Why did the iguana cross the ocean?
Science News reports: The mystery of how iguanas crossed the Pacific Ocean may be solved.
When did #human #language emerge?
A new analysis suggests our language capacity existed at least 135,000 years ago, with language used widely perhaps 35,000 years after that
#evolution #linguistics #genetics #languages #archaeology #HumanLanguage
: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1503900/full
https://news.mit.edu/2025/when-did-human-language-emerge-0314
Any #ecology or #evolution folks know of papers that reconstruct/estimate historical biodiversity globally?
Why did Praying Mantis never evolve this trick?
Likely because they have not existed long enough.
Ancient mammals had mostly dark brown coats during the dinosaur era, new study reveals
Ancient mammals that lived in the time of dinosaurs were mostly the same dark-brown colour, according to a new study providing clues about how those mammals evolved in a time where they faced giant predators.
#mammals #dinosaurs #evolution #study #News #Science
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/ancient-mammals-brown-1.7482944?cmp=rss
This paper using gene sequences to track linguistic 'capacity' is from a #Chomskyite perspective (eg Tattersall among authors) pinning #language #evolution to #genetic #mutation!
But even chimps and bonobos have significant 'capacity' so the key question would be #social conditions which liberate that capacity.
We know from the #ochre record that #ritual culture had become #PanAfrican by 140,000 years ago. This date needs to catch up! They have shell beads in Morocco already.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1503900/full
Why cockroaches are so resilient.
From @PopularScience: "This much-maligned bug is the ultimate survivor."
1.4-million-year-old skull fragments linked to mystery human ancestor.
@Gizmodo reports: "The fragmentary facial bones belong to Homo affinis erectus, an esoteric offshoot of our family tree that inhabited Spain more than one million years ago."
OTD, only 100 years ago, March 13, 1925.
Tennessee, USA, legislature enacted what was called Butler Act:
“Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.”
Less than three months later, high-school teacher John T. Scopes was charged with violating state law by teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
The law was repealed only in 1967.
Is anything changed there?
https://depts.washington.edu/genomicssalon/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/butler-act.pdf
#evolution : any movement designed to effect a new arrangement or disposition
- French: Évolution
- German: die Evolution
- Italian: evoluzione
- Portuguese: evolução
- Spanish: evolución
------------
Report an incorrect translation @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
The oldest human face from western #Europe, a 1.4 MA old type of #Homoerectus, #Atapuerca, N Spain
'Excavations at Sima del Elefante paint a picture of lush meadows and woodlands more than 1.1m years ago with oaks, pines, juniper and hazel trees in abundance. Rivers cutting through the landscape drew water voles and mice, hippos, bison and deer. Quartz and flint tools have also been recovered alongside animal bones bearing cut marks from butchering.'
'Pink' is the oldest ancient human 'face' ever found in Western Europe
By Anna Salleh
Bone fragments discovered in Spanish cave are putting a face to the earliest ancient humans to arrive in Western Europe, more than a million years ago.
New study finds that domestic cats traveled the Silk Road to China about 1,400 years ago.
In Spain, a remarkable place,
Bone fragments of human face.
Oldest known in the West,
History at its best,
Unveiling the past's sacred grace.
#GuardianLimerick #Archaeology #Evolution #Spain #Fossils #Science #Europe
Gene flow and habitat heterogeneity shape coexistence dynamics of Arctic charr morphs in connected lakes. Han Xiao, et al
Submitted to Molecular Ecology,
preprint on Authorea.
#ecology #Evolution #popgen #charr #salmonid #diversity #geneticdiversity #metapopulation #speciation #geometricMorphometrics
Bone fragments of oldest known human face in western Europe found in Spain https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/12/bone-fragments-of-oldest-known-human-face-in-western-europe-found-in-spain #Archaeology #Evolution #Fossils #Science #Europe #Spain
Deep-sea fish study reveals evolutionary marvels in Earth's hadal zone https://phys.org/news/2025-03-deep-sea-fish-reveals-evolutionary.html
#Evolution and genetic adaptation of fishes to the deep sea https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867425000315
"they confirmed a century-old hypothesis about deep-sea #fish evolution involving two distinct pathways. 'Ancient survivors' colonized the deep sea before the #Cretaceous mass #extinction, while 'new immigrants' account for the majority of modern #DeepSea species that emerged after the #MassExtinction."
Daily report 
Here are today's most popular trending hashtags 
on our website 
️:
#evolution, #scienceforall, #elonmusk, #landscape, #selfhosting, #openscience, #spacex
Stay tuned!
Scientists date remains of an ancient child that resembles both humans and Neanderthals.
From @AssociatedPress: "The child’s remains were discovered 27 years ago in a rock shelter called Lagar Velho in central Portugal."
Bip-bop the Bot 
If you fancy evolutionary genomics, theory, my lab now offers *two* fully-funded 
One on sex-asex transitions with Christoph Haag bit.ly/4hp1q1A