evolutionary

A 324-million-year-old fossil from Texas preserves an early insect with 24 legs and paddle-like limbs on its abdomen, suggesting insects did not leave water for land in one sudden evolutionary jump

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A 324-million-year-old fossil from Texas preserves an early insect with 24 legs and paddle-like limbs on its abdomen, suggesting insects did not leave water for land in one sudden evolutionary jump

Palaeoecological reconstruction of the Carboniferous stem-insect Chosha praecursor. (Image by NIGPAS) An international research team has identified a remarkable insect fossil from western Texas that could represent a crucial missing link in the story of insect evolution. The fossil, from the Late Mississippian period approximately 324 million years ago, belongs to a stem group of … Read more

Scientists analysed thousands of animal genomes and found hidden “evolutionary highways” stretching back 600 million years

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Scientists analysed thousands of animal genomes and found hidden “evolutionary highways” stretching back 600 million years

Scientists have traced hidden pathways through animal evolution by comparing thousands of genomes and following pieces of chromosomes that have survived for hundreds of millions of years. The study examined 5,821 chromosome-scale genomes from 4,454 species across 19 animal phyla, using 29 ancient linkage groups as markers of chromosome history. Every one of the 406 … Read more