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They also had twice as many genes, and still could not adapt.

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In there monumental 1953 Nature paper, Watson and Crick did not report the discover of DNA. Rather, they reported the chemical binding among the nucleic acids that render the beautiful double helix. This is the “specific pairings” they refer to in the above quote. When they said “suggests a possible copying mechanism”,  it was a premeditated and masterful understatement, which had the effect of amplifying the importance of the work. 

Visit the Virtual Fossil Museum to learn more about evolutionary mechanisms and the history of life on earth.

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New Dinosaur Species Uncovered in Mongolia

http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/new-dinosaur-species-mongolia-gobihadros-mongoliensis-07105.html

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Study: Last Common Ancestor of Neanderthals and Modern Humans Lived 800,000 Years Ago

http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/anthropology/last-common-ancestor-neanderthals-modern-humans-07193.html

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Gogia

Artwork by Franz Anthony / @franzanth

This upside-down bowling pin was a distant relative of the sea lilies. It lived partially buried under the sediment around 500 million years ago, with the pin part acting as an anchor.

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252MYA creates custom-made artwork for private collections and editorial, scientific, or educational projects.

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Crazy making for the intellectually challenged base.

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The Muscinae, from Kunstformen der Natur (1904) Plate 72, by 19th century naturalist Ernst Haeckel. More information here.

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The Amazing Anglerfish - Terror of the Deep

Sea Devils are members of Chordata Class Actinopterygii (the bony fishes), Order Lophiiformes (Anglerfish).  As you might guess correctly, they are predators that mainly ply the deep sea. Phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial DNA portent their emergence in the bony fish as early as 130 million years ago in the Cretaceous age of dinosaurs. Anglerfish are of particular evolutionary interest because their phenotype exhibits extreme sexual dimorphism as well as sexual parasitism of male anglerfish. Females are several orders of magnitude (100 – 100 x) larger than females in some species. In some species the male lives a parasitic life attached to the female, in order to become sperm donor to her at some point.

Such animals can inspire children’s interest in science and evolution in the classroom.

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Timeline of Hominid Evolution

A general timeline of hominid evolution based on paleoanthropological fossil evidence.

source

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