The Hobbit’s bite gets a stress test. Duke Today, Aug. 23, 2021. If you’ve ever suffered from a sore jaw that popped or clicked when you chewed gum or crunched hard foods, you may be able to blame it on your extinct ancestors. That’s according to a study of the chewing mechanics of an ancient human relative called Homo floresiensis, which inhabited the Indonesian island of Flores before our species arrived there some 50,000 years ago. Picked up by Archaeology.
Tag Archives: evolution
You can snuggle wolf pups all you want, they still won’t ‘get’ you quite like your dog
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You can snuggle wolf pups all you want, they still won’t ‘get’ you quite like your dog. Duke Today, July 12, 2021. If you feel like your dog gets you in a way that most other animals don’t, you’re right. New research comparing dog puppies to human-reared wolf pups offers some clues to how dogs’ unusual people-reading skills came to be. Picked up by CNN, UPI, Scientific American, Science News, Haaretz Daily, Inverse, Wired, The Miami Herald, MSN, Psychology Today, Business Insider, INDY Week and the Raleigh News & Observer.
Humans evolved to be the water-saving ape
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Humans evolved to be the water-saving ape. Duke Today, March 5, 2021. An ancient shift in our body’s ability to conserve water may have enabled early humans to venture farther from lakes and streams in search of food. So say the authors of a study that, for the first time, measures precisely how much water humans lose and replace each day compared with our primate cousins. Picked up by Inverse, MSN, UPI and Cosmos.
Malaria threw human evolution into overdrive on this African archipelago
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Malaria threw human evolution into overdrive on this African archipelago. Duke Today, Jan. 28, 2021. In the last 500 years, the people of Cabo Verde have evolved at a breakneck pace — thanks to a genetic variant, inherited from their African ancestors, that protects against the ravages of malaria. Picked up by Futurity.
Your cells look young for their age, compared to a chimp’s
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Your cells look young for their age, compared to a chimp’s. Duke Today, Sept. 21, 2020. Why do humans live so much longer on average than our closest primate relatives, despite being 99% identical genetically? Research suggests the epigenetic aging clock ticks slower for humans than for chimpanzees. Picked up by ZME Science.
Why are giant pandas born so tiny?
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Why are giant pandas born so tiny? Duke Today, Dec. 13, 2019. Giant pandas are born tiny and helpless, but why has always been a mystery. New clues from bones put an old idea to the test. Picked up by Smithsonian Magazine andFuturity.
World’s smallest fossil monkey found in Amazon jungle
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World’s smallest fossil monkey found in Amazon jungle. Duke Today, July 25, 2019. A fossilized tooth found in Peru’s Amazon jungle has been identified as belonging to a new species of tiny monkey no heavier than a hamster. The find helps bridge a 15-million-year gap in the fossil record for New World monkeys. Picked up by The Times of London, VICE, Gizmodo and Haaretz.
What made humans ‘the fat primate’?
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What made humans ‘the fat primate’? Duke Today, June 26, 2019. How did humans get to be so much fatter than chimps, despite sharing 99% of the same DNA? The answer may have to do with an ancient molecular shift in how DNA is packaged inside fat cells, which curbed our ability to turn “bad” fat into “good” fat. Picked up by the New York Post.
Could better tests help reverse the rise of superbugs?
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Could better tests help reverse the rise of superbugs? Duke Today, May 16, 2019. Faster, more accurate tests for drug-resistant infections are hailed as a promising tool in the fight against antibiotic resistance, so much so that the U.S. and Britain are offering millions in prize money for their development. A modeling study led by Duke University game theorist David McAdams shows that better tests could, in theory, change the game and put drug-resistant bacteria at a reproductive disadvantage relative to more easily-treated strains — but with a caveat.
Living like a caveman won’t make you thin
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Living like a caveman won’t make you thin. But it might make you healthy. Duke Today, January 17, 2019. Duke professor studies how our species’ past shapes human health today.
Live-in grandparents helped human ancestors get a safer night’s sleep
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Live-in grandparents helped human ancestors get a safer night’s sleep. Duke Today, July 12, 2017. A sound night’s sleep grows more elusive as people get older. But what some call insomnia may actually be an age-old survival mechanism, researchers report. A study of modern hunter-gatherers in Tanzania finds that, for people who live in groups, differences in sleep patterns commonly associated with age help ensure that at least one person is awake at all times. Picked up by The New York Times, CBS News, New Scientist, Discover Magazine, Science, Huffington Post, Daily Mail, Cosmos, The Guardian, BBC News, Mental Floss, Popular Science, Toronto Star, Reader’s Digest, USA Today and The Telegraph.
Island rodents take on nightmarish proportions
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Island rodents take on nightmarish proportions. Duke Today, June 22, 2015. Duke University researchers have analyzed size data for rodents worldwide to distinguish the truly massive mice and giant gerbils from the regular-sized rodents. They found that the furry animals with chisel-like teeth are 17 times more likely to evolve to nightmarish proportions on islands than elsewhere. The results are in keeping with an idea called the “island rule,” which previous studies claimed didn’t apply to rodents. Picked up by the Daily Mail, the Charlotte Observer, BBC, and National Public Radio’s WUNC.