Related papers: A comparative data study on dinosaur, bird and hum…
This article shows how 3D geometric morphometric data can be analyzed using newly developed distance-based evolutionary tree inference methods, with extensions to planar graphs. Application of these methods to 3D representations of the…
We describe new approaches for distances between pairs of 2-dimensional surfaces (embedded in 3-dimensional space) that use local structures and global information contained in inter-structure geometric relationships. We present algorithms…
Birds exhibit a variety of flight styles, primarily classified as flapping, which is characterized by rapid up-and-down wing movements, and soaring, which involves gliding with wings outstretched. Each species usually performs specific…
The evolution of scientific fields has been attracting much attention in recent years. One of the key issues in evolution of scientific field is to quantify the dissimilarity between two collections of scientific publications in literature.…
The Sapient Paradox is the apparently unexplainable time delay of several ten thousand years following the arrival of Homo sapiens in Asia and Europe and before the introduction of impressive innovations with the agricultural revolution.…
Comparisons of DNA sequences between Neandertals and present-day humans have shown that Neandertals share more genetic variants with non-Africans than with Africans. This could be due to interbreeding between Neandertals and modern humans…
Small-scale structures on biological surfaces can profoundly impact how animals move, appear, and interact with their environments. Such textures may be especially important for limbless reptiles, such as snakes and legless lizards, because…
According to the recently discovered 'Law of Urination', mammals, ranging in size from mice to elephants, take, on the average, 21s to urinate. We attempt to gain insights into the physical processes responsible for this uniformity using…
Well protected human and laboratory animal populations with abundant resources are evolutionary unprecedented, and their survival far beyond reproductive age may be a byproduct rather than tool of evolution. Physical approach, which takes…
The Centaurs are a transient population of small bodies in the outer solar system whose orbits are strongly chaotic. These objects typically suffer significant changes of orbital parameters on timescales of a few thousand years, and their…
The white dwarf mass distribution has been studied primarily at two extremes: objects that presumably evolved as single stars and members of close binaries that likely underwent substantial interaction. This work considers the intermediate…
The physics of brown dwarfs has continuously improved since the discovery of these astrophysical bodies. The first important developments were devoted to the description of their mechanical structure, with the derivation of an appropriate…
Evolution and development operate at different timescales; generations for the one, a lifetime for the other. These two processes, the basis of much of life on earth, interact in many non-trivial ways, but their temporal hierarchy --…
Understanding the co-evolution of complex life with Earth's geology is an enduring challenge. The rock record evidences remarkable correlations between changes in biology and the wider Earth system, yet cause and effect remain unclear.…
We investigate how localized inhomogeneity affects the geometry and stability of migratory bird formations. We use a lifting-line model with a horseshoe-vortex representation to describe the longitudinal dynamics of aerodynamic…
Dogs exhibit an exceptional range of morphological diversity as a result of their long-term association with humans. Attempts to identify when dog morphological variation began to expand have been constrained by the limited number of…
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…
The asteroid belt is the leftover of the original planetesimal population in the inner solar system. However, currently the asteroids have orbits with all possible values of eccentricities and inclinations compatible with long-term…
Reconstructions of the paleoclimate indicate that ancient climatic fluctuations on Earth are often correlated with variations in its orbital elements. However, the chaos inherent in the solar system's orbital evolution prevents numerical…
The large number of observed exoplanets ($\gtrsim $ 700) provides important constraints on their origin as deduced from the mass-period diagram of planets. The most surprising features in the diagram are 1) the (apparent) pile up of gas…