Evolution

A male jumping spider cannot hide his intentions. A brilliant red face signals that the spider is in search of a mate.

In the world of birds, where fancy can be as fleeting as flight, the color of the bird apparently has a profound effect on more than just its image. A new study of barn swallows reveals it also affects the bird's physiology. --by Skip Derra

Scientists have long known that most compounds in living things exist in mirror-image forms. The two forms are like hands; one is a mirror reflection of the other. But amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, are all "left-handed," while the sugars of DNA and RNA are "right-handed." ASU scientists have found new evidence that extraterrestrial amino acids, found in meteorites, are also largely left-handed. Their work suggests that precursor molecules, the aldehydes, also carried an excess of left-handedness. --by Jenny Green

Scientists have discovered shellfish remains, tiny stone blades and red ochre pigments in a cave in South Africa. The 164,000-year-old artifacts suggest that early humans were using tools, engaging in symbolic behavior, and even eating seafood much earlier than previously thought. --by Jodi Guyot

The elusive Gila monster hides a nifty trick under its belt--a bladder that acts like a canteen, making up 20 percent of its body weight when full. The adaptation lets the lizard survive up to 95 days without access to water--long enough to endure the rigors of the Sonoran Desert. --by Margaret Coulombe

An ASU research team, led by John Chaput, is trying to mimic the process of Darwinian evolution in the laboratory by evolving new proteins from scratch. Using new tricks of molecular biology, the scientists have evolved several new proteins in a fraction of the 3 billion years it took nature.--by Joe Caspermeyer

The discovery of a dozen 3-foot-tall "hobbit" skeletons in Indonesia generated heated debate among anthropologists. Do the fossils reveal a new species of early human, or were they simply modern humans with a shared genetic defect? The answers may lie in their wrist bones. Matt Tocheri is using 3D imaging technology to find out.--by Nicholas Gerbis

The aye-aye is a rare and bizarre-looking primate, native to Madagascar. Its large eyes are a puzzle to biologists. Why does a nocturnal creature have the ability to see colors? Researchers at ASU are studying this endangered species in the hopes of learning more about the evolution of color vision. --by Joe Caspermeyer

Paper wasps are primitive social insects. But when a paper wasp larvae slips into the quiet pupal stage, she doesn't know if she'll arise a worker or gyne (a future queen). Unless, of course, she consults with Arizona State University's social insect researcher Gro Amdam. --by Margaret Coulombe

How do primitive social organizations evolve to become more highly sophisticated networks such as those found in some insect collectives called "superorganisms?" Researchers have proposed a new model that may explain the selection pressures that mark the evolutionary transition from primitive society to superorganism. --by Margaret Coulombe