evolutionary biology

Two researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (Austria), one of them Spanish, have described for the first time the flexible use of tools in a cow, which, according to the authors, suggests that the cognitive abilities of cattle have been underestimated. The animal, named Veronika, was kept as a pet by an Austrian farmer, who observed that she occasionally picked up branches and used them to scratch herself. After several experiments, the researchers found that she could use different parts of the same tool for different purposes and apply different techniques depending on its function and the body region. Beyond humans, this has only been convincingly documented in chimpanzees, the researchers indicate. “The findings highlight how assumptions about cattle intelligence can reflect gaps in observation rather than true cognitive limitations,” they state. The results are published in Current Biology. 

A US research team presents new evidence in Science Advances that Sahelanthropus tchadensis was a biped that evolved from an ape ancestor. Based on the study of two partial ulnas and a femur, they conclude that S. tchadensis—the oldest known hominid, which lived around 7 million years ago—had bones similar in size and shape to those of chimpanzees, but with a relative proportion more similar to that of hominids.

Restrictions on mobility and activity imposed during the covid-19 pandemic had an impact on the beaks of a species of bird, specifically the dark-eyed junco, which lived in urban areas of Los Angeles (USA). This is shown in a study published in the journal PNAS, which reveals how birds born during these lockdowns had beaks similar to their counterparts in the wild. With the return of human activity, the beak returned to its pre-pandemic shape. The authors argue that this change was mainly due to an adaptation to the food available, as the birds no longer had access to human food waste. 

English ethologist Jane Goodall died on Wednesday at the age of 91 in California (United States), where she was participating in a lecture tour. This was announced by the Jane Goodall Institute on its social media. ‘Dr Goodall's discoveries as an ethologist revolutionised science and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,’ the statement said. Her observations and analysis of chimpanzees in the wild over decades were a milestone in primatology.

New gene editing technologies, such as gene drive tools, open the door to deliberately extinguishing species. An analysis article published in Science examines the ethical implications of this possibility based on three specific examples: the eradication of rats, the cattle barren worm, and the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, which transmits malaria. The analysis attempts to answer the question: ‘When and under what circumstances could the intentional eradication of a species be justified?".

An analysis carried out in the United States has shown that, through intensive breeding and artificial selection, humans have pushed breeds such as pugs and Persian cats to evolve with very similar skulls and flattened faces. These two species, which have a common ancestor but have been evolutionarily separated for 50 million years, have converged to the point where they resemble each other more than they do members of their own species or their ancestors. According to the study, published in PNAS, ‘this phenomenon has not been observed before in domesticated species.’ The authors lament that humans ‘have bred brachycephalic breeds to such an extreme that they are prone to respiratory, feeding and birthing problems and would not survive in the wild.’

The frequency of aggressive coalitions among female bonobos is associated with greater power over males, according to a study published in Communications Biology. The analysis is based on observations of six wild bonobo communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1993 and 2021.

The company Colossal Biosciences has announced the birth of what they call three ‘dires wolves’, Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi, as reported in Time. The puppies, conceived in domestic dogs, were born thanks to genetic engineering techniques and ancient DNA to resemble a species that became extinct over 10,000 years ago.

One characteristic that is considered distinctive of human language is its capacity to combine elements and form more complex and meaningful structures, which is known as compositionality. Its most complex form, in which meaning is not simply the result of the sum of words, has not been found in any other animal species. Now, an international team claims to have observed it for the first time in bonobos. The results, published in Science, call into question assumptions about the uniqueness of human language and open up new avenues for understanding the evolution of communication, according to the journal.

Colossal Biosciences has announced the creation of genetically modified mice with characteristics reminiscent of the fur of extinct mammoths, such as fur colour, texture and thickness. The non-peer-reviewed results were shared today in the BioRXiv prepublication repository.