Recently, 40+ bird genomes were sequenced, and we are still just beginning to sift through the data. How did birds lose their teeth? (Yes, teeth.) How did they evolve to learn complex songs? Has flying made their genomes smaller? Get the scoop from Allison Schultz.
Frivolous as it may sound to us, making pretty flowers is serious business for a plant. Fancier flowers often mean more attention from pollinators and greater reproductive success, and the huge diversity of flowers around today shows that the evolution of new flower types has paid off. But how can plants afford to experiment with such an important developmental process? As Becky Povilus explains, they do and they don't.
We aren't even sure if they are really alive, but, as Maryam Chaib de Mares explains, the distribution of viruses across the three domains of life (Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya) may reflect how viruses have shaped the evolution of cellular life.
EvoBites 