Wasps that recognize faces cooperate more, may be smarter
From Cornell University 22/12/23 A new study of paper wasps suggests social interactions may make animals smarter. The research offers behavioral evidence of an evolutionary link between the ability to recognize individuals and social cooperation. Furthermore, genomic sequencing revealed that populations of wasps that recognized each other – and cooperated more – showed recent adaptations […]
Ancient Balkan genomes trace the rise and fall of Roman Empire’s frontier, reveal Slavic migrations to southeastern Europe
From University of Oklahoma 19/12/23 A multidisciplinary study has reconstructed the genomic history of the Balkan Peninsula during the first millennium of the common era, a time and place of profound demographic, cultural and linguistic change. The team has recovered and analyzed whole genome data from 146 ancient people excavated primarily from Serbia and Croatia—more […]
Shocking: Inbreeding can be beneficial in the long run, for Reindeers at least
From Norwegian University of Science and Technology 28/09/23 “Of all the subspecies of reindeer found in the high north, the Svalbard reindeer has the most inbreeding and the lowest genetic diversity,” says Nicolas Dussex, a postdoc at Norwegian University of Science and Technology´s (NTNU) Department of Natural History. It was only 7000-8000 years ago that […]