#Evolution #Neuroscience #Cognition - Crows recognize geometric regularity - "The crows exhibited a geometric regularity effect, showing better performance with shapes featuring right angles, parallel lines, or symmetry over more irregular shapes. This performance advantage did not require learning. Our findings suggest that geometric intuitions are not specific to humans but are deeply rooted in biological evolution." - Philipp Schmidbauer et al., Crows recognize geometric regularity.Sci. Adv.11,eadt3718(2025).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adt3718 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adt3718

#Evolution #Neurowissenschaft #Kognition - Krähen haben ein Gespür für Geometrie - "Für die Forscher ist die Arbeit nicht nur eine bloße Bestandsaufnahme dessen, was Krähen können. Sie erzählt etwas über den Ursprung des Verständnisses von Geometrie, betonen die Wissenschaftler in ihrer Studie: 'Unsere Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass geometrische Intuitionen nicht spezifisch für den Menschen sind, sondern tief in der biologischen Evolution verwurzelt sind.'" - von Piotr Heller - Eventl. € https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wissen/leben-gene/gespuer-fuer-mathe-rabenkraehen-erkennen-geometrische-formen-110414708.html

You Might Think of Shrimp as Bugs of the Sea: But Bugs Are Shrimp of the Land

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/you-might-think-of-shrimp-as-bugs-of-the-sea-but-a-remarkable-discovery-shows-the-opposite-bugs-are-actually-shrimp-of-the-land-180986303/

Species Richness and Speciation Rates for all Terrestrial Animals Emerge from a Synthesis of Ecological Theories

https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/sysbio/syaf006/8098740?login=false

The tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the… frog? – the not-so bite-sized mystery of frog tooth re-evolution

Check out this really fun post prepared by Ryan Harrison, covering recent work from the #FraserLab. #preprint

#preLight
https://prelights.biologists.com/highlights/tooth-development-in-frogs-implications-for-the-re-evolution-of-lost-mandibular-teeth-and-the-origin-of-a-morphological-innovation/

New chromosome-level genome assemblies for hexaploid weeds Conyza sumatrensis and C. bonariensis. These resources will serve to inform research into evolution and management of these species.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf065

Ancient jawbone from Taiwan belongs to a mysterious group of human ancestors, scientists say.

@AssociatedPress reports: https://flip.it/OuM8-c

ICYMI: Imagine seeing through 24 eyes—or catching movement faster than any human could. Professor Lars Schmitz's Wired #video explores the surprising visual capabilities across different species.

From simple light patches to complex eye structures, #evolution crafts incredibly inventive ways of seeing the world.

Learn more: https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/animal-kingdom-eyes-tour-tree-of-life-wired-video

#DeExtinction: #Fake it until you make it? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/10/de-extincted-dire-wolf-hype-breakthrough-grey-wolves #DireWolf #extinction #genome #GM #evolution #science

#WeekendReading: Cole et al., on the weird and strange relationships between Mg/Ca ratio in #seawater and echinoderm #evolution.
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/51/12/1091/628095/Calcite-aragonite-seas-as-a-driver-of-echinoderm

Warning: study includes and describes animal experimentation.

"Authors Withdraw Evolution Paper Fearing Deportation"

You know the world is screwed up when the reasonable response to that is "I don't blame them."

https://www.wlsam.com/2025/04/10/authors-withdraw-evolution-paper-fearing-deportation/

I have just skimmed the book 'Gathering Moss' by #RobinWallKimmerer (searched something for my moss podcast episode) and am amazed at how much you can take away from moss evolution for today's political situation. Evolution speaks much for diverse, resisting, and adaptive communities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3FSpMMzUNI

Armstrong et al. estimate de novo germline mutation rates across all extant Panthera species and the Clouded leopard using pedigrees. Reported rates align with other mammals, and can help refine models for phylogenetic and demographic analyses.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf060

Our fingers wrinkle in water due to a loss of blood flow our nervous system causes, and (they think) this is because evolution-wise, this would've allowed early humans to grip things better when their hands were wet (fish, tools, etc).

https://www.popsci.com/science/why-do-fingers-wrinkle-in-water

The April cover of Molecular Biology and Evolution features the work of Menno de Jong et al., who analysed autosomal and sex chromosomal data to reconstruct the demographic history of the Red deer.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf031

Bas Worm

Ein internationales Forscherteam hat die Genome von sechs Menschenaffenarten entschlüsselt! Diese bahnbrechende Entdeckung bietet tiefere Einblicke in die Evolution und genetische Verwandtschaft zum Menschen. Neue Erkenntnisse könnten auch zur Bekämpfung von Krankheiten beitragen! Mehr dazu hier: https://www.n-tv.de/wissen/Forscher-entschluesseln-Menschenaffen-Genome-article25694402.html #Wissenschaft #Genetik #Evolution #Menschenaffen #newz

The word “evolve” originates from the Latin ēvolvere, meaning “to unroll” or “unfold.”

It is derived from ē- (a variant of ex-, meaning “out of”) and volvere (“to roll”).

Initially, it referred to the literal act of unrolling, such as a scroll or book.

#language #etymology #evolution @bookstodon