A fossil discovered in Australia suggests that dinosaurs roaming Earth’s single supercontinent before the onset of Pangaean fragmentation, occupied a much larger geographical range than previously thought.
Paul Barrett at the Natural History Museum in London and his colleagues analysed a fossilized vertebra found in southern Australia and published the results in the recent issue of Biology letters.

Researchers from the Australian Venom Research Unit (AVRU) at the University of Melbourne have collaborated with scientists from the University of Papua New Guinea and the University of Costa Rica, to develop new antivenom against the lethal Papuan taipan.
The preclinical studies of this antivenom have been published in the international journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Around 750 people are bitten in PNG each year. PhD candidate David Williams from AVRU, who coordinated the project in PNG, said snakebite is a neglected public health problem compounded by antivenom shortages, poor infrastructure and …

Springer recently announced two new print books in evolutionary biology series . Here is brief information related to these books and information related to buy theses books if interested.
Principles of Evolution
Book Series: The Frontiers Collection
Editor/s: Meyer-Ortmanns, Hildegard; Thurner, Stefan

Mutations of DNA that lead to one base being replaced by another don’t have to happen as single, independent events in humans and other eukaryotes, a group of Indiana University Bloomington biologists has learned after surveying several creatures’ genomes.
And, the scientists argue, if “point mutations” can happen in twos, threes — even nines – large evolutionary jumps are possible, especially when problems caused by a single point mutation are immediately compensated for by a second or third. The work appears in the latest issue of Current Biology.

Similar to Birds , Bats also have evolved the ability to fly but differs in having fur when compared to members of other flying taxa.Some bats continue to fly in slight drizzle but prefer to take shelter when rain increases. Research led by Christian C. Voigt provides reason , why Bats dont like Rain in latest open access article published in Biology Letters.

It was always thought ( based on previous research ) that modern humans originated in Eastern Africa, but according to new research published in latest issue of PNAS suggests south African origin for modern Humans.
The work led by Brenna M Henn presents data for more than 580,000 SNPs for several hunter-gatherer populations: the Hadza and Sandawe of Tanzania, and the ≠Khomani Bushmen of South Africa, including speakers of the nearly extinct N|u language.

As rates of obesity, diabetes, and related disorders have reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. in recent years, scientists are working from many angles to pinpoint the causes and contributing factors involved in this public health crisis. While sedentary lifestyles and diets high in sugar and fat contribute significantly to the rise in diabetes rates, genetic factors may make some people more vulnerable than others to developing diabetes. Researchers at the University of Maryland are using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model system to unravel what genes and …