids, lived nearly 25–50 million years ago and were small and could bound, climb, and hop to some capacity. "We want people to appreciate that large kangaroos were much more diverse as recently as 50,000 years ago, which may also mean that the habitat in Australia then was rather different from today. In fact, modern large hopping kangaroos are the exception in kangaroo evolution," Phys.org quoted lead author, Professor Christine Janis, from Bristol's School of Earth Sciences as saying. Co-author Adrian O'Driscoll, a former Master's student in the Palaeobiology program at Bristol and now a Ph.D. student at the University of York said, "Especially supported by this new data is the notion of bipedal striding rather than hopping in the sthenurines, as their calcanea lack the anatomy (a long calcaneal heel) that would help resist rotational forces at the ankle experienced during hopping, and suggests a more-erect limb posture rather than the crouched posture essential for hopping." Professor Janis concluded, "The assumption that increasing continent-wide aridity after the end of the Miocene selectively favoured hopping kangaroos is overly simplistic. Hopping is only one of many gait modes employed by kangaroos both in the past and today, and the fast endurance hopping of modern kangaroos should not be regarded as some 'evolutionary pinnacle." "What makes modern endurance-hopping kangaroos appear so unusual is the geologically recent extinction of similar animals who moved in different ways. We are perhaps then in need of a rival Australian airline that covers shorter distances than QANTAS and boasts a novel motif of a striding sthenurine." WATCH WION LIVE HERE ]

Kangaroos didn't hop always, suggests fossil evidence-based new research

Spanish people in Menorca, about 204 km southeast of Barcelona, were consuming hallucinogenic drugs about three millennia ago, new research has found. This was around 2,900 years before the birth of Spanish-speaking drug lord Pablo Escobar in South American nation Colombia.

According to a report published in the journal Scientific Reports, signs of human activity at the Es Càrritx cave on the south-western side of Menorca showed that ancient human civilisation there consumed drugs derived from plants and bushes.&nbsp;

The Es Càrritx cave has more than 200 human graves, and is believed to be a funeral site for about six centuries until 800 BCE.

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/scientists-discover-caves-holding-first-evidence-of-humans-taking-hallucinogens-345109">Scientists discover caves holding first evidence of humans taking hallucinogens</a>

The research found that the substances had the potential to be quite strong. They were likely used as part of rituals held at the cave. These may have involved shamans "who were capable of controlling the side-effects of the plant drugs".

The scientific analysis of the hair locks, dyed red during the ancient rituals which could have come from more than one person, reportedly detected three psychoactive substances.

Along with hallucination-inducing atropine and scopolamine, scientists found ephedrine, which boosts energy and alertness.

The research also noted that containers found in the cave had spiral motifs carved on the lids. The way these motifs were created represent a person's "altered states of consciousness" while under the influence of hallucinogens.

In the history of ancient civilisations, evidence has been detected in the past, which indicates the human consumption of drugs and alcohol among others.&nbsp;

Ancient Egyptians used alcohol in 3500 BCE, while ancient Chinese people consumed cannabis (the source of marijuana) around 3000 BCE.&nbsp;

Ancient people in what is present-day Switzerland ate poppy seeds (the source of opium) in 2500 BCE.&nbsp;

Coca leaves (the source of cocaine), too, have been chewed for thousands of years by ancient Homo sapiens&nbsp;around the world.

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Spanish people in Menorca, about 204 km southeast of Barcelona, were consuming hallucinogenic drugs about three millennia ago, new research has found. This was around 2,900 years before the birth of Spanish-speaking drug lord Pablo Escobar in South American nation Colombia.

Spanish people in Menorca, about 204 km southeast of Barcelona, were consuming hallucinogenic drugs about three millennia ago, new research has found. This was around 2,900 years before the birth of Spanish-speaking drug lord Pablo Escobar in South American nation Colombia. According to a report published in the journal Scientific Reports, signs of human activity at the Es Càrritx cave on the south-western side of Menorca showed that ancient human civilisation there consumed drugs derived from plants and bushes. The Es Càrritx cave has more than 200 human graves, and is believed to be a funeral site for about six centuries until 800 BCE. ALSO READ | Scientists discover caves holding first evidence of humans taking hallucinogens The research found that the substances had the potential to be quite strong. They were likely used as part of rituals held at the cave. These may have involved shamans "who were capable of controlling the side-effects of the plant drugs". The scientific analysis of the hair locks, dyed red during the ancient rituals which could have come from more than one person, reportedly detected three psychoactive substances. Along with hallucination-inducing atropine and scopolamine, scientists found ephedrine, which boosts energy and alertness. The research also noted that containers found in the cave had spiral motifs carved on the lids. The way these motifs were created represent a person's "altered states of consciousness" while under the influence of hallucinogens. In the history of ancient civilisations, evidence has been detected in the past, which indicates the human consumption of drugs and alcohol among others. Ancient Egyptians used alcohol in 3500 BCE, while ancient Chinese people consumed cannabis (the source of marijuana) around 3000 BCE. Ancient people in what is present-day Switzerland ate poppy seeds (the source of opium) in 2500 BCE. Coca leaves (the source of cocaine), too, have been chewed for thousands of years by ancient Homo sapiens around the world. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

People in Spain were taking drugs about 3,000 years before Pablo Escobar

From the border sarees to bell bottom pants, and then sarees again, Indian women's fashion has evolved over years since Independence.

India@75: Tracing the evolution of fashion in India through Bollywood's leading actresses

A new study has revealed how a number of evolutionary modifications in the voice box resulted in humans gaining the power of speaking. The scientists found that there were a number of changes that happened over time which separates human from other primates. In the study, the voice boxes of 43 species were examined and they found that other species lack something called a vocal membrane. The membrane is described as “a small, ribbon-like extensions of the vocal cords”.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/author-salman-rushdie-attacked-on-stage-during-event-in-new-york-506314">Author Salman Rushdie stabbed on stage in New York - All you need to know</a>

The study also found that humans lack the ability to create loud calls like monkeys due to the absence of “balloon-like laryngeal structures” called air sacs. The lack of air sacs is the reason why humans have a stable voice and that was one of the major reasons why they were able to develop speech.

“We argue that the more complicated vocal structures in nonhuman primates can make it difficult to control vibrations with precision," said primatologist Takeshi Nishimura of Kyoto University’s Centre for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behaviour in Japan, in the official statement.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/low-levels-of-pollution-also-cause-major-health-damage-study-finds-506203" hreflang="en">Low levels of pollution also cause major health damage, study finds</a>

“Vocal membranes allow other primates to make louder, higher-pitched calls than humans - but they make voice breaks and noisy vocal irregularity more common," said evolutionary biologist and study co-author W. Tecumseh Fitch of the University of Vienna in Austria in the statement.

The study, which was published in the Science journal, examined the anatomies of “apes including chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and gibbons, as well as Old World monkeys - macaques, guenons, baboons and mandrills and New World monkeys - capuchins, tamarins, marmosets and titis”, according to Science journal.

A new study has revealed how a number of evolutionary modifications in the voice box resulted in humans gaining the power of speaking. The scientists found that there were a number of changes that happened over time which separates human from other primates.

A new study has revealed how a number of evolutionary modifications in the voice box resulted in humans gaining the power of speaking. The scientists found that there were a number of changes that happened over time which separates human from other primates. In the study, the voice boxes of 43 species were examined and they found that other species lack something called a vocal membrane. The membrane is described as “a small, ribbon-like extensions of the vocal cords”. Also read | Author Salman Rushdie stabbed on stage in New York - All you need to know The study also found that humans lack the ability to create loud calls like monkeys due to the absence of “balloon-like laryngeal structures” called air sacs. The lack of air sacs is the reason why humans have a stable voice and that was one of the major reasons why they were able to develop speech. “We argue that the more complicated vocal structures in nonhuman primates can make it difficult to control vibrations with precision," said primatologist Takeshi Nishimura of Kyoto University’s Centre for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behaviour in Japan, in the official statement. Also read | Low levels of pollution also cause major health damage, study finds “Vocal membranes allow other primates to make louder, higher-pitched calls than humans - but they make voice breaks and noisy vocal irregularity more common," said evolutionary biologist and study co-author W. Tecumseh Fitch of the University of Vienna in Austria in the statement. The study, which was published in the Science journal, examined the anatomies of “apes including chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and gibbons, as well as Old World monkeys - macaques, guenons, baboons and mandrills and New World monkeys - capuchins, tamarins, marmosets and titis”, according to Science journal.

Study reveals how evolutionary change in voice box helped humans in speaking

India’s aviation sector is one of the world’s fastest-growing. But how it came to be so? Here's how the Indian aviation industry has evolved since independence.

India@75: Evolution of aviation industry since Independence

Do you know when the first bicycle was invented? Do you know how it became a symbol of personal mobility? As we mark World Bicycle Day, Palki Sharma Upadhyay gets you a story on the evolution of the machine.

Gravitas: The evolution of the Bicycle

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked huge interest in shared virtual environments or the "metaverse". Here's how it works

What is the 'metaverse' and how does it work?

Whether it's about new climate or new workplace, adapting to changing circumstances proves to be an important trait for survival. Animals and even plants in the wild show examples of modifying their behaviour and even biology as conditions change. All this pieces together the puzzle of evolution nicely.

A study has revealed that some animals are 'shape shifting' and various parts of their bodies are transforming to better adapt global warming. Some of them are developing bigger tails. Others are developing different beaks and ears in order to survive in the changing conditions. Researchers have found that bigger body parts are developing so that these animals could lose body heat more effectively.

Climate change is heaping "a whole lot of pressure" on animals, said Sara Ryding of Deakin University in Australia, who led the study, in a press release.

"It's high time we recognised that animals also have to adapt to these changes, but this is occurring over a far shorter timescale than would have occurred through most of evolutionary time," she said.

Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/this-shark-toothed-dinosaur-gave-tough-competition-to-t-rex-411826">This 'shark-toothed' dinosaur gave tough competition to T-Rex</a>

The study has been published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. The study reviewed previous research "where climatic warming is a potential hidden explanatory variable for the occurrence of shape-shifting" and found trends particularly noticeable in birds.

The Australian parrot, for example, had shown an average 4-10 percent increase in the size of its bill since 1871 and the authors said this positively correlated with the summer temperature each year.&nbsp;

Other birds, like North American dark-eyed juncos, thrushes and Galapagos finches also saw bill size increases. 
Meanwhile, the wings of the great roundleaf bat grew, the European rabbit developed bigger ears, while the tails and legs of masked shrews were found to be larger. &nbsp;

"Shape-shifting does not mean that animals are coping with climate change and that all is 'fine'," said Ryding.&nbsp;

"It just means they are evolving to survive it -- but we're not sure what the other ecological consequences of these changes are, or indeed that all species are capable of changing and surviving."

(With inputs from agencies)

Whether it's about new climate or new workplace, adapting to changing circumstances proves to be an important trait for survival. Animals and even plants in the wild show examples of modifying their behaviour and even biology as conditions change.

Whether it's about new climate or new workplace, adapting to changing circumstances proves to be an important trait for survival. Animals and even plants in the wild show examples of modifying their behaviour and even biology as conditions change. All this pieces together the puzzle of evolution nicely. A study has revealed that some animals are 'shape shifting' and various parts of their bodies are transforming to better adapt global warming. Some of them are developing bigger tails. Others are developing different beaks and ears in order to survive in the changing conditions. Researchers have found that bigger body parts are developing so that these animals could lose body heat more effectively. Climate change is heaping "a whole lot of pressure" on animals, said Sara Ryding of Deakin University in Australia, who led the study, in a press release. "It's high time we recognised that animals also have to adapt to these changes, but this is occurring over a far shorter timescale than would have occurred through most of evolutionary time," she said. Also Read: This 'shark-toothed' dinosaur gave tough competition to T-Rex The study has been published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. The study reviewed previous research "where climatic warming is a potential hidden explanatory variable for the occurrence of shape-shifting" and found trends particularly noticeable in birds. The Australian parrot, for example, had shown an average 4-10 percent increase in the size of its bill since 1871 and the authors said this positively correlated with the summer temperature each year. Other birds, like North American dark-eyed juncos, thrushes and Galapagos finches also saw bill size increases. Meanwhile, the wings of the great roundleaf bat grew, the European rabbit developed bigger ears, while the tails and legs of masked shrews were found to be larger. "Shape-shifting does not mean that animals are coping with climate change and that all is 'fine'," said Ryding. "It just means they are evolving to survive it -- but we're not sure what the other ecological consequences of these changes are, or indeed that all species are capable of changing and surviving." (With inputs from agencies)

As Earth warms up, animals are 'shape-shifting' to survive better: Study

The progenitor of the novel coronavirus underwent 'very little change' to adapt to humans from bats, according to a new study which suggests that the ability of the virus to spread from one person to another likely evolved in the flying mammal prior to it jumping to its new human host.&nbsp;

The study, published in the journal PLOS Biology, assessed hundreds of thousands of sequenced genomes of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and found that for the first 11 months of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been very little 'important genetic change' observed in the coronavirus.&nbsp;

However, it noted that some changes, such as the D614G mutation, and similar tweaks in the virus spike protein has affected its biology.&nbsp;

"This does not mean no changes have occurred, mutations of no evolutionary significance accumulate and 'surf' along the millions of transmission events, like they do in all viruses," explained study first author Oscar MacLean from the University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research in Scotland.&nbsp;

But the scientists said it was 'surprising' how transmissible SARS-CoV-2 has been from the outset.&nbsp;

"Usually, viruses that jump to a new host species take some time to acquire adaptations to be as capable as SARS-CoV-2 at spreading, and most never make it past that stage, resulting in dead-end spillovers or localised outbreaks," said Sergei Pond, another co-author of the study from Temple University in the US.&nbsp;

Analysing the mutations undergone by the novel coronavirus and related sarbecoviruses, the group of viruses the Covid virus belongs to from bats and pangolins, the scientists found evidence of fairly significant change, but all before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in humans.&nbsp;

Based on this observation, the researchers said SARS-CoV-2 came with a ready-made ability to infect humans and other mammals, with these properties likely evolving in bats prior to it jumping to humans.&nbsp;

"While an undiscovered 'facilitating' intermediate species cannot be discounted, collectively, our results support the progenitor of SARS-CoV-2 being capable of efficient human-human transmission as a consequence of its adaptive evolutionary history in bats, not humans, which created a relatively generalist virus," the scientists wrote in the study.&nbsp;

Although the novel coronavirus is still cleared by the human immune response in the vast majority of infections, the scientists cautioned that it is now moving away faster from the January 2020 variant used in all of the current vaccines to raise protective immunity.&nbsp;

The current vaccines will continue to work against most of the circulating variants, but as more time passes, and the bigger the differential between vaccinated and not-vaccinated numbers of people, they said there will be more opportunity for the virus to escape vaccines.&nbsp;

"The first race was to develop a vaccine. The race now is to get the global population vaccinated as quickly as possible," said David L Robertson, lead author of the study from the University of Glasgow.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

The progenitor of the novel coronavirus underwent 'very little change' to adapt to humans from bats, according to a new study which suggests that the ability of the virus to spread from one person to another likely evolved in the flying mammal prior to it jumping to its new human host.

The progenitor of the novel coronavirus underwent 'very little change' to adapt to humans from bats, according to a new study which suggests that the ability of the virus to spread from one person to another likely evolved in the flying mammal prior to it jumping to its new human host. The study, published in the journal PLOS Biology, assessed hundreds of thousands of sequenced genomes of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and found that for the first 11 months of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been very little 'important genetic change' observed in the coronavirus. However, it noted that some changes, such as the D614G mutation, and similar tweaks in the virus spike protein has affected its biology. "This does not mean no changes have occurred, mutations of no evolutionary significance accumulate and 'surf' along the millions of transmission events, like they do in all viruses," explained study first author Oscar MacLean from the University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research in Scotland. But the scientists said it was 'surprising' how transmissible SARS-CoV-2 has been from the outset. "Usually, viruses that jump to a new host species take some time to acquire adaptations to be as capable as SARS-CoV-2 at spreading, and most never make it past that stage, resulting in dead-end spillovers or localised outbreaks," said Sergei Pond, another co-author of the study from Temple University in the US. Analysing the mutations undergone by the novel coronavirus and related sarbecoviruses, the group of viruses the Covid virus belongs to from bats and pangolins, the scientists found evidence of fairly significant change, but all before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in humans. Based on this observation, the researchers said SARS-CoV-2 came with a ready-made ability to infect humans and other mammals, with these properties likely evolving in bats prior to it jumping to humans. "While an undiscovered 'facilitating' intermediate species cannot be discounted, collectively, our results support the progenitor of SARS-CoV-2 being capable of efficient human-human transmission as a consequence of its adaptive evolutionary history in bats, not humans, which created a relatively generalist virus," the scientists wrote in the study. Although the novel coronavirus is still cleared by the human immune response in the vast majority of infections, the scientists cautioned that it is now moving away faster from the January 2020 variant used in all of the current vaccines to raise protective immunity. The current vaccines will continue to work against most of the circulating variants, but as more time passes, and the bigger the differential between vaccinated and not-vaccinated numbers of people, they said there will be more opportunity for the virus to escape vaccines. "The first race was to develop a vaccine. The race now is to get the global population vaccinated as quickly as possible," said David L Robertson, lead author of the study from the University of Glasgow. (With inputs from agencies)

Novel coronavirus jumped from bats to humans with 'very little change': Scientists 

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