evolution

Fluctuating environment may have driven human evolution

12/24/12

A series of rapid environmental changes in East Africa roughly 2 million years ago may be responsible for driving human evolution, according to researchers at Penn State and Rutgers University.

"The landscape early humans were inhabiting transitioned rapidly back and forth between a closed woodland and an open grassland about five to six times during a period of 200,000 years," said Clayton Magill, graduate student in geosciences at Penn State. "These changes happened very abruptly, with each transition occurring over hundreds to just a few thousand years."

A new genomic analysis points to an early branch in the equine family tree.

10/12/11

The last of the true wild horses—a stocky, short-maned species known as Przewalski's horse—is much more distantly related to the domestic horse than researchers have previously thought, according to a new study led by Kateryna Makova, associate professor of biology at Penn State.

New technique sheds light on the mysterious process of cell division

5/20/11

Using a new technique in which models of primitive cells are constructed from the bottom up, Penn State scientists have demonstrated that the structure of a cell's membrane and cytoplasm may be as important to cell division as the specialized machinery -- such as enzymes, DNA or RNA -- that are found within living cells. The study, which will be published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, may provide important clues to how life originated from nonlife and how modern cells came to exhibit complex behaviors.

Missing DNA makes us human

3/9/11

Chimpanzees and humans are minimally different genetically, but the small differences are what make us human, according to a team of researchers who identified segments of non-coding DNA missing in humans that exist in chimpanzees and other animals. "The technology now lets us look at the genomes of humans and other mammals and find sites where humans are unique," said Philip Reno, assistant professor of anthropology, Penn State. "We can now correlate that information with specific human physical characteristics."

Marker Lectures in Evolutionary Biology to take place March 14-15

2/28/11

Clifford Tabin, a professor in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and also the chairman of the department, will present the Russell Marker Lectures in Evolutionary Biology on March 14 and 15 on Penn State's University Park campus. The free public lectures are sponsored by the Penn State Eberly College of Science. The series includes a lecture intended for a general audience titled "Revisiting Evolutionary Examples Used by Darwin: New Insights in the Varied Beaks of Darwin's Finches and Regressive Evolution in Cave Fish" at 5 p.m. on Monday, March 14. Tabin also will give a more specialized lecture titled "Evolution and Development of Gut and Limb Pattern" at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15. Both lectures will take place in the Berg Auditorium, 100 Life Sciences Building.

High school biology teachers reluctant to endorse evolution in class

1/27/11

The majority of public high school biology teachers are not strong classroom advocates of evolutionary biology, despite 40 years of court cases that have ruled teaching creationism or intelligent design violates the Constitution, according to Penn State political scientists. A mandatory undergraduate course in evolutionary biology for prospective teachers, and frequent refresher courses for current teachers, may be part of the solution, they say.

three-panel image with lizard in first two panels and researcher Tracy Langkilde holding a lizard in the third panel

Adapt or Die

12/7/10

Lizards learn to scram from invading ants.

Beth Shapiro awarded Packard Fellowship

10/15/10

Beth Shapiro, the Shaffer Career Development Assistant Professor of Biology at Penn State University, has won a David and Lucile Packard Foundation fellowship to explore the origins and evolution of viruses.

woman in red smiles in front of computer

Evolution of a Scientist

8/31/10

If there is a sweet spot at the intersection of talent, hard work, drive and luck, Beth Shapiro has found it. At thirty-four years old, Shapiro—an evolutionary molecular biologist who came to Penn State in 2007 as the Shaffer Career Development assistant professor in biology—has already received more awards and honors than many scientists do in a lifetime.

New hypothesis for human evolution and human nature

7/23/10

It's no secret to any dog- or cat-lover that humans have a special connection with animals, but in a new journal article and forthcoming book, paleoanthropologist Pat Shipman of Penn State argues that this human-animal connection goes well beyond simple affection. Shipman proposes that the interdependency of ancestral humans with other animal species -- "the animal connection" -- played a crucial and beneficial role in human evolution over the last 2.6 million years.

New research about human development and human genetic diseases

4/28/10

New Penn State research about human development and human genetic diseases reveals that jumping elements, some of which cause genetic diseases, become incorporated in the genome at different stages of human development. The density of transposable (jumping) elements between sex chromosomes in primates may have important consequences for the studies of human genetic diseases, say researchers Erika Kvikstad, a 2009 Penn State doctoral graduate in genetics, and Kateryna Makova, an associate professor of biology.

Ancient snakes living in Madagascar

3/30/10

Blind snakes have been discovered to be one of the few species now living in Madagascar that existed there when it broke away from India about 100 million years ago, according to a study that was published in the March 31 issue of the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. "Blindsnakes are not very pretty, are rarely noticed, and are often mistaken for earthworms, nonetheless, they tell a very interesting evolutionary story" said Blair Hedges, professor of biology at Penn State and a leader of the research team that made the discovery. Photos and more information are online at http://www.science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2010-news/Hedges3-2010.

Musk Ox population decline due to climate, not to humans, study finds

3/9/10

Scientists have discovered that the drastic decline in Arctic musk ox populations that began roughly 12,000 years ago was due to a warming climate rather than to human hunting. The research is the first study to use ancient musk ox DNA collected from across the animal's former geographic range to test for human impacts on musk ox populations. The research will be published in the early on-line edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences sometime during the week ending Friday, March 12.

DNA from rare polar bear fossil sheds light on species' history

3/3/10

A rare, ancient polar bear fossil discovered in Norway in 2004 is yielding a treasure trove of essential information about the age and evolutionary origins of the species. A paper published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers at Penn State, the University at Buffalo, the University of Oslo and other institutions is filling in key pieces of the evolutionary history of polar bears and brown bears, including their response to past climate changes.

Long After Darwin: Evolution and Our Place in Nature

11/10/09

On November 4th, noted paleoanthropologist Alan Walker led a conversation about evolution at the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center as the fourth event in Research Unplugged's Fall speaker series. The event, titled "Long After Darwin: Evolution and Our Place in Nature," focused on how our view of evolution has changed over the years.

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Fluctuating environment may have driven human evolution

12/24/12

A series of rapid environmental changes in East Africa roughly 2 million years ago may be responsible for driving human evolution, according to researchers at Penn State and Rutgers University.