evolution – Kettinki

2024-11-15 @ 16.33.24 ∈ In English

(From 2019; TIL)

This Asian Moth Is Probably Nature’s Ultimate Camouflage Master

Macrocilix maia is an Asian moth with a disgusting scene painted on its wings - realistic flies feasting on fresh bird droppings.

2024-10-01 @ 12.07.38 ∈ Suomeksi

Kauniit maapallon renkaat ja Fennoskandian kraatterit

Syyskuussa Earth and Planetary Science Letters -lehdessä julkaistu [artikkeli] haastoi viimeisten vuosikymmenten käsitykset ordoviikkikauden kivisateesta. [Artikkeli ehdottaa], että kaukana asteroidivyöhykkeellä tapahtuneen L-kondriittien emäkappaleen hajoamisen sijasta säpinää oli paljon lähempänä.

2024-07-27 @ 10.44.13 ∈ In English

Butterflies accumulate enough static electricity to attract pollen without contact, research finds

This is the first evidence to suggest that the amount of static electricity an animal accumulates is a trait that can be adaptive, and thus evolution can act upon it by natural selection.

2024-02-28 @ 16.34.08 ∈ Suomeksi

Luonnontieteellisten museoiden digitoidut näytteet vahvistivat ikivanhan tutkimushypoteesin | Helsingin yliopisto

Klassinen hypoteesi esittää, että suojaväritykseen luottavat saaliseläimet ovat ulkoasultaan vaihtelevampia kuin varoitussignaaleihin luottavat saaliseläimet. […] Tutkijat löysivät hypoteesille vahvistuksen käyttämällä luonnontieteellisten museoiden digitaalisia kokoelmia ja mittaamalla tuhansista kuvista perhoslajien sisäistä värien ja kuvioiden muuntelua.

2024-02-05 @ 20.10.31 ∈ In English

Getting rid of bed bugs: Trickier than ever

[Tropical] bed bugs have turned up in the United States, Sweden, Italy, Norway, Finland, China, Japan, France, Central Europe, Spain — “even in Russia, which would have once been unthinkable,” says [Chow-Yang] Lee, of the University of California, Riverside.

2024-01-18 @ 11.56.28 ∈ In English

(TIL: Word-initial ff)

Butterflies could lose spots as climate warms

[New] study shows the eyespot variation is caused by thermal plasticity (the ability to react to changing temperatures) [instead of genetic polymorphism (the co-existence of multiple genetic forms in a single population)."

2023-12-04 @ 18.13.40 ∈ In English

Earliest-known fossil mosquito suggests males were bloodsuckers too

[The] well-preserved insects are two males of the same species with piercing mouthparts, suggesting they likely sucked blood. That’s noteworthy because, among modern-day mosquitoes, only females are [hematophagous.]

2023-12-04 @ 18.08.16 ∈ In English

Brains of newborns aren’t underdeveloped compared to other primates, finds new study

Contrary to current understanding, the brains of human newborns aren’t significantly less developed compared to other primate species, but appear so because so much brain development happens after birth, finds a new study led by University College London researchers.

2023-09-27 @ 18.30.48 ∈ In English

The Secret to Beetles’ Unfathomable Diversity

The evolution of a chemical defense gland allowed the most diverse group of beetles to repel predators and go on to conquer wholly new environments

2022-03-15 @ 12.23.17 ∈ In English

(Slightly fearmongering, but the bit I quoted below seems solid.)

Antigenic evolution will lead to new SARS-CoV-2 variants with unpredictable severity - Nature Reviews Microbiology

Unlike viral immune escape and transmissibility, which are under strong evolutionary pressure, virulence is typically a by-product, fashioned by complex interactions between factors in both the host and the pathogen.