Related papers: Functional morphology, stable isotopes, and human …
Neural networks show a progressive increase in complexity during the time course of evolution. From diffuse nerve nets in Cnidaria to modular, hierarchical systems in macaque and humans, there is a gradual shift from simple processes…
Bone is a stiff and though, hierarchical and continuously evolving material that optimizes its structure to respond to mechanical stimuli, which also govern growth and remodeling processes. However, a full understanding of the underlying…
Estimating the phylogeny of the genus Homo is entering a new phase of vastly improved data and methodology. There is increasing evidence of 6 to 10 competing species/lineages at any point in the last half million years, making the…
Good agreement was found between experimental Vickers hardnesses, $H_\text{v}$, of a wide range of materials and those calculated by three macroscopic hardness models that employ the shear and/or bulk moduli obtained from: (i) first…
The division of labor (DOL) and task allocation among groups of ants living in a colony is thought to be highly efficient, and key to the robust survival of a colony. A great deal of experimental and theoretical work has been done toward…
Neuronal function requires precise spatial organization of mitochondria to meet localized energetic demand. However, the physical constraints governing mitochondrial transport in axons remain poorly defined. Bidirectional motor-driven…
Theoretical models show that in a non-constant environment two predator species feeding on one and the same prey may coexist because the two species occupy different temporal niches: the one with the longer handling time has the advantage…
Expansion of the neocortex is a hallmark of human evolution. However, it remains an open question what adaptive mechanisms facilitated its expansion. Here we show, using gyrencephaly index (GI) and other physiological and life-history data…
We consider a population of identical individuals preying on an exhaustible resource. The individuals in the population choose a strategy that defines how they use their available time over the course of their life for feeding, for…
Both animal and plant tissue exhibit a nonlinear rheological phenomenon known as compression stiffening, or an increase in moduli with increasing uniaxial compressive strain. Does such a phenomenon exist in single cells, which are the…
We review the formation of large-scale heterogeneity in the solid Earth from the magma ocean phase to the present day, focusing on lower-mantle structure and evolution, as well as continental formation and its impact on interior-exterior…
The rise in chronic diseases over the last century presents a significant health and economic burden globally. Here we apply evolutionary medicine and life history theory to better understand their development. We highlight an imbalanced…
Resonant dynamics plays a significant role in the past evolution and current state of our outer Solar System. The population ratios and spatial distribution of Neptune's resonant populations are direct clues to understanding the history of…
Behavioral heterogeneities in animals, also known as syndromes, play a crucial role in understanding how natural populations flexibly adapt to environmental changes. In ant species like \textit{Aphaenogaster senilis}, two key roles in…
The true slime mold \textit{Physarum polycephalum} has the remarkable capability to perform self-organized activities such as network formation among food sources. Despite well reproducing the emergence of slime networks, existing models…
A microscopic agent dynamical model for diploid age-structured populations is used to study evolution of polymorphism and sympatric speciation. The underlying ecology is represented by a unimodal distribution of resources of some width.…
The growth of plants, animals, and humans can give rise to layered structures associated with annual periodicity. Thickness variations are often correlated to nutrition supply and stress factors. The annual layers in a tree trunk with…
Constraints in embryonic development are thought to bias the direction of evolution by making some changes less likely, and others more likely, depending on their consequences on ontogeny. Here, we characterize the constraints acting on…
Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) populated Siberia, Beringia, and North America during the Pleistocene and early Holocene. Recent breakthroughs in ancient DNA sequencing have allowed for complete genome sequencing for two specimens…
Honey bees are critical to our ecosystem and food security as a pollinator, contributing 35% of our global agriculture yield. In spite of their importance, beekeeping is exclusively dependent on human labor and experience-derived…