Modern dogs have little in common with ancient breeds
Interbreeding of dogs over thousands of years has made it extremely difficult to trace the ancient genetic roots of today’s pets, according to a new study by an international team of scientists, including Dr Simon Ho. The team analysed data of the genetic make-up of modern dogs, alongside an assessment of the archaeological record of …
PhD student wins Australian Biological Resources Study grant
MEEP PhD student Tim Lee has won a 3-year, $33,000 grant from the Australian Biological Resources Study to study the systematics of the Australian pest termite genus Coptotermes, and to write up two papers from his Honours project on the systematics and evolution of the Australian endemic isopod Spherillo grossus. The termite work will be …
Iconic Southern Hemisphere trees 13-113 million years old
A new study of southern beeches shows that estimates of their evolutionary timescale can vary drastically, depending on the way we calculate the rate of evolution. Unfortunately, not every species that once lived has left a trace in the fossil record. This makes it difficult to estimate evolutionary timescales. But this information can often be …
Star Wars bacterium provides glimpse into the evolution of life
Fans of Star Wars would know of Midi-chlorians as helpful microbes that live inside cells granting the mystical power known as “The Force”, but a bacterium of the same name has provided new clues into the evolution of our own cells and how they came to possess the vital energy-producing units called mitochondria. University of …
Climate change and humans caused Ice Age extinctions
In the largest study of its kind, an international team of scientists – including Dr Simon Ho – have unravelled the factors that caused the extinction of iconic Ice Age mammals such as the woolly rhinoceros and woolly mammoth. The study, published in the journal Nature, shows that both climate change and humans are responsible …
Crossing the Southern Ocean to discover deep sea isopods
Discovering deep water isopods and examining how much plastic is in Australian waters are just some of the research topics being undertaken by Luana Lins this week, while sailing from Hobart to Freemantle on board Australia’s flagship marine research vessel – the Southern Surveyor. Luana, a PhD student in the School of Biological Sciences, is …
Early career win in molecular evolution
Dr Simon Ho has won an Early Career Researcher Award from the Genetics Society of Australasia for making an outstanding contribution to the field of genetics within five years of his PhD. An expert in molecular evolution, Dr Ho’s impressive body of work includes 57 peer-reviewed articles, which have been collectively cited over 2,300 times. …
Ants and termites boost wheat yields
In an exciting experiment with major implications for food production under climate change, CSIRO and University of Sydney scientists have found allowing ants and termites to flourish increased a wheat crop’s yield by more than one third. The study, carried out on a farm in an arid area 100 km northeast of Geraldton in Western …