A version of this review appeared in Issue 75 of Cosmos Magazine, July 2017 The runaway evolution that drove human brilliance Darwin’s Unfinished Symphony: How Culture Made the Human Mind by KEVIN N. LALAND Princeton University Press (2017) Evolutionary biologists are often loath to admit the vast gap that exists between our own brilliance and … Continue reading
Category Archives: Evolution
The next generation of weapons against antibiotic-resistant superbugs
From Cosmos Magazine, June 30, 2017 (Image: naturalismus via Flickr) At his North Adelaide practice, Peter-John Wormald has the unenviable job of unblocking the noses of people with chronic sinusitis. Many of his patients have spent years on antibiotics that have failed to budge their infection, providing the perfect breeding ground for resistant superbugs. For … Continue reading
Killer whale menopause evolved from mother-daughter conflict
From Cosmos Magazine, January 13, 2017 (Image: Shawn McCready via Flickr) Menopause is an evolutionary anomaly. Only in three species – humans, orcas and short-finned pilot whales – does female reproduction grind to a halt part-way through life. For orcas (Orcinus orca), a new study published in Current Biology shows that menopause isn’t just a … Continue reading
Tails gave early land animals a leg up
From Cosmos Magazine, July 8, 2016. (Image: Klaus Stiefel via Flickr) The muscular tails that propelled prehistoric fish through water may have been essential for their move onto land, a study in Science reports. The transition from life in Earth’s watery depths to life on land occurred roughly 385–360 million years ago. All modern four-limbed land … Continue reading
Jawbone and teeth reveal hobbit’s 700,000-year-old ancestors
From Cosmos Magazine, June 9, 2016. (Photo by Kinez Riza) A jawbone and six teeth push back the origins of the “hobbit” – a tiny species of early human – by more than half a million years. Two studies, published in Nature, detail the remarkable find. They suggest that the hobbit’s ancestors were already dwarfed and … Continue reading
Where did we come from? A primer on early human evolution
From Cosmos Magazine, June 9, 2016. Homo floresiensis photo by Karen Neoh via Flickr The story of human origins is a messy one. Each bone fragment that’s unearthed or ancient genome that’s decoded adds a new piece to the puzzle – and it doesn’t necessarily make the picture any clearer. “Human evolution is not a line of … Continue reading
How the fruit fly got its stink
Male fruit flies dampen the libido of sexual rivals with smelly pheromone. The struggle to reproduce and leave behind a genetic legacy has seen the evolution of a variety of weird and wonderful mating features. While male birds such as the peacock don fancy feathers and conduct elaborate courtship dances to outcompete rivals, male fruit … Continue reading
