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Librado et al. pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Image credit: Devanath.

Horses Were First Domesticated in Western Eurasian Steppes More Than 4,000 Years Ago

Oct 21, 2021 by News Staff

In a study published this week in the journal Nature, scientists analyzed ancient horse genomes from all suspected domestication centers, including Iberia,...

A trio of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) trudges over snow covered hills; behind them, mountains with snow covered peaks rise above dark green forests of fir trees. Image credit: Daniel Eskridge.

Rapid Climate Change Wiped Out Woolly Mammoths, Study Confirms

Oct 20, 2021 by News Staff

In a large-scale environmental DNA metagenomic study of ancient plant and mammal communities, an international team of researchers have analyzed 535 permafrost...

A female blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) in the permanent collection of the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Image credit: Wendy Kaveney / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Blue Crab

Oct 5, 2021 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science has successfully sequenced the genome of the blue crab (Callinectes...

Ke et al. report 14 genes that promote obesity and 3 genes that prevent diet-induced obesity when silenced in Caenorhabditis elegans. Image credit: Renée Gordon, FDA.

Researchers Discover 17 New Genes that Promote or Prevent Obesity

Oct 1, 2021 by News Staff

A new study in Caenorhabditis elegans worms has identified 14 new genes that promote obesity and 3 genes that prevent diet-induced obesity. Ke et al. report...

Etruscan dancers and musicians in the Tomb of the Leopards in Tarquinia, Italy. Image credit: Yann Forget.

Ancient DNA Analysis Sheds New Light on Origin of Etruscans

Sep 27, 2021 by News Staff

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and elsewhere have sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 82 individuals that...

A pair of Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica). Image credit: Mali Ancor.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Atlantic Puffin

Sep 22, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Researchers have sequenced analyzed the genome of the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica), a small auk with a large head and a colorful bill. Using the...

Japanese samurai in armor, print by Kusakabe Kimbei, 1870s. Image credit: Getty’s Open Content Program.

Ancient DNA Reveals Tripartite Origins of Japanese People

Sep 21, 2021 by News Staff

The Japanese archipelago, which has been occupied by humans for at least 38,000 years, underwent rapid transformations in the past 3,000 years, first from...

Old German Owl (left) and Racing Homer (right) domestic pigeon breeds that were bred by Boer et al.. Image credit: Sydney Stringham.

Researchers Solve Charles Darwin’s Short-Beak Enigma

Sep 21, 2021 by News Staff

Charles Darwin bred domestic pigeons (Columba livia), and in his Origin of Species described the numerous variations that had been selected by pigeon fanciers....

Shea trees, the source for the popular ingredient shea butter, grow in a shea parkland during the lush rainy season near the town of Bole in northern Ghana. Image credit: Iago Hale / University of New Hampshire.

Shea Tree Genome Sequenced

Sep 10, 2021 by News Staff

Scientists have decoded the genome of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa), a unique agroforestry tree species central to sustaining local livelihoods and...

The kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus). Image credit: Jake Osborne.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Kakapo Parrot

Sep 9, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has successfully sequenced and analyzed the genome of the kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), a flightless parrot endemic...

Dickkopf 4 mutations in Ticked cats. Image credit: Kaelin et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-25348-2.

New Study Explains How Cats Got Their Stripes

Sep 8, 2021 by News Staff

New research shows that a signaling molecule encoded by a gene called Dickkopf 4 underlies a naturally occurring mutation that affects tabby patterns and...

The Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). Image credit: Dhaval Vargiya / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Indian Wolf

Sep 6, 2021 by News Staff

Indian wolves (Canis lupus pallipes) could represent the most ancient surviving lineage of wolves, according to an analysis of the animal’s newly-sequenced...

A spotted skunk doing its signature handstand. Image credit: Jerry W. Dragoo.

New Research Reveals Seven Spotted Skunk Species Instead of Four

Sep 3, 2021 by News Staff

A team of U.S. scientists led by Chicago State University has analyzed species limits and diversification patterns in spotted skunks using nuclear and...

The bowfin (Amia calva). Image credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.

Bowfin Genome Sheds New Light on Evolution of Ray-Finned Fishes

Aug 31, 2021 by News Staff

The bowfin (Amia calva) is a species of ray-finned fish native to North America. Also known as freshwater dogfish, grinnel, and mud pike, this species...

A paleoartist’s reconstruction of the three extinct species whose genomes were sequenced by Liu et al.: in the foreground is a Siberian unicorn (Elasmotherium sibiricum), and close behind are two Merck’s rhinoceroses (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis); in the far background is a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis). Image credit: Beth Zaiken.

Ancient and Modern DNA Reveals Evolutionary History of Rhinoceros Family

Aug 25, 2021 by News Staff

Researhers have sequenced the genomes of two living and three extinct rhinoceros species and compared them to existing data from the remaining three living...

Key features of the common seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) and the alligator pipefish (Syngnathoides biaculeatus) and their phylogenetic positions: (A) the common seadragon has a dragon-shaped body with many special leaf-like appendages and long tubular snout lacking teeth; common seadragon males incubate eggs on a brood patch on the underside of the tail; (B) a male alligator pipefish showing eggs incubated on a brood patch on the underside of trunk; (C) phylogenetic tree of 19 ray-finned fishes. Image credit: Qu et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abg5196.

Scientists Sequence Seadragon and Pipefish Genomes

Aug 19, 2021 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Germany, China, Singapore, Belgium, and Japan has successfully sequenced and analyzed male and female genomes of the common...

Philippine Ayta Magbukon People Have Highest Amount of Denisovan DNA in the World

Aug 12, 2021 by News Staff

New research led by Uppsala University scientists suggests that there were multiple archaic human species that inhabited the Philippines prior to the arrival...

Condemi et al. analyzed the blood types of Neanderthals and Denisovans by looking at their DNA. Image credit: CNRS.

Researchers Decipher Blood Groups of Neanderthals and Denisovans

Jul 30, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

An analysis of the high-quality nuclear genomes previously published from three Neanderthals and one Denisovan shows that these extinct hominins were polymorphic...

Gelabert et al. retrieved human and mammalian nuclear and mitochondrial environmental shotgun genomes from a 25,000-year-old sediment sample from Satsurblia Cave in Georgia. Image credit: Anna Belfer-Cohen.

25,000-Year-Old Human and Animal DNA Found in Georgian Cave

Jul 14, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists has retrieved and analyzed nuclear and mitochondrial environmental DNA of humans, wolfs (Canis lupus), and bisons (Bison...