evolution

Despite popular theories to the contrary, early humans evolved not as aggressive hunters, but as prey of many predators. “Humans are no more born to be hunters than to be gardeners,” argues Robert W. Sussman, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, in the newly-updated version of the controversial book “Man the Hunted: Primates, Predators and Human Evolution.”

How did our Solar System evolve? WUSTL physicists and a large team of colleagues marked the beginnings of that odyssey by examining samples of solar wind for neon and argon, two abundant noble gases. The work was published in the Oct. 19, 2007, issue of Science.

As reservoirs of valuable information go, nothing beats the sun. This sphere of heat and energy holds 99.9 percent of the solar system, saved in all original proportions after planets and meteorites formed. Analyzing the mix of hydrogen, oxygen and noble gases found in the sun can answer one of the biggest questions of the universe: How did our solar system evolve? Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis and a large team of colleagues marked the beginnings of that odyssey by examining samples of solar wind for neon and argon, two abundant noble gases. The work was published in the Oct. 19, 2007, issue of Science.

Photo by David KilperThat clover necklace you make for your child could be a ring of poison. That’s because some clovers have evolved genes that help the plant produce cyanide — to protect itself against herbivores such as snails, slugs and voles. Kenneth Olsen, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, is looking at the genetics of a wide variety of white clover plants to determine why some plants do and some plants don’t make cyanide. Ecology and geography play important roles.

Is that clover necklace you make for your child poison? It could be. Kenneth Olsen, Ph.D., Washington University assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, is looking at the genetics of a wide variety of white clover plants to determine why some plants do and some plants don’t make cyanide. Ecology and geography play important roles.

David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoOlsen is studying the genetics of two types of clover to determine why one type is cyanogenic (toxic) and the other is not.That clover necklace you make for your child could well be a ring of poison. That’s because some clovers have evolved genes that help the plant produce cyanide — to protect itself against little herbivores, such as snails, slugs and voles, that eat clover. Other clover plants that do not make cyanide are found in climates with colder temperatures. So, in picking your poison, er, clover, ecology and geography play important roles. A plant evolutionary biologist at Washington University in St. Louis is trying to get to the bottom of this botanical cloak and dagger tale.

Harvard physicist Lisa Randall explains how our visible world of four dimensions could be embedded in a higher-dimensional universe at the Assembly Series at 11 a.m. on Feb. 7 in Graham Chapel.

Harvard physicist Lisa Randall explains how our visible world of four dimensions could be embedded in a higher-dimensional universe at the Assembly Series at 11 a.m. on Feb. 7 in Graham Chapel.

Modern Humans may have been the divergent branch.Could it be that in the great evolutionary “family tree,” it is we Modern Humans, not the brow-ridged, large-nosed Neandertals, who are the odd uncle out? New research published in the August, 2006 journal Current Anthropology by Neandertal and early modern human expert, Erik Trinkaus, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, suggests that rather than the standard straight line from chimps to early humans to us with Neandertals off on a side graph, it’s equally valid, perhaps more valid based on the fossil record, that the line should extend from the common ancestor to the Neandertals, and Modern Humans should be the branch off that. More…

Anthropologist Erik Trinkaus argues that “in the broader sweep of human evolution, the more unusual group is not Neandertals, but it’s us — Modern Humans.”