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Category: Evolution and Climate
Shape-shifting sea snakes – a dynamic story of powerful selection pressures and rapid evolution
Evolutionary biologists are tasked with understanding the great diversity of organisms around us. For all we have discovered about the natural world, there is still so much yet to be understood. Researchers at the University of Adelaide‘s Environment Institute are using comparative approaches to understand how phenotypic diversity evolves by the process of natural selection, […]
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Two PhD Scholarships available in global change ecology
Joint PhD Scholarships in Macroecology and Biodiversity Conservation available now. Two enthusiastic PhD students are required to work on a hot topic in global change ecology: How do biological mechanisms mediate responses of biodiversity to climate – and human-driven change? The successful candidates will be enrolled in a dual award PhD program recently established between […]
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The evolution of colour vision in sea snakes
Research from the University of Adelaide has revealed the evolution of colour vision in front-fanged snakes following their transition from terrestrial to fully marine environments. This research also provides the first evidence of where, when and how frequently the species have adapted their ability to see in colour. Today, the journal Current Biology published the […]
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A better immune system from returning to the wild
A research team led by the University of Adelaide has found that revegetation of green spaces within cities can improve soil microbiota diversity towards a more natural, biodiverse state, which has been linked to human health benefits. In the study, published in the journal Restoration Ecology, researchers compared the composition of a variety of urban […]
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Using advanced remote sensing to map ancient Aboriginal ‘tool‐stone’ resources in central Australia
The remote sensing work of University of Adelaide PhD candidate W. Boone Law has recently been selected for the 2020 May/June cover of Geoarcheaology. Geoarchaeology is an international journal dedicated to original interdisciplinary scientific research where geographical, geological, geophysical and Earth science techniques are used to better understand the archaeological record. (Pictured right: The front cover […]
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Ancient DNA paints genetic portrait of Andes civilisations
An international team of researchers has completed the first large-scale study of DNA belonging to ancient humans of the central Andes in South America and found early genetic differences between groups of nearby regions, and surprising genetic continuity over thousands of years. In the study, published in the journal Cell, researchers analysed the DNA of […]
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A/Prof Diego Garcia-Bellido joins digital school holiday program at SA Museum
Bringing life to the Ediacaran period, A/Prof Diego Garcia-Bellido takes children through the wonderment of exhibits in the SA Museum. On day three of the ‘Wonders from the Earth’ digital school holiday program, A/Prof Diego Garcia-Bellido travels back in time 550 million years to explore Ediacaran fossils, which are the oldest known complex forms of life on […]
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Can we meet the UN challenge to restore coastal wetlands by 2030?
As the UN declares the 2020s the ‘Decade of Ecosystem Restoration’, Professor Ivan Nagelkerken has collaborated with scientists worldwide to overcome the challenges of costal restorations. Leading coastal scientists from all over the world have joined forces calling for unified action on the future of coastal ecosystem conservation and restoration. This call comes in response to a declaration […]
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Media release: A new species of sea snake discovered in Western Australia
University of Adelaide Researchers have discovered a new species of turtle-headed sea snake in Western Australia. The new species, Emydocephalus orarius, or the Western Turtle-headed Sea Snake, is found from Shark Bay to Broome on soft sandy habitats at depths ranging from 15 to 70 metres. Lead author of the study and PhD candidate at […]
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New Paper in Science – The last interglacial Iberian Neandertals as fisher-hunter-gatherers
University of Adelaide researchers join an international team to question Neanderthals behaviour. A paper published in Science today involving University of Adelaide researchers A/Prof. Lee Arnold and Dr Martina Demuro provides new insights into Neanderthal subsistence strategies and further questions the behavioural gap once thought to separate Neanderthals from contemporaneous Homo sapiens groups. The study […]
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