NewsBite

Evolution

Advertisement
Putricia bloomed on January 23.

In extraordinary timing, a second corpse flower has bloomed in Sydney

The incredible botanical double-act comes just two and a half weeks after the flower named Putricia became a global sensation. And this one’s stinkier.

  • Angus Dalton

Latest

Putricia the corpse flower’s pollen germinating with plant ovary-seeking tubes through a microscope.

Behind the scenes at the Botanic Garden, it’s more zoo than greenhouse

Secret doors, smoke plumes, air locks, a million species and shipwrecked treasures: this world-renowned Sydney establishment could be the most biodiverse spot in the country.

  • Angus Dalton
After 1.7 million online views and at least in person 27,000 visitors, curtains fell on Putricia’s famous livestream at midnight.

The curtains have closed on Putricia. Here’s what she looks like now

The public can no longer see Sydney’s celebrated corpse flower. But what happens next is extraordinary.

  • Angus Dalton
A chimpanzee at Taronga Zoo in Sydney,

Why your body evolved to penalise you for not exercising – even if you hate it

Why would evolution produce an organism that must spend 150 minutes a week doing things like running on a treadmill to maintain health?

  • Liam Mannix
Some of the footprints of two humans pieces found side by side in Kenya.

Footprints show two human species crossed paths 1.5 million years ago

One had an ape-like big toe, the other a high arch. One was a juvenile, another had a stiff foot.

  • Will Dunham
Left: Professor Mike Archer with the preserved pub that inspired his de-extinction program in 2000. Right: Dr Anna Gillespie recovering a thylacine fossil from a boulder using acetic acid.

Scientists dissolved a boulder in acid – and a thylacine jumped out

The bone-crushing fossilised jaws were one of three Tasmanian tiger ancestors uncovered by palaeontologists, amid a contentious effort to resurrect the marsupial carnivore.

  • Angus Dalton
Advertisement
The recreated head of Shanidar Z, based on 3D scans of the reconstructed skull, made by the Kennis brothers for the Netflix documentary Secrets of the Neanderthals.

No more ‘Homo stupidus’: Why Neanderthals are getting a makeover

They were shrewd, complex and creative, and we shared the planet with them (and other types of humans) for thousands of years. So why did the Neanderthals die out and not us?

  • Angus Holland
Asteroid heading to earth GIF

Asteroid that killed dinosaurs was a ‘big bang’ for bird evolution

Australian scientists have helped redraw the “tree of life” for almost every bird on earth, with a study finding their ancestors emerged after the dinosaurs disappeared.

  • Angus Dalton
A new study has found “morningness” has a lot to do with DNA.

Are you a morning person? You may be a Neanderthal descendant

Using artificial intelligence to analyse genetic variants, researchers have found some humans could have obtained their circadian rhythm from their ancestors.

  • Adela Suliman
Sir David Attenborough described it as “one of the greatest predators the world has ever seen”.

‘T-Rex of the sea’ had a two-metre-long skull

The 150-million-year-old fossil was found in Dorset, England. Sir David Attenborough said it was “one of the greatest predators the world has ever seen”.

  • Alex Barton

Original URL: https://www.watoday.com.au/topic/evolution-jlm