Evolution & Behaviour
Secrets of legless leapers revealed
While we marvel at falcons, cheetahs, and dolphins for their remarkable skills at flying, running, and swimming, we tend to belittle more humble creatures. Among the most lowly are worms, with their unsophisticated crawling and wriggling. However, the biological world holds an endless array of... click to read more
Early chewing and swallowing
Chewing and controlled swallowing are requirements for efficient food ingestion and civilized table manners. Active muscle-powered swallowing is typical mammalian and differentiates mammals, including humans, from other vertebrates. Reptiles, such as crocodiles and birds, devour their unchewed prey in huge chunks or even entirely (e.g.,... click to read more
Living the high life: the early arrival of hunter-gatherers in the glaciated Ethiopian Highlands
Eastern Africa is known for a vast number of famous archaeological and paleoanthropological findings. Among those, the discovery of the 3.2 million-year-old skeleton "Lucy" in the Afar region. Excavations of fossils and archaeological remains over the last decades shed light on the hominin evolution. They... click to read more
The evolution of the new coronavirus: what the past teaches us for a better future
As we are writing, the world is facing the global crisis of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since the beginning of the outbreak, scientists have been struggling with establishing standards to overcome this challenging situation. Unlike for the common cold or the seasonal flu, treatments,... click to read more
Coronaviruses: Contagious Beasts and Where to Find Them
First and foremost: viruses do not appear out of nowhere. They exist in nature moving from one hosting animal to another. Still, we don't realize their presence until they cross our way. For example, the first time a coronavirus was discovered was back in the... click to read more
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