Month: July 2022

Structural studies of the robust material called sporopollenin reveal how it made plants hardy enough to reproduce on dry land.

Source: How the ‘Diamond of the Plant World’ Helped Land Plants Evolve | Quanta Magazine

Evolution has long been viewed as a rather random process, with the traits of species shaped by chance mutations and environmental events—and therefore largely unpredictable.

Source: Plant study hints evolution may be predictable

A fossil from 385 million years ago named Qikiqtania wakei shows that a descendant of early land animals lost its adaptations for land and became a more efficient swimmer

Source: Evolution: A fish that evolved to stand up on land went back to living in water | New Scientist

Megalodon, the world’s largest known shark species, swam the oceans long before humans existed. Its teeth are all that’s left, and they tell a story of an apex predator that vanished.

Source: Megalodon sharks ruled the oceans millions of years ago – new analyses of giant fossilized teeth are helping scientists unravel the mystery of their extinction

The long read: A new wave of scientists argues that mainstream evolutionary theory needs an urgent overhaul. Their opponents have dismissed them as misguided careerists – and the conflict may determine the future of biology

Source: Do we need a new theory of evolution? | Evolution | The Guardian

Some bacteria living in the Southern Ocean can only adapt to temperatures about 2°C above what they usually live in, and other organisms could face similar limits adapting to higher temperatures

Source: Antarctic bacteria reveal an evolutionary limit to dealing with heat | New Scientist

Warning, this painting is rank paganism. The obsession (on both sides) to use the evolution question to debate the issue of god is completely futile and at the same time unstoppable. At the ID site…

Source:  Evolution is not a field for god debates… – 1848+: The End(s) of History