evolution Archives

Size matters:The link between social groups and human evolution

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Robin Dunbar discusses his eponymous 'Dunbar's Number', primates to people, and why size matters with social groups and evolution.

Humans are social creatures; we live in family groups, socialise with friends, and work with colleagues. Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar’s ‘social brain hypothesis’ suggests that brain size is directly related to social group size in mammals. The bigger the group, the bigger the brain. In this interview with Research Outreach, we find out how Dunbar developed his theory as well […]

A four-model approach to understanding our evolutionary psychology

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Our psychology evolved in hunter-gatherer societies before the end of the last ice age.

Dr James Walter, Emeritus Adjunct Professor at Loyola University Chicago, USA, summarises research in evolutionary psychology focused on the natural selection effects of negative social behaviors that occurred in the Middle and Upper Paleolithic Ages. To this aim, four main factors are considered: natural selection, comparisons with our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, the social behaviors of modern hunter-gatherer societies, […]

From lipids to life: Cracking the puzzle about the origin of life

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The quest to understand life’s origin has long intrigued scientists seeking to unravel the mysteries of existence. Traditional approaches to this question have their own limitations. Professor Doron Lancet and his team from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, offer a fresh perspective and a more feasible pathway for understanding how life emerged on Earth. Their work introduces a paradigm […]

Developing our nature: When and how human aggression and other psychological traits evolved

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Dr James Walter, Emeritus Adjunctive Professor at Loyola University Chicago, USA, and PhD student Aasma Khan summarise research conducted by Professor Richard Wrangham and peers on the evolution of human aggression and other psychological traits. Two approaches are used: comparing aggression in different species, and investigating hunter-gatherer cultures. Walter and Khan outline the relationship between aggression and language evolution and […]

Biomimicry: The imitation game

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Evolution has the advantage of millions of years of trial and error to refine nature’s designs; biomimetics uses nature as the source of inspiration for innovative design solutions to complex problems. The scope of opportunity offered by biomimicry is breathtaking – and the results are often beautiful. Here, we take a closer look at brilliant examples of biomimicry and the […]

Evolutionary theory: Debating the origins of our DNA

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Mr Shaojie Deng proposes the stable complex evolution model, which offers an evolutionary theory for the fundamental characteristics of life.

For over a decade, Mr Shaojie Deng of Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, China, has been formulating and more recently presenting his new evolutionary theory to the academic world. Over time his thought processes too have evolved with his most recent manuscript centring around the stable complex model as an explanation for the evolution of enzymes and […]

Do phytoplankton hold the key to the evolution of marine biodiversity?

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Dr Ronald Martin and his colleagues have explored the link between phytoplankton and marine biodiversity.

Life exploded in our oceans 250 million years ago, leading to the biodiversity that we see today. Before this point, however, the plant and animal life in our seas was considerably less diverse. Several theories have been proffered to explain this – often considering both habitat and climate changes – but very few studies have considered the role of phytoplankton. […]

EvoSphere: A system where robots can physically evolve

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Professor A E Eiben explores autonomous robot evolution using a potential system called the EvoSphere for the design and study of intelligent robots

While the field of robotics has made many exciting advances in recent years, designs of new robots are still generally being conceived by human engineers. Inspired by the evolution of organisms in nature, Professor A E Eiben at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, in The Netherlands, aims to show how robot designs may not need to be constrained in this way. Instead, they could […]

Unearthing avian evolution: What can we learn from the skeletons of flightless birds?

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Dr Peter Johnston researches the sensory adaptations of different species of flightless birds in the southern hemisphere, understanding how moa and elephant birds may have adapted to diurnal life

The evolution of flightless birds is a conundrum that scientists are still trying to solve. Using his experience in clinical medicine, Dr Peter Johnston from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, has recently unearthed new information about the sensory adaptations of several species of flightless birds, including the now extinct moa. This work demonstrates that, in contrast to previous hypotheses, […]

Rethinking the Tree of Life with new tools

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Dr Sung-Hou Kim has applied a new way of thinking to an old model, the Tree of Life, which dates back to Darwin.

Professor Sung-Hou Kim and his colleagues from the University of California, Berkeley, have applied a new way of thinking to the Tree of Life, a concept that has been around since Darwin’s time. Drawing from their collective expertise, they applied an Information Theory-based non-alignment method to compare whole-proteome sequences, the protein sequences coded by all genes of each organism. Their […]