#evolutionarybiology — Public Fediverse posts

Paleovirology is the study of ancient viruses and their evolutionary history, primarily conducted by examining endogenous viral elements (EVEs) that have integrated into the genomes of host organisms over millions of years.
#Paleovirology #Virology #EvolutionaryBiology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/08/cat08232601.html

We are a species strictly engineered for deep, empathetic connection. Protecting the integrity of that connection—by understanding exactly how it functions, how it is genetically moderated, and how malevolent actors can exploit it—is arguably the most critical scientific and societal endeavor of our time.
#Neuroscience #CognitivePsychology #Neurobiology #BehavioralGenetics #EvolutionaryBiology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/08/wi08212601.html

Evolutionary genome topology is a new comparative framework that projects the structural evolution of animal chromosomes onto a single map. It reveals that animal genomes do not change at random, but rather evolve along distinct, irreversible pathways over millions of years.
#EvolutionaryBiology #Genomics #MolecularGenetics #Zoology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/08/ebio08202601.html

Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Evolutionary biology 🧬)

The Institute of Evolutionary Biology is a joint research center of Pompeu Fabra University and the Spanish National Research Council founded in 2008. IBE is the only research center in Catalonia and the rest of Spain that is entirely dedicated to evolutionary biology and ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_Evolutionary_Biology

#InstituteOfEvolutionaryBiology #EvolutionaryBiology #EducationInBarcelona #PompeuFabraUniversity

Researchers have identified two new species of subterranean, shrimp-like amphipods, Bogidiella isajii and Bogidiella painushima, within the groundwater and cave systems of Japan's Ryukyu Islands.
#EvolutionaryBiology #SubterraneanEcology #Taxonomy #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/08/ebio08172601.html

Parallel evolution (Evolutionary biology 🧬)

Parallel evolution is the similar development of a trait in distinct species that are not closely related, but share a similar original trait in response to similar evolutionary pressure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_evolution

#ParallelEvolution #EvolutionaryBiology

Dogs possess specific neural mechanisms that allow them to process and distinguish between various human facial expressions, such as happiness, fear, anger, and sadness.
#Neuroscience #Ethology #EvolutionaryBiology #Psychology #Dogs #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/08/ns08112601.html

Tetonius varleyorum is a newly identified, mouse-lemur-sized species of extinct omomyid primate that challenges the previously accepted step-by-step evolutionary model of early mammals.
#Paleontology #EvolutionaryBiology #BiologicalAnthropology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/08/pal08102601.html

This week's #NewBooks at the library:
- Another second-hand volume to my growing collection of The Correspondence of #CharlesDarwin, this one Volume 26: 1878, published by Cambridge University Press.
- #Warhammer: The Art of #GamesWorkshop, a rather rare exhibition catalogue of grimdark artwork that I bought via eBay.
- I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in #NaturalHistory, the final of the essay bundles from #StephenJayGould, published by Harmony Books.

#Books #Bookstodon #HistoryOfScience #ScienceHistory #HistSci #Evolution #EvolutionaryBiology #Scicomm @bookstodon

Quantum evolution (Evolutionary biology 🧬)

Quantum evolution is a component of George Gaylord Simpson's multi-tempoed theory of evolution proposed to explain the rapid emergence of higher taxonomic groups in the fossil record. According to Simpson, evolutionary rates differ from group to group and even among closely related lineages. These different rates of evolutionary change were desi...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_evolution

#QuantumEvolution #RateOfEvolution #EvolutionaryBiology

Ring species (Evolutionary biology 🧬)

In biology, a ring species is a connected series of neighbouring populations, each of which interbreeds with closely sited related populations, but for which there exist at least two end populations in the series which are too distantly related to interbreed, though there is a potential gene flow between linked neighbouring populations. Such non-breeding, though genet...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_species

#RingSpecies #Species #EvolutionaryBiology

An international research team utilized advanced genomic sequencing to construct the first comprehensive evolutionary map of Hawaiian honeycreepers, resolving the complex relationships among living, extinct, and fossilized species.
#EvolutionaryBiology #Genomics #Paleontology #ConservationBiology #Ornithology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/08/ebio08042601.html

A highly contagious avian herpesvirus that causes Marek's disease, which manifests as tumors and paralysis in poultry, and has progressively evolved to evade multiple generations of vaccines.
#Virology #EvolutionaryBiology #Genomics #AgriculturalScience #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/08/vi08032601.html

Bacteriophages are the most abundant and diverse viral entities on Earth, functioning as microscopic apex predators that exist exclusively to infect, replicate within, and ultimately lyse bacterial populations.
#WhatIs #Virology #Microbiology #EvolutionaryBiology #MolecularBiology #Biophysics #Biogeochemistry #ClinicalImmunology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/wi07312601.html

A 113-million-year-old mass extinction event of marine planktic foraminifera was driven by severe ocean acidification caused by massive volcanic carbon dioxide emissions. Microscopic fossil evidence confirms that acidic surface waters dramatically reduced the ability of these organisms to build calcium carbonate shells.
#IsotopeGeochemistry #Paleoclimatology #EvolutionaryBiology #MarineBiology #EarthScience #PlanetaryScience #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/es07302601.html

Nitrogenases containing the metal molybdenum are the most efficient enzymes for converting atmospheric nitrogen gas into biologically usable ammonia.
#Biochemistry #InorganicChemistry #EvolutionaryBiology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/bchm07302601.html

A recent morphological study of fossilized skulls reveals that archaic humans, including Homo erectus and Homo floresiensis, birthed physically helpless infants that required intensive, constant parental care similar to modern human babies.
#EvolutionaryBiology #Anthropology #Paleontology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/ebio07292601.html

Deletions in genes that regulate early brain and neuron development are associated with more severe features of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, specifically diminished cognitive abilities.
#Neurogenetics #Psychiatry #Neuroscience #EvolutionaryBiology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/psyc07282601.html

My 10yo son proposed that Hutts evolved from legged ancestors and lost their hindlimbs rather than evolving from legless slug-like ancestors and gaining forelimbs, which I think is far more plausible, given multiple patterns of limb loss in lizards.
#zoology #starwars #evolution #evolutionaryBiology

The discovery of 1.4-million-year-old fossil footprints in northern Kenya preserves the tracks of eight Paranthropus boisei individuals, providing direct evidence of their anatomy, locomotion, and behavior.
#Paleoanthropology #EvolutionaryBiology #Geology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/pal07272601.html

Energetic flexibility describes an animal's ability to adjust how it allocates energy among survival, reproduction, and migration as environmental conditions and physiological demands change.
#Ecology #Ornithology #EvolutionaryBiology #EnvironmentalScience #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/eco07272601.html

Human reproductive ecology (Evolutionary biology 🧬)

Human reproductive ecology is a subfield in evolutionary biology that is concerned with human reproductive processes and responses to ecological variables. It is based in the natural and social sciences, and is based on theory and models deriving from human and animal biology, evolutionary theory,...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_reproductive_ecology

#HumanReproductiveEcology #HumanReproduction #EvolutionaryBiology #ReproductiveEcology

Infection by the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis fundamentally alters the physiology of Temnothorax nylanderi worker ants, significantly extending their lifespan while suppressing their natural activity levels.
#Entomology #Parasitology #EvolutionaryBiology #Genomics #MolecularBiology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/ent07212601.html

New review: The Inquisitive Biologist reaches back in time and finally reads The Ascent of Birds to find a fascinating foray into bird evolution and the many different mechanisms of speciation.

https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2026/07/21/book-review-the-ascent-of-birds-how-modern-science-is-revealing-their-story/

#Books #BookReview #Bookstodon #Birds #Ornithology #Evolution #EvolutionaryBiology #Scicomm @bookstodon

University of Michigan researchers utilized advanced artificial intelligence to demonstrate that passerine birds (order Passeriformes) underwent rapid bursts of morphological evolution that directly coincided with major historical climate shifts.
#EvolutionaryBiology #Ornithology #Paleoclimatology #ComputationalBiology #AI #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/ebio07202601.html

Inbreeding avoidance (Evolutionary biology 🧬)

Inbreeding avoidance, or the inbreeding avoidance hypothesis, is a concept in evolutionary biology that refers to the prevention of the harmful effects of inbreeding. The inbreeding avoidance hypothesis posits that certain mechanisms develop within a species, or within a given population of a species, as a res...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inbreeding_avoidance

#InbreedingAvoidance #PopulationGenetics #EvolutionaryBiology #OrganismsByAdaptation