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The extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago had little effect on the evolution of mammals.
2007-03-28
mammal dinosaur evolution extinction visualizationThe [supertree] is a new way of showing all the mammal species on the planet, starting with a common ancestor.
Virtual three-dimensional 'casts' of the fossilized skulls of animals that preceded the first true mammals suggest that brain areas involved in smell, or olfaction, catalysed brain growth in the evolutionary branch that gave rise to mammals. With this foundation in place, later mammals could have siphoned off some of those resources for colour vision, echolocation and even, in the case of the platypus, the ability to sense...
2011-05-19
olfaction smell mammal evolution brain human evolutionA highly developed sense of smell kick-started the development of mammals' big brains. Scientists used very high-resolution scanning to study the skulls of two of the earliest known mammal species. Comparing the shape of their brain cases to those of slightly earlier animals, or "pre-mammals", revealed that the first brain areas to over-develop were those associated with the sense of smell...
2011-05-20
smell sense mammal evolution brainMicroRNAs from common plant crops such as rice and cabbage can be found in the blood and tissues of humans and other plant-eating mammals, according to a study published today in Cell Research. One microRNA in particular, MIR168a, which is highly enriched in rice, was found to inhibit a protein that helps removes low-density lipoprotein (LDL) from the blood, suggesting that microRNAs can influence gene expression across kingdoms.
2011-09-20
mammal RNA plant genetics