evolution

Seeing fish through rocks

Dr Kate Trinajstic has used synchrotron light and CT scanning to see through rock, in the process discovering how ancient fish developed teeth, jaws and even a womb. Her work is increasing our understanding of how life on Earth evolved.

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Penguins hold missing pieces of evolutionary puzzle

Antarctica’s humble Adélie penguin is helping scientists shed new light on the process of evolution and may even hold the secret of how animals adapt to climate change.

Griffith University’s Professor of Evolutionary Biology David Lambert used genetically pristine Adélie penguin populations to reach back further in DNA history than thought possible, analysing DNA from living mothers and chicks alongside their ancestors from 44,000 years ago.

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Kangaroos a high point in evolution

People who live outside Australia often regard kangaroos as strange, specialised, relic animals. Not so, says palaeontologist Dr Ben Kear at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

They represent a high point in mammal evolution, he says, a generalised body plan that has adapted to a wide variety of environments, from rainforest to deserts, from rocks to trees. ”Some may even have been carnivores.”

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