An extraordinary cave animal found in Eastern Turkmenistan
A remote cave in Eastern Turkmenistan was found to shelter a marvelous cave-adapted inhabitant that turned out to represent a species and genus new to
Category : Natural History
HeritageDaily – Natural history news and press releases from across the globe
Fruit fly mutation foretells 40 million years of evolution
Small, seemingly insignificant mutations in fruit flies may actually hold clues as to how a species will evolve tens of millions of years in the
Modern domestic dog has a single geographic origin
By analyzing the DNA of two prehistoric dogs from Germany, an international research team led by Krishna R. Veeramah, Ph.D., of Stony Brook University in
Scientists link biodiversity genomics with museum wisdom through new public database
A new publically available database will catalog metadata associated with biologic samples, making it easier for researchers to share and reuse genetic data for environmental
Humans have been altering tropical forests for at least 45,000 years
The first review of the global impact of humans on tropical forests in the ancient past shows that humans have been altering these environments for
What the first flower looked like more than 100 million years ago
A new study published this week in Nature Communications reconstructs the evolution of flowers over the past 140 million years and sheds new light on
A new bird which humans drove to extinction discovered in Azores
Inside the crater of a volcano on Graciosa Island in the Azores archipelago, in the Atlantic Ocean, an international team of researchers has discovered the
Neolithic farmers practiced specialized methods of cattle farming
Swiss farmers practiced various different methods of animal farming as early as 5,400 years ago, as demonstrated by a study by researchers from the University
Why are dogs such doting companions? It’s in their genes
Researchers have identified a genetic difference in domesticated dogs and wolves that could explain the canines' contrasting social interaction with humans.
Is this Gulf of Mexico tubeworm the longest living animal in the world?
Large tubeworms living in the cold depths of the Gulf of Mexico may be among the longest living animals in the world.
Big, shape-shifting animals from the dawn of time
Why did life on Earth change from small to large when it did? Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Tokyo Institute of Technology
Extinction event that wiped out dinosaurs cleared way for frogs
The mass extinction that obliterated three-fourths of life on Earth, including non-avian dinosaurs, set the stage for the swift rise of frogs, a new study
Five mass extinctions – and what we can learn from them about the planet today
Of all the species that have ever lived, more than 99% are now extinct. Most of them quietly disappeared during periods of “background extinction”, whereby a
The ‘Star dust’ wasp is a new extinct species named after David Bowie’s alter ego
During her study on fossil insects of the order Hymenoptera at China's Capitol Normal University, student Longfeng Li visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural
Radiocarbon dating of phytolith traces rice domestication to 10,000 years ago
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the world's most important staple foods, as it sustains more than half the global population. Rice farming has
Groundwater ‘pit stops’ enabled survival and migration of our ancient ancestors
An international team led by a researcher at Cardiff University believe that the movement of our ancestors across East Africa was shaped by the locations
Evolution on the fast lane — 1 flounder species became 2
A research group at the University of Helsinki discovered the fastest event of "speciation" in any marine vertebrate when studying flounders in an international research
New insights into the ancestors of all complex life
A team of scientists led by the University of Bristol has provided new insights into the origins of the Archaea, the group of simple cellular
How do blind cavefish find their way? The answer could be in their bones.
Imagine living in perpetual darkness in an alien world where you have to find food quickly by touch or starve for months at a time.
Why did hunter-gatherers first begin farming?
The beginnings of agriculture changed human history and has fascinated scientists for centuries.
Jurassic drop in ocean oxygen lasted a million years
Dramatic drops in oceanic oxygen, which cause mass extinctions of sea life, come to a natural end - but it takes about a million years.
African lions face same threats as extinct Ice Age ancestors
Newly published in the journal Ecography, the study shows that the wildlife that went extinct during the period, including the sabre-toothed cat, cave and American