Gorilla Genome Sequence

GorillaThe “Insights into hominid evolution from the gorilla genome sequence” report, published by the British journal Nature this last week, stands as a historical milestone in the study of human origins, sequencing the gorilla genome.

Aylwyn Scally (pictured right below) at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute led the research team to complete the gorilla genome sequence project,  the last genus of the living great apes to have its genome decoded. The use of gorilla genome sequences, Scally explains –

“Will promote a deeper understanding of great ape biology and evolution.”

The findings change the evolution narrative.

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Anomalocaris’s Compound Eye

Anomalocaris, an ancient three-foot-long shrimp-like creature, is an evolution anomaly.  Anomalocaris (pictured left) is Greek for “anomaly shrimp.”

The origin of this marine creature’s compound eye, a species first discovered by Charles Doolittle Walcott in the Canadian Rockies at an elevation of over 7,000 feet above sea level, has long puzzled evolution scientists. Where did the freakish eyes originate, and how did they end up in the Canadian Rockies?

The findings have no natural explanation.

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Dating of Karabo, A Surprise

In the journal Science September 9 edition, a collection of reports generated a storm of controversy on the evolution status of Australopithecus sediba. Nicknamed Karabo, meaning “answers,” the fossils have emerged as the latest human ancestor candidate.

While last week’s topic focused on Karabo’s transitional links, this week examines the dating of these two remarkable fossilized skeletons recovered from the Malapa site in South Africa.

The Karabo dating surprised the investigators.

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Australopithecus Sediba Saga

Science Journal September 2011 IIThe Australopithecus sediba saga intensified last week with a new series of reports published in the journal of Science. The journal is the official weekly publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS.

Last week’s edition (cover pictured left) featured eight articles and news reports specifically on A. sediba, inflaming a flurry of speculations on the human “missing link.”

This last week was the second Science edition to focus on human evolution findings in South Africa.

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Dinosaur Soft Tissue on 60 Minutes

dinosaur RBCLeslie Stahl, long-time CBS journalist, interview on 60 Minutes with Mary Schweitzer in December marked a new paleontology arena – the field of dinosaur soft tissue.

Schweitzer, an American paleontologist at North Carolina State University, unexpectedly discovered soft tissues from a Tyrannosaurus rex bone sent from the Museum of the Rockies in Montana.

Schweitzer’s controversial report, “Gender-Specific Reproductive Tissue in Ratites and Tyrannosaurus rex,” published in the journal Science in 2005, revolutionized our understanding of fossil preservation.

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