Fused Nasal Bones Helped Tyrannosaurids Dismember Prey:
New evidence may help explain the brute strength of the tyrannosaurid, says a University of Alberta researcher whose finding demonstrates how a fused nasal bone helped turn the animal into a "zoological superweapon."
Jet Lag, Circadian Clocks Explained:
Circadian clocks regulate the timing of biological functions in almost all higher organisms. Anyone who has flown through several time zones knows the jet lag that can result when this timing is disrupted. Now, new research by Cornell and Dartmouth scientists explains the biological mechanism behind how circadian clocks sense light through a process that transfers energy from light to chemical reactions in cells. Circadian clocks in cells respond to differences in light between night and day and thereby allow organisms to anticipate changes in the environment by pacing their metabolism to this daily cycle.
OK, one more little piece of the puzzle is in - it does not mean that everything is "explained" as the title suggests....
Bigger Is Smarter: Overall, Not Relative, Brain Size Predicts Intelligence:
When it comes to estimating the intelligence of various animal species, it may be as simple measuring overall brain size. In fact, making corrections for a species' body size may be a mistake. The findings were reported by researchers at Grand Valley State University and the Anthropological Institute and Museum at the University of Zürich, Switzerland. "It's long been known that species with larger body sizes generally have larger brains," said Robert Deaner, assistant professor of psychology at Grand Valley and the first author on the study. "Scientists have generally assumed that this pattern occurs because larger animals require larger nervous systems to coordinate their larger bodies. But our results suggest a simpler reason: larger species are typically smarter."
Afarensis has more....
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