Tag Archives: hypotheses

Evolution of monogamy in humans the result of infanticide risk

By Guest PostJuly 31, 2013Nature, Sciencebayesian methods, big brain, evolution, evolution of monogamy, females, hypotheses, infanticide risk, kit opie, monogamy in humans, monogamy in primates, offspring, rival males, susanne shultz, ucl, ucl anthropology, university of auckland, university of manchester, university of oxford

The threat of infants being killed by unrelated males is the key driver of monogamy in humans and other primates.

The study by academics from UCL, University of Manchester, University of Oxford and University of Auckland, is the first to reveal this evolutionary pathway for the emergence of pair living.

The team also found that following the emergence of monogamy males are more likely to care for their offspring. Where fathers care for young, not only can they protect infants from other males, but they can also share the burden of childcare. (more…)

Scientists Find Possible Solution to an Ancient Enigma

By Guest PostJune 20, 2013Environmentamoeba, ancient enigma, anna mcintyre wressnig, calcium carbonate, cat scans, ciliates, clotted stones, coastal sediment, colchicine, disappearance, earth history, evolution, extinction of dinosaurs, foraminifera, geobiologist, highborne cay, hypotheses, joan bernhard, layered rocks, life on earth, meteorite, microbes, microbial ecologist, microfabric, minerals, multicellular life, oceanic sediments, paleontologists, photosynthetic cyanobacteria, proterozoic eon, protozoa, remote valleys, rrna, scientists, sediment, solution, stromatolites, thecate, thrombolites, velociraptors, virginia edgcomb, whoi

The widespread disappearance of stromatolites, the earliest visible manifestation of life on Earth, may have been driven by single-celled organisms called foraminifera.

The findings, by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI); Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the University of Connecticut; Harvard Medical School; and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, were published online the week of May 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)