The New York Times, November 22, 2005

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Islands hold a special place in the hearts of evolutionary biologists. When Charles Darwin visited the Galápagos Islands in 1835, he was stunned by the diversity of birds, which helped guide him to his theory of evolution by natural selection.

Beginning in the middle of the last century, the ornithologist Ernst Mayr laid the foundation for the modern understanding of the way new species evolve, arguing that they mainly emerged when populations became geographically isolated. Mayr based his theory on his studies of birds from Pacific islands.

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The New York Times, November 22, 2005

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Which came first, the snake or the venom?

Bryan Fry, a biologist at the University of Melbourne who has spent the last few years reconstructing the evolutionary history of snake venom, decided to find out.

He had already isolated genes for toxins in cobras, rattlesnakes and other deadly species. And he had discovered related genes in harmless species like garter snakes.

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The New York Times, November 8, 2005

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In a laboratory at Indiana State University, a dozen green iguanas sprawl tranquilly in terrariums. They while away the hours basking under their heat lamps, and at night they close both eyes — or sometimes just one. They lead comfortable lives pretty much indistinguishable from any ordinary pet iguana, except for one notable exception: the bundles of brain-wave recording wires that trail from their heads.

A team of scientists at Indiana State would like to know what happens in the brains of the iguanas when the lights go out. Do they sleep as we do? Do they shut the whole brain down, for example, or can they keep one half awake?

Continue reading “Down for the Count” →